"Macs don't get viruses." "Macs are more secure than a PC." "You don't need anti-virus on a Mac."
I've heard these claims many. many times. From the people at the Apple Store, in magazine articles, advertisements, and from friends and family. From pretty much anybody who is Apple biased. Do you believe in this? Why is it that Macs don't get viruses? Are they that good?
Now, before I start giving you reasons, fact, and more about why Macs aren't secure, I want to tell you something: I am not an Apple-hater. I agree that Macs do have their advantages, and that people who have never used a computer are definitely better off starting with a Mac, then switching to a Windows-based computer later.
Why am I bothering to try to prove to you that Apple is lying to people when it says it's shiny OS is more secure than Windows? Because I feel that you, the user, has to decide what you believe in, and i want to sway that decision just a little bit more in the PC direction in the Mac vs. PC argument.
Where Apple gets the information to give you its unsubstantiated claim about computer security is in one simple fact: Macs get less malware infections than PCs do. But why? Ask any Apple Store representative, and they'll give you the simply answer, "Mac OS X is more secure than Windows." But is this entirely true? No.
It is completely true that Macs get less malware infections compared to the amount PCs get. In fact, they get almost none. But there are two good reasons for this, and neither of them include "Mac OS X is more secure than Windows."
1. There are less Macs out there than PCs. That means there are less people using them. That means that there are less computers to infect with a virus that would only work on a Mac, since you can't code a virus for both a PC and a Mac, since they are coded so differently. So if you want your virus to be as effective as possible, then you will make it for the platform with the more people using it. Which is this case happens to be the Windows platform. Why bother with writing a virus for something with a very low marketshare? Sure, you might hit a few people, but if you write it for the system with more than double the marketshare, then you will have a higher percentage of the population whose computers are vulnerable to your new infection.
2. It also depends on what you define as a "virus." Here is dictionary.com's definition of a virus:
"a segment of self-replicating code planted illegally in a computer program, often to damage or shut down a system or network." But not all bad stuff does this. In reality, the term "virus" is overused and is used to describe any malware infection on a computer. Now here is the definition of malware: "a computer program designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus." As you can see, Apple exploits a common misconception of terminology. Viruses are only one category of computer malware. If I were to agree with Apple here, then that would be saying that Macs can still get Spyware. Adware, and Trojans. So your Mac is still vulnerable to infection.
Oh, and by the way. Macs are LESS secure than PCs. Mac OS X does't have good built-in security. The firewall sucks, and it doesn't come with out-of-the-box spyware protection. Windows 7 has a decent firewall and comes with Windows Defender, an anti-spyware program.
apple
GTFO yo bot…