What makes Mac safer?

[jbt52]

I have heard for years that Mac is safer from viruses and things like that, and of all the computers I have ever owned, I do have to admit that the Mac never got infected, ran as good as the day it was born forever, and all the PC's I had/have always end up with problems.
Does anyone know why, if this is true, or can add to my experience?

 

[seepy83]

It's just the numbers game. There are less Macs in the world than there are Windows PCs. The people that are writing malware want to target the larger population, so they go after PCs.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Agreed. It's only a matter of time when more people target macs. for example there has recently been some malware coming out attacking macs in case you hadn't heard.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/mac-malware-authors-release-a-new-more-dangerous-version/3385

 

[jbt52]

Thanks guys, good info-guess I should be more worried than I was :-/

 

[KeithP]

Many people say "Macs are safer" and "Macs have less malware" interchangeably, which is a mistake.

OS X currently has much less malware in the wild than Windows based machines. However, as others have mentioned, over time we will see more and more OS X based malware as the numbers of users increase and malware authors see more opportunity in the platform.

IMHO, regardless of the operating system someone has on their computer, the first line of defense against malware is the user and how they operate their machine. Doesn't matter if they are using OS X or Windows. In that regard, users of either platform are on equal footing.

And if it matters, this post is written by someone that spends 90% of their computing time in OS X.

-KeithP

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Windows is attacked more because there are simply far more Windows targets. Granted, that also means Windows will have more defenses and remedies for any possible such attacks.

I'd much rather have the strong immune system and potentially be more exposed than to have the weak immune system and just hope I never get sick.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Mac don't need viruses. The user mess it up themselves

 

[FishAk]

I'd much rather have the strong immune system and potentially be more exposed than to have the weak immune system and just hope I never get sick.

+1

This is exactly why I eat a little dirt from by the dumpster, lick the uncooked chicken, and eat at McDonalds occasionally.

 

[1LIR]

I have an Alienware and use AVG as my virus detector. The AVG is good and after 10 yrs I have had virtually no viruses detected. I was thinking of a Mac but decided not to jump into the water just yet.

 

[Anarchist420]

This is what kind of pisses me off mac users. They're such noobs because they're always like "I have a mac so I'll never get a virus". That's the way my brother is and it pisses me off. He refuses to get a PC no matter how much I tell him that they have a better line of defense and both only get viruses in proportion to their userbase.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

You dont want to plant a virus on a mac. they got money so you want use the java exploits to rip them off and make money out of them

 

[airdata]

market share. over 90% of the world is using windows as an OS. So, most people write viruses specifically targeting vulnerabilities of windows. As apple continues to gain market share, we'll see more and more people writing malware that effects macs.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Not to revive a semi-dead thread, but back when Macs were running on the PowerPC Architecture, they were a lot safer (Though it was for the same reason as now - not that big of a target)

 

[sourceninja]

While it is true that lower numbers are why macs are not targeted for malware. They also have a large portion of the OS coming from a BSD background. That in itself should lend to a more secure operating system.

It does however remain to be seen if OSX is more secure or not. I can say that out of the box it already makes one big mistake, running the user as admin.

 

[Kenmitch]

Does anyone know why, if this is true, or can add to my experience?

Because Steve said it's safer!

It's like everybody else stated already. If your gonna exploit pc's then it's best to go after the larger user base.

 

[VinylxScratches]

Almost all the malware on OS X is initiated by users by logging in their credentials to all access to the system...

From what I see, Windows.. you go to a bad site and you still get infected no matter what rights you have?

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Not exactly true. in windows if you are on as a limited user, you will be Much less prone to malware. I just saw this with someone who got hit with one of those fake antivirus popups. But since he wasn't admin it was pretty easy to get rid of it.

Almost all the malware on OS X is initiated by users by logging in their credentials to all access to the system...

From what I see, Windows.. you go to a bad site and you still get infected no matter what rights you have?