Can Someone explain this for me

[c7015]

Mac computers often advertise the fact that they are not plauged with spyware and virus's ... how is this possible ? what is it about a Mac that makes them imune to this? or is this simply marketing ?

Can anyone explain in detail ?

 

[kfc469]

I think that it is mostly just because more people use PC's than Macs, so PC's are the targets more often.

 

[c7015]

so are there Mac Viruses ?

 

[The General]

Only proof-of-concept viruses which are totally useless and 0% of Mac users ever get effected. Apple fixes the problems immediately when they show up (which is rare).

When someone writes a virus, it is not for the computer, it is for Windows. The virus only works in Windows, just like how a computer program for Windows won't work on a Mac.

 

[technogab]

Also, Mac's require you to enter the administrator password anytime an install tries to take place. A program can not install itself without you acknowledging it and typing the admin password to let it do so.

 

[kfc469]

Also, Mac's require you to enter the administrator password anytime an install tries to take place. A program can not install itself without you acknowledging it and typing the admin password to let it do so.

is there any way that you can do this for windows?

 

[technogab]

Actually yes. Most likely you are currently running as an admin, or some kind of power user. Create a new user in Windows with minimal rights. Then use that account as your regular account. Sometimes it's a pain because if you want to do certain things, you have to log out and login as an admin, but it's better than nothing.

Also changing group policies is very effective in windows. You can change the local policy to restrict everything from installing programs to not being able to change your desktop wallpaper. Group Policy is very powerful in Windows and very effective. Just use it carefully, sometimes people use it incorrectly and lock themselves out of their own computer.

But for starters, create a new account without admin access and that will definately help you with some viruses and spyware, not all (Windows isnt perfect but it helps.

 

[c7015]

but there are allways ways to bypass a password ... and if the user installs it without knowing its a virus

does it have anything to do with having a registry ..like does the mac os load up a "fresh" os with no" history " on reboot ?

 

[technogab]

Mac's don't have a registry like Windows. The main problem with spyware and viruses are that most of them install behind the scenes. A user will know when they are installing something and if they get prompted for the admin password, they know it's because they are installing something at the moment. If you were on Windows just surfing the web, and all of the sudden you get a pop-up saying that a program wants to install and asks you to type your admin password, you probably would say "Hey, I'm not trying to install something, what's this?" And you wouldn't type your password.

Plus there are a lot more Windows password cracking programs out there than there are for Mac's, so it's easier for almost anyone to get their hands on a hacking program to crack passwords in Windows. Mac's are built on top Unix, which is much more secure and less likely to get hacked. I'm not saying they cant be hacked, it's just not as likely to happen

 

[arcman]

but there are allways ways to bypass a password ... and if the user installs it without knowing its a virus

Granted a password-permissioned filesystem isn't 100% sure to keep out all malicious software, there's only so much the OS can do to keep itself secure from a user that doesn't know any better. But seeing as how OSX and the various Linux and BSD variants have something like less than 100 viruses among them versus the hundreds of thousands of viruses for win32, it seems to be an effective strategy. Even if you get an infected file, there are safeguards that the virus has to overcome to be able to do any more harm than simply delete the /home directory. Whereas in Windows where the default user is always the root administrator, all you have to do is point your web browser to an infected activex site and your system is as good as compromised.

does it have anything to do with having a registry ..like does the mac os load up a "fresh" os with no" history " on reboot ?

I'm not quite sure what this means, I'm afraid. OSX's core is based on BSD (Darwin to be exact), if that helps any.