answered question
answers (7)
It isn't safe in either case, but you might be a little bit safer with antivirus than without. In the end, though, most malware is manually installed by the owner of the computer, usually because they don't realize they are doing so. As such, it really comes down to caution and common sense. Don't run software from people you don't know, check all file extensions (or even verify with a low-level tool), and so on. Tips can be found all over the internet so there is no need to reproduce here ad nauseum.
What there is a need is to debunk this horrible myth that Macs/Unix/Linux cannot be exploited and that there are currently no exploits in the wild... THIS IS ENTIRELY FALSE.
ATTENTION: Mac/Unix/Linux users
You are vulnerable to software exploitation just like everyone else.
DOUBLE ATTENTION: Mac users
Safari/Webkit has been host to a multitude of exploits, sometimes due to Apple code, and sometimes due to third-party code (PCRE vulnerability). This is how it is, and this is how it always will be. Please be careful and protect your sensitive data with backup and integrity checks, cryptography, and anything else you have available because you are being targeted, just like everyone else.
What there is a need is to debunk this horrible myth that Macs/Unix/Linux cannot be exploited and that there are currently no exploits in the wild... THIS IS ENTIRELY FALSE.
ATTENTION: Mac/Unix/Linux users
You are vulnerable to software exploitation just like everyone else.
DOUBLE ATTENTION: Mac users
Safari/Webkit has been host to a multitude of exploits, sometimes due to Apple code, and sometimes due to third-party code (PCRE vulnerability). This is how it is, and this is how it always will be. Please be careful and protect your sensitive data with backup and integrity checks, cryptography, and anything else you have available because you are being targeted, just like everyone else.
source(s):
http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=191968025 - Malware Evolution: MacOS X Vulnerabilities 2005 - 2006
http://www.cunap.com/~hardingr/projects/osx/exploit.html - Phantom Update Exploit
http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Knew-About-the-Safari-Exploit-Long-Befo...
http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=191968025 - Malware Evolution: MacOS X Vulnerabilities 2005 - 2006
http://www.cunap.com/~hardingr/projects/osx/exploit.html - Phantom Update Exploit
http://news.softpedia.com/news/They-Knew-About-the-Safari-Exploit-Long-Befo...
| Asker's rating: |
Little Snitch can tell you what’s using your network bandwidth
Well, I've never heard of a mac virus, but now that they use intel chips, it's more likely. Apple has recently recommended that you do get antivirus software for the mac. Here's an article about what mac says:
In general, yes, but "safe" is a vague term. Macs are safer from virus attacks - the vast majority of viruses are designed for PCs but Macs are not immune - . You can take measures like setting up your personal firewall in your "System Preferences". You should also not open files from people you don't know/trust, and avoid phishing scams that say something like "your friend posted a video of you - click the link to see it". But if you want an added layer of security, there is anti-virus software out there like Norton, Avast, MacScan and others.
This depends on how you feel about safety actually. I personally do not run any anti-virus on my Macs because there are no viruses in the wild that are written for Mac. However, there are theoretical viruses that exist and could be pointed at the Mac community but because of the small share of the computer industry most malicious virus writers are not going to take the time to do this.
Apple did have a tech note that stated Mac users should install an Anti-Virus program on their computer, just in case. So in the end it doesn't hurt to have one but it likely won't really be needed.
In order to protect yourself the first thing you should do is get a router for your home. A hardware router (whether it be wired or wireless) will act as a hardware firewall and the first line of defense against most of the "bad guys" on the web!
Apple did have a tech note that stated Mac users should install an Anti-Virus program on their computer, just in case. So in the end it doesn't hurt to have one but it likely won't really be needed.
In order to protect yourself the first thing you should do is get a router for your home. A hardware router (whether it be wired or wireless) will act as a hardware firewall and the first line of defense against most of the "bad guys" on the web!
There is a calculable risk but overall it is safe to use a Mac with no anti-virus software.
There are currently no known exploits in the wild that AV software will protect you from so the only reason to get AV software is in case a virus is written for the Mac in the future. The fact that Apple uses intel chips is largely irrelevant because software is written for an operating system and not for its hardware. An analogy would be that intel based PCs get more viruses than an AMD based PC and this is patently false.
Yes there is a risk that one day someone will write a Mac virus, but there is also a chance you will get hit on the head by a stray baseball tomorrow. Do you wear a helmet from now on? Unless you are extremely paranoid, most people will say once it starts raining baseballs on a regular basis I will wear a helmet, but not until then. Once there are some viruses for the Mac that exist in the wild then worry about AV software.
