[USAT] Study: One in five Macs carry malware - Page 7

Those aren't the kind of numbers that I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear something more like every 2 1/2 out of 5 are infected. That would have made me happy.

they're carrying Windows Malware..it won't effect them but will you, ya know just adding to your threats not ours.

That's cool, I only use Windows every once in a while, and it's usually to start up Starcraft 2 or play my music. I hardly ever browse the internet with Windows, I usually just boot up a live CD of Ubuntu and browse.

The term computer virus is often used interchangeably with malware, though the two don't actually have the same meaning. In the strictest sense, a virus is a program that copies itself and infects a PC, spreading from one file to another, and then from one PC to another when the files are copied or shared.

Most viruses attach themselves to executable files, but some can target a master boot record, autorun scripts, MS Office macros, or even in some cases, arbitrary files. Many of these viruses, like CIH, are designed to render your PC completely inoperable, while others simply delete or corrupt your files—the general point is that a virus is designed to cause havoc and break stuff.

From lifehacker

The second paragraph is why you don't see virus's for OSX. Little to nothing can execute on it's on in OSX

That's what I thought, even though Wikipedia isn't the best of sources. I did find it mentioned a couple other sites though.



I found the article on lifehacker (link) , and in the paragraph right above it, the author wrote..

So which is it? He doesn't exactly explain why they are different is my main problem. Even in the first paragraph of the whole article he uses malware to describe viruses, spyware, scareware, trojans, and worms.

This makes no sense.
Edited by Simple_echo - 4/26/12 at 11:36pm

right so you pointed out the same thing I did, other than I highlighted the definition..

just because you use something interchangabely doesn't mean they mean the same thing

I'm confused. I quoted your post yes, and than I pointed out the definition he gave above the paragraph you quoted, and how he used malware interchangeably throughout the article. Which doesn't make sense to me in an article about the proper meaning of words. O_o

http://mashable.com/2012/04/05/600000-macs-flashback/

Just to clarify, that 600,000 were infected with a Mac trojan, not Windows. And also, the end of that article was Mac ADMITTING that you CAN get a virus on a mac, however, they do what they can to be the ones keeping your computer safe instead of letting you handle your own anti-virus. Which I admit is working pretty well and they have a decent method going (for the time being), but they do admit that their potentially could be viruses for a Mac.

And in all honesty, Trojan, Malware, Virus... call it what you will but in the end it is still something unwanted on your computer doing something unwanted. The general public WOULD call this a virus, mostly because they don't know better, but the point being that the general public sees all things malicious on your computer as a virus. And lets face it, it doesn't matter what it technically is because whether its a virus or malware the fact is that its bad. Bad is bad.

I also rest my case in saying that the thread is about Macs having malware, not viruses. On top of that the exact quote from the thread starter is that 1 in 5 Macs have malware. Which is a true statement seeing as its not specifying that they are directed toward Mac. 1 in 5 have windows malware but 1 in 36 are carrying mac malware.

So those are the facts. Macs DO get viruses and the DO get malware, but in the end they mostly run on windows OS. Their is existing malware that is commonly know to exist for Macs since the 600,000 infected exploit, and these no "Virus" thats had such fame, but it is possible for Macs to get viruses, so whether it currently exists or not, it is 100% possible.

A virus is always malware but malware is not always a virus.

Okay, I see how I read it wrong now. People say virus when they're talking about trojans, spyware, etc. They should be using the word malware in that case, because a trojan is not a virus. For some reason I was thinking of it backwards. I thought he was saying you can't refer to a virus as a form of malware, and it just didn't make sense.

Thanks for dumbing it down for me.