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As someone new to the Mac ecosystem, is it standard practice to run an antivirus as it is on Windows? I have used various Linux systems as my daily web browsing machine for years without feeling the need to install any third-party antivirus.
>the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. This is an area where it's really hard to extrapolate from my personal experience to the entire population, but is this really an accurate statement of many people's beliefs? I think what people actually think is that the chances are much lower of encountering malware in the wild on a Mac. In support of that, havi…
>the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. This is an area where it's really hard to extrapolate from my personal experience to the entire population, but is this really an accurate statement of many people's beliefs? I think what people actually think is that the chances are much lower of encountering malware in the wild on a Mac. In support of that, havi…
My experience with tech illiterate people is that they think they can't get viruses on Mac or iOS. Viruses are a Windows-only thing in their minds.
I keep hearing this, but I never see evidence of these people. Is there a widespread belief that there's a widespread belief that Macs are immune from malware, despite few people who actually think this?
Well, I'm sure such people exist, but there don't seem to be many, even on sites like macrumors and /r/apple where mostly non-technical people with magical feelings for Apple gather and comment.
> ...despite the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. I keep hearing this, but I never see evidence of these people. Is there a widespread belief that there's a widespread belief that Macs are immune from malware, despite few people who actually think this? Well, I'm sure such people exist, but there don't seem to be many, even on sites like macrumors and…
> ...despite the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. I keep hearing this, but I never see evidence of these people. Is there a widespread belief that there's a widespread belief that Macs are immune from malware, despite few people who actually think this? Well, I'm sure such people exist, but there don't seem to be many, even on sites like macrumors and…
> ...despite the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. I keep hearing this, but I never see evidence of these people. Is there a widespread belief that there's a widespread belief that Macs are immune from malware, despite few people who actually think this? Well, I'm sure such people exist, but there don't seem to be many, even on sites like macrumors and…
Apple even based a commercial on the premise a while back, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFy6egYcUg
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's been a few years, but the "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" ad series talked up virus immunity quite a bit. I suppose one could argue that "don't get malware" was narrowly accurate in the sense that it wasn't presently happening, but there was a strong suggestion of "can't get malware" too.
It was presently, and it's easy much happening now either. All these "viruses", or 99% of them, are just trojans.
> ...despite the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. I keep hearing this, but I never see evidence of these people. Is there a widespread belief that there's a widespread belief that Macs are immune from malware, despite few people who actually think this? Well, I'm sure such people exist, but there don't seem to be many, even on sites like macrumors and…
>the widespread belief that they are virus-free, Macs aren't immune from invasive and dangerous malware. This is an area where it's really hard to extrapolate from my personal experience to the entire population, but is this really an accurate statement of many people's beliefs? I think what people actually think is that the chances are much lower of encountering malware in the wild on a Mac. In support of that, havi…
> I think what people actually think is that the chances are much lower of encountering malware in the wild on a Mac. Yes -- and what people believe is also true. It's indeed much lower, to the point of being a non-issue almost. (And it's not due to "lower market share" either. Mac OS 7/8 etc had even lower market share than today's Macs have, and it had tons of viruses).
That's not a valid comparison. When Mac OS 7/8 was mainstream, it was common to get software via a floppy disk that had already been in 10 other machines or from a fly-by-night BBS. Nowadays software distribution is far less peer-to-peer, and it's much more difficult for simple viruses to move from machine to machine.
> market share
If it's not market share, then what is it? The vast majority of malware attacks happen via social engineering, not zero day vulnerabilities, and the only requirements for that are a gullible user and a computer capable of running unsigned software.
Edit: Since I don't have access to a disposable Mac, just out of curiosity, what happens if you torrent something like "photoshop for mac full edition (cracked)" and try to install it? On a PC, assuming you make it through the hurricane of warnings Windows tries to throw in your way, this will almost certainly result in malware getting installed on your computer. What mechanism prevents this on a Mac?