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October 08, 2006
Do Apples get Viruses?
I've been a Mac user since the age of nine, when my family bought our first home computer. My current computer is the PowerBook G4 version that came out in the summer of 2004 and runs Mac OS X. I often get questions from non-Mac users on why Macs don't get viruses, and I never had a really firm answer to give them. Was it because Macs were wonderful, absolutely invulnerable machines, superior to "PC's" in every way, as I liked to believe? Or was it simply that Macs had such a low market share that virus-writers weren't interested in writing a virus for them? Now that I have had a chance to look into the technology industry, I've come up with a few more answers.
It seems that Mac's impeccable record with viruses is due to both its secure operating system and the fact that is not an obvious target for virus-writers wishing to do a lot of damage. The operating system uses an open source UNIX platform which allows its most critical security components to be reviewed by experts the world over. This allows apple to continually make OS X more secure (Macs check for security updates each week automatically, and users can also choose to have their computers automatically download updates). Also, Macs always alert users to when they are downloading programs as opposed to files, and ask for their passwords when downloading programs that would modify OS X.
After releasing a television advertisement boasting about its foolproof system, Apple just recently released a software patch update to fix "vulnerabilities" which may include "remote execution of arbitrary codes or commands, bypass of security restrictions, and denial of service." Before the release of the patch, critics accused Apple of deceiving customers or being slow to respond to weaknesses. I think that in this day and age, no computer system is 100% foolproof, there will always be those who will be able to exploit loopholes if they put forth the effort, and all a computer company can do is rigorously and continuously test and refine the system to make it as secure as possible. That is exactly what Apple does.
See... Chastened Apple Issues Security Patch
And...Macs No Longer Immune to Viruses
Posted by tawr at October 8, 2006 04:37 PM