Virus question

[IpadOne]

iPad as no virus

but if a virus maker knew that 90% of pc's had virus protection but 99.99% of macs did not - why would they not write a virus program to infect a mac? Your argument does not hold water!

you're smoking some serious drugs if you think 90% of pc users are protected from viruses. Hell, there are tens of millions of people still using ie6, nearly a decade after it's launch! In the analytics for my blog i had three visitors running windows 98 and ie5 just yesterday for pete's sake. Microsoft has gone so far as to urge people to stop using a spoiled browser, it's that bad. As someone who has been in it for the past 12 years and who has fixed far too many a friend or family member's pc because they didn't patch normally or use an av solution i can tell you that the number of pc users that are proactive is probably about 20%. I have worked for some of the largest enterprise infrastructures in the world... I know this, because i live this.

Brad what did you smoke today ??

We are talking about Apple policy concerning iPhone/iPad … we (and me the first) don’t care about WinBooze i have been PC user for more than 10 years every protection i have try give me more hassle … than protection they pretend to give me… Yet i am in the free side of Mac and do everything possible for don’t use PC

virus what virus. There is no crazy virus..... Seriously mac's uses unix type background. The only possible way you could get one is using a jailbreaked program. And this is highly unlikely this would happen. Now windows on the other hand well.........

spoken like a true fan boy. Hackers are able to exploit apple products all the time, what do you think jailbreaking is in the first place? They find a hole in the iphone os code and exploit it to get root access. That same exploit could be used by people other than modders if they really wanted to. There isn't a software system in the world that can't be exploited if enough hackers really cared enough to do it. Hackintoshes (pc computers running osx) are another example of hackers exploiting holes in apple's code.

it’s also why i don’t jailbreak my iPhone or iPad

any software can be infected if someone wants to bad enough. Some hackers like the challenge, other are just malicious, many have ulterior motives. There is not the challenge in most home computers, macs are not interconnected enough to attract most malicious creeps. The rest are out for the most bang for the shot.

Yep this is also one reason ….

exactly on all accounts.

 

[lifevicarious]

That's why apple is awesome.

The lack of virus infections on Apples has less to do with Apple and more to do with their market share. Why would a virus maker write a virus that would only infect 10% of the hosts when they could write one that would infect 90% instead? Windows users are targeted because they are a huge demographic, many of which are easy targets because they are technologically inept. PC users that know what the hell they are doing are just as likely as Mac users at getting infected... meaning the chances are slim to none.

I always thought this was a silly argument. What hacker wouldn't want to be the first to bring down a product that most view as unable to be brought down?

The reason Mac's are less susceptible is that programs run independently of the OS (specifically Safari) whereas on Windows IE is directly linked with the OS.

 

[ayerbusiness]

For sure iPad will also be attacked by hackers, viruses and any other hijacking attempts by many people around the world. that is why Apple will ready themselves for that matter.

 

[NumbLock]

That's why apple is awesome.

The lack of virus infections on Apples has less to do with Apple and more to do with their market share. Why would a virus maker write a virus that would only infect 10% of the hosts when they could write one that would infect 90% instead? Windows users are targeted because they are a huge demographic, many of which are easy targets because they are technologically inept. PC users that know what the hell they are doing are just as likely as Mac users at getting infected... meaning the chances are slim to none.

But if a virus maker knew that 90% of PC's had virus protection but 99.99% of Macs did not - why would they NOT write a virus program to infect a Mac? Your argument does not hold water!

He's right though. Especially in Asia where most botnets live, a vast majority of users use Windows - and worse, unpatched pirated versions of Windows.

Proof:
In their words: Experts weigh in on Mac vs. PC security | InSecurity Complex - CNET News

Malware writers are rational, as are botnet herders. They would far rather attack Windows PCs as there are lots more of them.

Even more:
Can Apple Deny, “Pwn 2 own?” Dvorak Uncensored: General interest observations and true web-log.

Despite the rabid claims of Apple fan boys that its software is more secure than anything else on the market, Jobs’ Mob products were the first to be trashed again at a Pwn2Own hacking competition.

 

[NumbLock]

I will add, however, one of the biggest complaints of the iPad and iPhone are their closed nature. You simply can't under normal circumstances, execute a process in the background and install software except through iTunes. Viruses depend on both of these.

The weakness is also a strength, in this case.

 

[Seadog]

As much as I am a Mac person, I never want it to have the dominance of Windows. First, Apple could not manufacture that many computers, taking one level of quality control away. Second, they would have to deal with issues like this on a much larger scale. Being a high 'niche' player has many advantages. The hard part is balancing all the issues.