The only reason to use AV software on a Mac today is to help protect other PC users. Personally, if a virus ends up on a flash drive of mine (that won't run on the Mac to affect me) and then is transferred to a PC and hurts them I am not overly concerned. I don't want to sacrifice the performance of my machine by running AV software to help out the next guy. It might sound harsh, but I bought a Mac just so I don't have to deal with this type of stuff.
Bottom line: practice safe computing habits (don't open things unless you know the sender, etc.) otherwise all the AV software in the world won't help you.
There are currently no known exploits in the wild that AV software will protect you from so the only reason to get AV software is in case a virus is written for the Mac in the future. The fact that Apple uses intel chips is largely irrelevant because software is written for an operating system and not for its hardware. An analogy would be that intel based PCs get more viruses than an AMD based PC and this is patently false.
Yes there is a risk that one day someone will write a Mac virus, but there is also a chance you will get hit on the head by a stray baseball tomorrow. Do you wear a helmet from now on? Unless you are extremely paranoid, most people will say once it starts raining baseballs on a regular basis I will wear a helmet, but not until then. Once there are some viruses for the Mac that exist in the wild then worry about AV software.
The only reason to use AV software on a Mac today is to help protect other PC users. Personally, if a virus ends up on a flash drive of mine (that won't run on the Mac to affect me) and then is transferred to a PC and hurts them I am not overly concerned. I don't want to sacrifice the performance of my machine by running AV software to help out the next guy. It might sound harsh, but I bought a Mac just so I don't have to deal with this type of stuff.
Bottom line: practice safe computing habits (don't open things unless you know the sender, etc.) otherwise all the AV software in the world won't help you.
Viruses are certainly targeted to specific processor types/instruction sets. Your example of Intel vs AMD fails to disprove this because both Intel and AMD use the same instruction set.
The fact that macs run intel processors now instead of the PPC processors, which had much smaller instruction sets, is certainly going to be a factor in the future - when you get to ring0 it doesn't matter what OS is running, because you are in front of it, it only matters what instructions are available on the processor.
The fact that macs run intel processors now instead of the PPC processors, which had much smaller instruction sets, is certainly going to be a factor in the future - when you get to ring0 it doesn't matter what OS is running, because you are in front of it, it only matters what instructions are available on the processor.
This is more true in theory than in practical everyday computing. Most of the serious viruses are still applications that end in .exe like every other application. A Mac won't run the exe, end of story. If viruses could see past the OS straight to the processor then computer security would be a near impossibility as every virus could execute without the interference of any antivirus software. We would also be seeing thousands of viruses on the Mac which has been intel for years now, but we don't.
The notion that Mac users need to be afraid is nothing more than a scare tactic at this point. There have been so few viruses and so few instances of them doing anything serious without the stupidity of the user that there is little reason for concern (today anyway). I would venture a guess that more people are killed in car accidents in the US each year than are affected by Mac viruses. If you want to be safe, wear a seatbelt and skip the AV software.
The notion that Mac users need to be afraid is nothing more than a scare tactic at this point. There have been so few viruses and so few instances of them doing anything serious without the stupidity of the user that there is little reason for concern (today anyway). I would venture a guess that more people are killed in car accidents in the US each year than are affected by Mac viruses. If you want to be safe, wear a seatbelt and skip the AV software.
You can propagate MS Office macro virii through Mac versions of MS Office. I have had this happen to us at my previous job. Somebody brought a file from home, her home PC was infected, and it was clever enough to scan and infect any Office docs with a macro. As soon as people started opening it spread throughout the office.
What did we do? Spend a lot of money on an antivirus program for Mac, which was useless. The reason we got attacked was because one or more enterprising morons had disabled the macro protection feature in MS Office because they got tired of the pop up menu asking them for permission to enable or disable macros.
That said, there are real exploits out there, but not a single one that can run by itself without you doing something stupid.
What did we do? Spend a lot of money on an antivirus program for Mac, which was useless. The reason we got attacked was because one or more enterprising morons had disabled the macro protection feature in MS Office because they got tired of the pop up menu asking them for permission to enable or disable macros.
That said, there are real exploits out there, but not a single one that can run by itself without you doing something stupid.
Related questions
140 characters left
ask any question
