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One of Apple computers’ key selling points — besides the cultishness, the coolness, etc., etc. — has been its operating systems’ resistance to viruses.
Apple hardware is “built on the world’s most advanced operating system,” the company’s site declares, and part of the sophistication, it has emphasized, has been an exceptionally strong immune system. PCs, Apple’s marketing has suggested, shun OJ and shirk on sleep and could probably stand to wash their hands a little more often. Mac machines, on the other hand, are unsusceptible to viruses and other malware.
Well, were. Back in April, the Flashback botnet struck more than 600,000 Mac computers worldwide, with more than 300,000 of the machines affected in the U.S. Hackers searching for user information — passwords, financial account numbers — took advantage of a weakness in Java programs to gain access to Mac users’ machines. Nearly 300 of April’s Flashback attacks were aimed at Apple computers that were based in Cupertino itself.
In the wake of that attack, Apple is downgrading its antiviral swagger. On the company’s site, its former, blunt message — “it doesn’t get PC viruses” — has been replaced by a more generic boast: “It’s built to be safe.” And the slogan of the past — “Safeguard your data. By doing nothing.” — has been replaced by the much gentler “Safety. Built in.”
Which is on the one hand just a simple change in marketing language, but on the other the end of an era. The end, in particular, of a worry-free era. As more and more of our information makes its way to our machines, safeguarding data “by doing nothing” is no longer an option. Even, now, for Mac users.
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The Atlantic is a Mashable publishing partner that is a multimedia forum on the most-critical issues of our times, from politics, business, urban affairs, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.
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bound to happen sooner or later. any code can be cracked eventually.
I wish they can crack the code faster for ATV3 jailbreak >.<
Cracked? Are you high? There weren’t enough of them around to bother with.
And this is where I say: see what happens when you keep bragging about something being perfect? Someone will eventually make it their mission to bring you down. It was only a matter of time. Not so smug anymore, Apple.
naaaah, I’m sure they’re still pretty smug. haha
It still is a pretty safe and secure system, its when people do things like download software at their own risk is when they blame the perfect system, but its themselves that were doing wrong.
Same theory can be applied to Windows. I haven’t ever had a virus because I’m careful where I get software from.
Meh, still safer thatn Windows!
than*
wait, what??? —> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57421513-37/kaspersky-mac-security-is-10-years-behind-microsoft/
its exactly that attitude that will be your undoing. “We don’t get viruses”… 600,000 infected computers later, and god knows how many passwords and credit card info was stolen during that time. I guess if I paid 2x as much for a computer I’d probably defend it to the end too. Sad.
^ yea, still the same bull crap i have heard for years -_- the amount of $$ buying apple product could buying blah blah blah customizable pc stuff / more powerful hardware / such crap ..
and nerds like u think u r so smart with a high end hardware in your basement without any designer product in it ? lol
i bought my desk from vitra and it costed 1500$ usd , u got your freaking desk from ikea and it cost u only 200$ usd ? even less ! oh how SMART of you ^3^
like Anthony answered I am startled that some one able to make $4348 in four weeks on the internet. did you look at this web site (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/2MQ7E
The only reason why Apple computers didn’t have viruses before is because hackers couldn’t be bothered with them. Only now when Apple is more popular. But Apple computers now should be more protected from viruses but are not.
^^ This.
And this: http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20060513
This is a common argument and always wrong. Attacks have always gone on for all sorts of operating systems. The common attacks for Windows was through Office documents and scripts that Outlook would run automatically. They were easy to attack. On a Mac they have stricter security policies. And notice these attacks on the Mac are typically through Flash or Java and not some system exploit in the OS. Once Apple can completely dump Java and Flash it will be far more secure.
A botnet is not a virus. A trojan is not a virus. A phishing scam is not a virus. Virus means something very specific, and is not a synonym for malware. Most of these can affect any platform. Viruses are far less a threat than they used to be in the XP days on any modern OS – Linux, Windows 7/Vista as long as you don’t disable UAC. Most of the more modern threats depend on user error, and installing software to “protect” against them is often useless.
Boom… goes the hammer.
Well apple ran its mouth for so long that i guess a hacker finally had it
Macs have been able to get viruses for a long time. It’s funny because the only reason why they were less immune was because of them not being as common as PCs. “Hey, you should totally buy a Mac, it doesn’t get viruses because no one uses it!”.
Of course “no one” uses it since they can use a cracked windows.
