Are Macs Susceptible to Viruses and Malware?   by Thomas Wilson

in Computers / Malware    (submitted 2011-05-03)

Presently there is lots of controversy between numerous Mac and PC owners about if Macs can end up with viruses. You will find good points on both sides, along with a good deal of bogus, but we’re here to expose the actual truth for you! Here are the facts:

Mac customers argue that the Mac OS is superior to Windows and as a result it can not get viruses. When I anonymously started a live shopping cart support chat on Apple.com with an “Apple Expert” this is what he said when asked if Macs could potentially get viruses:

“The Unix core that the Mac OS is built on prevents Mac computers from being susceptible to computer viruses.”

I replied, “So there is no way I would need to worry about getting a virus?”

“Not at all!” he wrote. However, they are employees of Apple and have scripts to answer close to every single question which they are required to use. Nevertheless, this conversation does indeed tell you what Apple likes us to believe...there is no possible way a Mac could get viruses.

A PC buyer's major point is that any OS can and will get viruses. If some programmers devote dozens of hours learning how to create viruses for Windows, why can’t these people do the same thing for Macs?

As I mentioned above, both of these opinions are valid, nonetheless there is only one answer. The real answer is…Macs are able to get viruses!* However that’s not the end of the story. If you look carefully, you might see that I placed an asterisk after that last statement. The purpose for that is due to the fact that though Macs can get viruses, they generally don't. The explanation for this is simple really. Since Macs only make up 5% of the market share, a programmer would be moronic to devote months finding out how to develop viruses for Macs and then commit several months creating the virus all only to target merely 5% of the market! It would be a total waste of time! In addition, one more advantage for Macs is that the Mac OS X is in fact harder for coders to learn about than Windows operating systems. It is possible, and has been done, but it is more difficult.

Since we’ve got that resolved, do I think Mac customers ought to go out and buy anti-virus software? No. Do I think that Macs are going to be protected for a long time? No. Ultimately I think Macs will obtain a considerable percentage more of the market share making them a real target for viruses. The fact is that there is more than one factor to think about when shopping for computers and quite a few folks opt for PCs over Macs and consequently they will will need to protect their PC.

About the Author

If you are interested in learning more about http://www.howtogetridofviruses.org”">how to get rid of viruses, you should definitely check out www.HowToGetRidOfViruses.org!