Macs can get viruses?

Macs can get viruses?

As a software developer and Mac user, I'm doing a lot of research lately about if Mac (iMac, MacBook Pro or Mac) can get the virus, and I thought I had something more to share my research here.

The short answer is yes, depending on the definition of a virus, a Mac can be a "virus", at least one starter to get the virus. Present as a simple example that will send you an email with an attachment, and you decide to open that attachment. If this link is malicious, you candelete all the files on your computer, including photos, music and other files that you created yourself. If this is your definition of a virus can certainly happen.

However, most people define a virus as a malicious program, smart enough to know how he moved his car from one computer to another to another, what he wants horrible devastation along the path. With this definition of a proper virus do not have Mac OS X computer for virusesDate.

Apple has covered

On the Apple site, which now show several large banner: "We take care of you" when it comes to Macs, viruses and malware to say. There are at least two main reasons for their confidence in relation to the lack of Mac-Mac viruses.

First, the approach to the Mac for creating a special user account "administrator", warn some approaches malware dangerous things. For example, while my script to delete files that you may have personallycreated without asking the administrator password for me to have all the files on your Mac, I ask you, would enter the administrator password to delete.

This is not something you could give me very easily, and yet my script would be a hole in the Mac operating system that would provide easy access to see me as an administrator, and the date, the hole was not there.

Secondly, as mentioned, by definition, a virus is a program that spreads from one computerto another. The viruses jump from one computer to another over an open network "ports" on your computer. Network ports are like doors, and as you know, open some doors, some doors can be easily opened, doors are more like bank vaults and other ports are like bank vaults, but behind a fortress behind so great, not even know they are there.

The latter approach is that the Mac Since all Macs ship with a permission "firewalls" and to open all the doors (doors), my malicious program can notmove easily from one computer to another. And yet, even if a door is open, as if the Mac in enterprise environments, no one has the ability to use a door partially open.

Buffer overflow attacks

Hackers try other more technical approaches to the computer, usually a "buffer overflow" attacks on systems (in which an attacker sends more data in a program expected to be the program), but without attacking the doors open on a Mac, as attacks This must happenbrowser or Mac on the network can, in a local area network (LAN).

If a Mac ever gets a virus, it is probably here more about this "buffer overflow", a term, but again, no one has successfully used this approach before.

Apple Mac OS X Leo shares with security experts

Interestingly, as I write this, Apple has just completed an early release of its next operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion") with security experts. As the world of hackers, malware and virusesis becoming more complex, Apple appears to take a proactive approach to its OS X operating system with security experts as part of their normal development to share their life cycle.

Virus for Mac - Summary

In short, yes, it is theoretically possible that an iMac, MacBook Pro or Mac, a virus, but so far no one has created a virus for Macs. Moreover, as already mentioned, Apple is always active in their approach to the early release of their operating system "Lion"System security experts for a very healthy approach them.

Most hackers these days seem to be their efforts to other approaches, things are "phishing" and "spoofing," to try to get all the information about the browser, so the time how to do these larger concerns of potential Mac virus and malware.

External Hard Drives 1000gb cuisinart frozen yogurt and ice cream maker swiss gear messenger bag