I’m using it, I’m not “no one” and I’m sure that the money apple receives from sales is for sure a proof that MANY people use their products.
Check your numbers.
hahah says the girl who paid 2x as much for her computer. “I’m so smart, look at me”. Pathetic.
hahaha ^ say the nerd who paid 10x as less than me for his desk / chair / HIGH END pc with less price ” i am so smart , look at me and thinks he’s capable of something , and yes i paid like 1500$ usd for a desk from VITRA , do u EVEN know what those designer stuff is ?
i aint going to out a heavy metal box of pc along with my designer chair / desk , nerds -_- wake up
Better 1 virus than 100 000 + for the Windex system.
lol, unfortunately, that era was about a decade or so ago… Apples have always been getting viruses… one of the great lies of the Mac vs. PC ads.
don’t tell Ana, she’s thinking she’s all that
Who would spend resources trying to identify Apple’s achilles heel. My money is on Mircosoft
Sensationalism at its best. You should be ashamed with yourselves for publishing such rubbage. Flashback was not a virus; it was a botnet trojan. The verbiage on the website was likely unrelated. Pure sensationalism.
No it’s not. Whether they misused the word ‘virus’ or not is, frankly, irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that Apple has been saying that Macs are immune to any such threat for years and this reveals that they aren’t.
hurt little person, my ego and my Mac have been hurt by your article. You should be ashamed with yourself for posting such rubbish. Let’s hold hands and cry together you sensitive little girl, wow.
Easy Luis. To the 99%, ‘Virus’ is a term that means, ‘My computer has an unwanted program doing bad things’. And with Mac changing their marketing language, it’s hardly something the Atlantic have conjured up.
“it doesn’t get PC viruses” — means we don’t have many customers
“It’s built to be safe.” — means we are making money from MACs now…
“Safeguard your data. By doing nothing.” — has been replaced by the much gentler “Safety. Built in.” — if that doesn’t work for you, you may want to visit http://www.ubuntu.com/
Yeah, all those new Android exploits pose no threat to Linux… ummhmmmm…
still way safer than windows.
at 2x the price! Good for you sweetie.
My god mate, the phrase “u mad” seems to have been *invented* for you. Just give it up.
Just cause you can’t afford one doesn’t mean you have to post 100x expressing your feelings towards it.. Go do something else..
With the integrating of Gatekeeper with the next instalment of Apple’s operating system Mountain Lion, it will help with the virus bugs and potential threats that Macintosh computers have. However the real threat is downloading software and files from anywhere across the internet, this is one reason why Apple incorporated the Mac App Store back in 2011. A safe and protected place to get software. One of the attractive however at the same time unattractive reason why I love my iPhone is that is is secure to an extent and I can’t download applications from the web because it goes through the App Store. Cutting the threat of poetically virus. I really dislike how people complain about their iPhones when they were the ones that Jailbreak it and blame it on Apple. It will be the same case for viruses on computers, since the Mac is becoming more and more attractive as a product, there will be even more unsafe programs out there. But Apple has given you places to get all the things that you want; iTunes and Mac App Store. However you will choose to search the internet for them instead. So when illegally downloading that next song that could potentially be a win or break for your Mac, don’t blame Apple, blame yourself.
java hack does not equal stealing music? Java is not some exotic software that you get by “illegally downloading that next song”. WTF dude.
So…solution:Linux
It all means Macs are more popular. I mean, if getting viruses are the sign of computer success then perhaps Apple will finally be able to turn a profit after all those years of being considered second class in a Windows world. Hey, maybe Macs will finally get respect from the Windows crowd. All Apple needs to do now is to send out really frequent updates that give you only enough warning that if you take a piss your computer will restart on you and, oh, wait. Windows doesn’t need to be restarted nearly as much as it used to be for random glitches. So, yeah, viruses and daily restart updates. That should do it.
(*Take this as totally tongue-in-cheek and not a serious comment about anything other than the humor of this even being a headline.)
“Resistance to viruses” is incorrect. Mac OS is not resistant to viruses; it simply can’t execute Windows code and is therefore immune to Windows viruses. Mac OS has been shown time and time again to be much less secure than Windows, let alone Linux or standard BSD.
