Do Mac Computers Get Viruses – The Myth

It is time for Mac Owners to learn the truth. If you ask a mac owner why they chose that device, you will hear plenty of reasons.

• Better Graphics
• Faster
• More powerful

The answers that re given will vary, but there will be one answer that is very common among the Mac owners. They will say they chose a mac device because they do not ever want to worry about getting viruses. They will say that a mac device will not get viruses and there is no need to worry about getting anti-virus software when you own a Mac. Mac owners will not need to make sure their security software is updated and turned on. They believe that their Mac computers are safe from the threat of hackers and viruses.

That should make people ask: is this a myth or is it true? Can macs get viruses and should I worry about my computer safety when I won a Mac?

The answer is actually much simpler than most Mac owners will want to hear. Mac computers can and have gotten viruses. They are susceptible to getting viruses in the same way that other computers can get them.

There are a couple of reasons that the idea that Macs are immune to viruses has been spread.

• Mac computers are not as widely used as Windows PCs. At one time Windows completely dominated the market. Hackers and viruses are designed to attack the largest groups of people they can. Mac computers were not a target because there were not enough of them being use dot be worthy of the efforts of computer hackers.
• Macs use a different operating system. They use different registries and their file structure is different than the windows computers. This means a virus would have to be created that was specific to the Macs. Since there are fewer macs that made it something that virus makers did not bother to do.

There is plenty of proof that the macs can get viruses. The first virus created to infect a Mac was done in 1982 by a 15 year old. It was called the Elk Boot and it infected the floppy disks used by Mac computers. Since then, there have been other documented viruses including the flashback virus that infected more than 600,000 computers. There is also a virus called the pintsized Trojan that is able to get around the basic firewalls that many Mac users rely on for their security.

Mac owners need to realize that their computers are at risk just like any other computer. It is important for a Mac user to understand the basics of computer security even if they had heard that Macs don’t get viruses. Safe internet practices and security software provide the best protection for Mac users and it may be time for them to start using it. They also need to make sure they are always installing the security updates provided by Apple to keep their computer safe.

Viruses are not something that people want to deal with on their computer. Mac owners can learn from Windows owners how to protect their computer and now is the time to start.