[X4U] Virus & Spyware No Problem on Mac?

[Randy B.Singer]

Joe Sporleder said:

>Are us Mac users really that much safer? Will we 
>be less safe as Apple gains market and mind share?


The next OS X-specific virus that shows up in the wild will be the very 
first.
See:
Mac Viruses By The Numbers
http://www.macobserver.com/editorial/2003/08/29.1.shtml

The next Windows virus that shows up will be one of *over 100,000* !!!
See:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.asp

I've never heard of anyone whose Macintosh was infected with spyware. 
(Spyware exists for the Mac, but installing it requires physical access, 
including passwords.  Spyware can't be successfully installed on your Mac 
via e-mail or by visiting a Web site.)

Over 91% of computers running windows are infected with Spyware!!!
<http://www.mcafeesecurity.com/us/about/press/mcafee_enterprise/2004/200402
12_085446.htm>

Here is an excellent article (assuming you can overlook the use of some 
naughty words) that beautifully rebuts the commonly advanced theory that 
Mac OS X has no viruses because of the Mac's small market share.

Broken Windows
http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/broken_windows
So Witty (followup to Broken Windows)
http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/so_witty

>From the above article:
>Windows apologists have long argued that the only reason the Mac has been 
>so strikingly free of security exploits is that it has such a smaller 
>market share than Windows. This argument ignores numerous facts, such as 
>that the Mac¹s share of viruses is effectively zero; no matter how you peg 
>the Mac¹s overall market share, its share of viruses/worms/Trojans is 
>significantly disproportionate. Or that the logical conclusion of this 
>argument ‹ that because of Windows¹s monopoly market share, malfeasant 
>hackers would logically only write software to attack Windows ‹ would be 
>to extend the argument to all software, malicious or not, and it¹s quite 
>easily disproven that ³all software² is targeted only for Windows. Or 
>that, despite the Mac¹s relatively small market share, a successful 
>virus/worm/Trojan attack against Mac OS X would likely garner 
>significantly more notoriety and fame; considering the recent publicity 
>given to non-exploited Mac OS X vulnerabilities, it¹s reasonable to expect 
>that an outright exploit would result in an avalanche of tech media hysteria.




Randy B. Singer
Co-Author of: The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

Routine OS X Maintenance and Generic Troubleshooting
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html