Like Bob DeGrande said, the Botnet thing wasn’t a virus, it was a trojan. For something to be considered a virus it would have to be able to self replicate, something no malicious software has yet been able to do on OSX. Therefore OSX still has no known viruses. And to put the record straight, Macs USED to have viruses… in the OS 9 days. The last OS 9 was shipped 2001. That year Apple sold less than a million mac units and hackers back then thought that was enough Macs in the market to create viruses for it. In 2011 Apple sold almost 5 million units in Q4 alone. There are more Mac users than ever before, so the fact that there are still no known viruses for OSX (an operating system over 10 years old) has nothing to do with the myth that there aren’t enough macs out there to be enticing for hackers. If I were a hacker I’d think it would be the golden prize the be the FIRST ONE EVER to write a virus for a mac. That trophy alone is probably having hackers going nuts to be the first. I think the real reason there are still no known viruses for OSX is simplying because OSX was built very well.
Wait. The Flashback botnet required that a user install something. The Mac is still not susceptible to the browser-like exploits and traditional viruses like Windows-based PCs. Hell, I can turn any computer into a bot if the user is going to willingly install my bot software. There is a critical distinction that needs to be understood here. Maybe it’s too fine a line for end-consumers but for us in the IT world, the difference between that bot issue with Macs and everyday-virus-issues for Windows PCs is like the grand canyon.
This article is simple and not based on facts
Apple is still the best.
Mac’s were never fully virus-proof. It was just that there were significantly fewer viruses coded for Mac, because Mac has a lower market share – look at it from a hackers perspective, they will obviously choose to write a virus for Windows over OS X or Linux because of greater market share.
In the the end of the day, so long as you are careful about what you click on you won’t get any viruses – but if you are not, then you are putting yourself at risk, no matter what platform you are on.
I thought they could always get viruses, but were just safer than PCs? Because really no electronic device is hack free because people are just way too smart for that to even be possible and hackers love a challenge and Apple gave them one.
Dun Dun Dun. Sucks, but stay vigilant and keep software up-to-date.
Still a thousand times better than windows. If microsoft would just give up on IE, it would be a lot closer to being safe too :)
Macs were never immune to viruses. It was more like security by obscurity. Which is not secure.
Excuse me, this reads to me like a rather lightweight article with no real information. Can you please put in a bit more time and research properly before you post?? No good style this is :-(
It was never “virus-free”. No computer is ever safe.
Macs have always been a better machine for professionals who enjoy solid uptime and reliability with fewer security issues and so forth. There are better options available for people who can rely on all open-source solutions and things like that, but in production and real work worlds.. a lot of us need software that’s only available on the big two.
I’m tired of the stereotype about macs being “just for people who like pretty things and gimmicks”. They’ve made my life a lot less stressful and trippled my productivity since I made the switch. If all I was concerned with was playing computer games and being a hobbiest that likes to fix things all the time and monkey around with hardware instead of getting some work done… I could see why a Windows PC could be a cheap and important option. The time I used to spend on fixing Winblows problems could have been used to work though and purchase multiple apple machines. So glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore.
In that same light Adam, I enjoy tinkering around with Windows stuff and playing games. Also the price is right for a person like me, to use a windows machine.
However, I do have a Mac laptop . The whole Mac vs PC thing becomes irrelevant once you have both machines. I think they’re both good – it’s the user that’s the deciding factor.
Well, the problem isn’t Apple, it’s clearly Java…
too bad most Mac owners are so clueless they can’t figure this out. Don’t believe me? Go read the comments above and below. Sad group.
To all the “FlashGot is not a virus” commenters, you’re arguing semantics. The Black Plague isn’t a virus either (it’s bacteria), but I wouldn’t want to get it. Malware is bad, whether it’s a botnet, phishing scam or whatever.
Also, a good anti-virus program CAN prevent dumb users from falling for scams. I run Norton and it won’t even allow me to download malware, let alone run it.
I love how it’s “your Mac can get viruses now” and it’s not even Apple’s OSX that’s vunerable, it’s Java’s fault here.
This is where I laugh and say you over paid for your hardware anyhow. Macbook with i5, 4 Gig of RAM, 500 Gig HD = $1500. Asus Gaming laptop with Win7, i7 quad core 2nd Gen, 16 Gig of RAM, 3 Gig NVidia Video, and a 250 Gig Solid State Drive = $1500. You got had by clever marketing and social pressure from rich kids who thought paying more meant better.
You’re an idiot: http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/
There’s only two prices there, neither is under $2000
You got had by thinking there was clever marketing and social pressure, when really you’re just an idiot that pays 2x as someone that buys a PC. You got money? GREAT. Spend away. Not all of us have that kind of disposable income, nor the need to be perceived as an uppity jerk.
