In: Computer Science
Write 2 pages on "Why Macs Less prone to Viruses than Window PCs?
In the world no computer system is protected to viruses . After all, viruses are just programs and all computers are made to run programs.
But Macs has many factors in their favour to stay less prone to viruses than our
Windows PCs.First reason can be due to market share .Why would Hackers would want to write a virus for less computers when they could reach more than 1 million computers .For an example lets take a practical situation .If we were a hacker, and were think of creating a virus or malware to attack as many machines as possible and cause problems, we would mainly focus our mind on what will create the greatest prize. If we are looking to cause the most damage, and increase our chances of victory, we are going to attack the most common computer system that is windows. Previously ,Macs were safer because statistically we are less chance to be infected due to the lower number of viruses built to infect OS X. The difference is not that big between the two but still , Macs really do offer fewer opportunities for malicious code to spread .
During 2010 and 2011, Apple users were facing OS X Pinhead and BlackHole RAT trojan viruses which were infecting thousands of computers. But recently there was the Mac Flashback trojan. So,the conclusion is that Macs are not invulnerable and they can also get compromised.
Another false myth revolves around the UNIX foundation of Mac OSX (Mac operating system ten). Practically UNIX is built with a most strong permission structure which prevents unauthorized execution of software. But Microsoft Windows always try to run a program any way it can, even if a virus is causing problems UNIX will stop in its tracks when it founds an unauthorized redirection and prevent any damage . This is awesome, but it doesn't make your computer immune. It's like to how exercising and eating right can help you stay healthier, but if a strong enough flu comes up you're still cause misery. In order to infect a Mac, the viruses Should be written very well.Even Apple followers are beginning to realize that Macs are also vulnerable, but increasingly likely to be targeted by crackers.
Even though Macs are not so secure as we may have been thinking, there are plenty of ways we can protect your computer. In this war, our first line of defense is ourself. Most security lapses which can be prevented if we are cautious about our surfing and what files we allow onto our computer.
For example, most of the malwares comes in the form of Trojan horses, which come in attached to e-mails or files we download from the Internet.
So,This are the reasons why Macs are less prone to viruses than Window’s PCs.