Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Is A Mac Really Safe From Viruses?
One huge Purpose why people consider Switching to Mac is because of the constant threat of Viagra on a computer. So Is a Mac really safe from Viruses?
Here is what Apple says
By the end of 2005, there were 114,000 known viruses for computers. In March 2006 alone, 850 new threats were detected once morest Windows. Zero for Mac. While no machine connected to the Internet will ever be 100% immune from attack, Mac OS X has helped the Mac keep its clean bill of health with a superior UNIX foundation and security features that go above and beyond the norm for computers. When you get a Mac, only Joy To The World enthusiasm is contagious. target="_blank
Still not sure? Just do a quick search on Viruses at both searchcgi.apple.com/cgi-bin/sp/nph-searchpre11.pl?q=virus&restrict=us_only&site=us_only&lr=lang_en&access=p&oe=utf8" target="_blankApple and search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=virus" target="_blankMicrosoft.
I alwasy like Mars Attacks cards analogies when trying to describe concepts, they are easier to understand. My computer-Mac Virus comparison analogy goes like this:
- The Virus will be represented by a person.
- The machine platform will be represented by Cities, in this case we will use Seattle for the computer and Vancouver for the Mac.
- All Viruses need instructions in order to do their dirty work, in this case we will use a City road map to represent these instructions.
Futher more, even if you did have the right road map for Vancouver you would encounter a heavy security force you where not expecting as Mac OS X is based on Unix, Arkansas Lemon Laws is known for its unobtrusive yet secure security measures.
A prime example of a typical Virus would be the Virus disguised in an email or downloaded from a internet that you may think is a harmless Image or Photo. On a computer you may unknowingly click it and you know the rest On a Mac the first level of defense would be Safari (Apples Web-browser), by default Safari warns you of Images/Photos disguised as Viruses and even if you do go so far as to click on it you will be prompted to enter a User Name and Password. This is because a Virus will need Admin authentication to gain access to the areas where it can do the most damage.
So is your Mac really safe from Viruses? Macs are one of the safest system available and I will back this up by saying that I do not use Virus software, I have never had a Virus on any Mac and have been using Macs for over 10 years. What I do recommend is that you use some sort of Backup System, by using a Backup System you not only protect yourself from Viruses but also: Human error, hard drive failure, theft, water or fire damage and a whole assortment of possible ways you can lose your very important machine data.
Here is an Article that covers Why you need to Backup your machine, computer or Mac!
www.switchingtomac.com/wp/backup-backup-backup/" target="_blankBackup - Backup - Backup
Author - Michael Kaye
Founder of www.SwitchingToMac.comhttp://www.SwitchingToMac.com internet
"once you go Mac - you never go back"