It’s not that MacOS inherently has fewer software vulnerabilities (although this is probably in fact the case), and it’s not that there are fewer exploits devised for MacOS vulnerabilities (although this is nearly certainly the case). It’s that the MacOS has far better isolation and protection built into the OS such that the vast majority of exploits, even if successful, can’t do much actual harm to the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of system data.
Even so, all that protection can’t shield from every threat, especially since software vulnerabilities will always be present. *Of course* it’s only a matter of time before a meaningful exploit is inflicted on the systems. But in the end, MacOS is inherently safer than other operating systems of similar caliber.
Nothing like a story that is almost three months old AND is poorly researched.
Any computer is open to viruses, trojans, botnets, et al. You download junk off the internet, you get infections on your machine. No machine is perfect is it?
On Linux, you use software repositories that contain software packages, signed by the distribution packager (like Ubuntu/Canonical, Fedora/RedHat, openSUSE, etc.) or a trusted 3rd party packager (like Google, Dropbox, Adobe, etc.). Check this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_repository
Also recommended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system
Downloading junk is practically impossible. For everything else, there is pebkac. :)
This is old news. Trend Micro already reported that Apple platforms had the most security vulnerabilities for the first quarter of 2012 by a LONG margin.
http://www.trendmicro.com/cloud-content/us/pdfs/security-intelligence/reports/rpt_security_in_the_age_of_mobility.pdf?ClickID=aakzoss0s9knpkwnpzzovosl9nt0yowrwrl
At Apple they are marketing experts and they had to take advantage of their position for as long as they could… even when it was not technically accurate. As someone else commented the only reason why there were no viruses or malware for Mac was because nobody would bother creating them in the first place because there were so few Macs. Now that there are a lot of them out there, there is an incentive for trying to break them.
I see a couple of informed techies have responded about a BOTnet not being a virus, but a trojan. Second, the software that introduced the BOTNET (Java) was not designed or controlled by Apple. If you don’t install Java, MS Office, and Adobe Flash, you are guaranteed not to have any trojan problems. Of course, to have some more fun, Java and Flash are great to have, and Microsoft Office just adds to portability between your Windows brotherern.
I would be nice that some of these sensational articles get vetted by experts before they publish FUD!
Umm yeah…I’ll stick with my Mac. Despite the fact that this was a java issue vs. OS, I’ll still take this over the issues Windows has on the security (and performance) front any day. This is laughable considering the MILLIONS of Win units that are infected world-wide…
In general, Unix derivatives are still safer than other OSes. Of course improper chmod (drwxrwxrwx)settings provides a niceentry point to hackers.
Well. it was bound to happen with their popularity now. Apple/Macs are much more in the public eye than 10-20 years ago.
Vulnerability patches have been constantly going on for years for our Microsoft machines.
If I were a hacker years ago, I’d have been trying to exploit what used to be known as Micro$oft.
Well Apple, welcome to the limelight. We now pay, pay, pay for you too, just in other ways.
At the 2x used in this article, in my opinion, I’d say overall then that the price of ownership would be about equal now if you include the price of the Micro$oft O$ upgrades and M$ Office $uites.
I guess it’s safe to say, worms aren’t just for PC’s anymore..
PS. Tech heads, yes, I’m using worms as a broad term, get over it, lol.
Honestly, it wasn’t that Macs were immune to viruses, it’s just that the installed based has finally gotten large enough for hackers to take an interst in.
2012: The year Macs got a virus. What was the year of the first PC virus? And for the sake of a fair comparison, how many viruses have their been for PCs? Not just this year. I mean, total.
Java was not made by Apple. Apple have been trying to stop using Java anyway. Same story for Flash. There are your security holes.
agree.. the end time has come for flash & what … Java ?… anyway
i can see a lot of pc/ microsoft fanboi trying to be sarcastic and thinks they r so smart … flashback to the darkage of internet explorer … dont even know why these fanboi could even exist .. pathetic
That’s what happens when you say you’re virus proof. You paint a big, red target on your back, for every unscrupulous programmer in the world to aim for. It’s okay, though – I have bought two MacBooks in the past and my next machine will be a mac as well. They’re just awesome.
How many viruses has Linux gotten so far? None that I know of…
Thanks for giving me the news from back in April. Anything interesting happen back in December?
Mac is no more built to be safe. Infact it was never safe. It was less immune because it was less common as PCs
- Lisa
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