# More viruses on Macs than Windows **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871 "2020-02-13T13:27:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/1 "2020-02-13T13:27:27Z")
I guess the guy who thought he was so smart he did not need doctors to treat cancer is rolling over in his grave. [Sorry, Mac owners, a new report says Windows PCs are safer from malware | Mashable](https://mashable.com/article/mac-windows-viruses-malwarebytes/) I expect the Apple fanatics won’t believe this. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/2 "2020-02-13T13:40:47Z")
I provisionally believe the article, which appears to be reputable. I don’t believe your thread title, for which you have offered no support whatsoever. Got any cite for Mac viruses? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/3 "2020-02-13T14:02:32Z")
Umm…: > [@](#): > > According to Malwarebytes, the culprits for Macs are largely adware and “cleaning” programs like MacKeeper and MacBooster. MacKeeper and MacBooster are insanely easy to avoid: just don’t install them. The main problem there is simply ignorance. > [@](#): > > Of all the threats seen this year, only one incident involved anything other than tricking the user into downloading and opening something they shouldn’t. > … > Beyond that what we saw was a virtual landslide of adware and PUP detections, far outpacing growth on the Windows side. While these threats are not considered as dangerous as traditional malware, they are becoming a much larger and more noticeable nuisance for Mac users, who can no longer say that their beloved systems are immune from malware. This experienced Mac user is unconcerned. Vulnerable people are those who mindlessly clicking on hyper-aggressive MacKeeper and MacBooster ads that regular Apple users know better not to, but certainly those same people would likely do the same stupid shit on a PC. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/4 "2020-02-13T14:06:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Got any cite for Mac viruses? It’s in the [Malwarebytes PDF cited by the article](https://resources.malwarebytes.com/files/2020/02/2020_State-of-Malware-Report.pdf). Windows still has twice as many but only increased by 1% whereas Mac threats increased by 10%. In short, there were 2.4 million more threats to Mac last year than in 2018 as opposed to 400K more for Windows during the same period. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/5 "2020-02-13T14:50:51Z")
Whoops, I was looking at the wrong chart. For some reason, they switched to a vertical chart for Mac; Windows has nearly five times as many threats than Mac but Mac threats more than doubled in 2019 (4.8 million to 11 million). ---
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/6 "2020-02-13T15:02:46Z")
I’ve always been a Windows person, and likely always will be, but I still thought those old “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” commercials were pretty funny 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/7 "2020-02-13T15:11:00Z")
Malware is not a virus. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/8 "2020-02-13T15:16:25Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Malware is not a virus. Yeah, this is a losing battle… You can tell people all day long that malware that you explicitly give permission to, and deliberately install on your computer is not a virus, and they will still call it [that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=889760). ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/9 "2020-02-13T15:25:42Z")
^^Yup. Some folks need to learn that you don’t just click “Yes” or “Install,” unless you know what you’re installing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/10 "2020-02-13T15:28:21Z")
And it’s not like there’s much that an OS can do to stop you from voluntarily installing stupid crap on your computer. Ironically, a lot of the folks who install MacCleaner probably do so because they’re afraid of viruses. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/11 "2020-02-13T15:42:42Z")
^^^I think you’re right. MacKeeper is right up there as well as the worst thing to ever install. The gals at work have installed shit that I had to get rid of. They click on stuff while going on-line during lunch or something, and the next thing I know I’m getting rid of MacKeeper or some browser hijacker. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/12 "2020-02-13T18:00:55Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Malware is not a virus. True; the virus writer people need to up their game and release something novel and original. I fondly remember a room full of Macs (at a critical organization you’ve heard of) periodically telling people, “Don’t panic.” ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/13 "2020-02-13T18:09:37Z")
^^^I remember years ago (back in the days of OS8) where there was a worm or something. But that’s the only so-called virus I remember. How did the folks react when you told them “don’t panic.”? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/14 "2020-02-13T18:34:21Z")
Hehe, it was not I telling the people not to panic- it was the [virus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIR) announcing itself 🙂 Unfortunately (sloppy programming?) it also caused the systems to slow down and other corruption. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/15 "2020-02-13T18:39:05Z")
^^That’s going way back. I clicked your link and now I understand. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/16 "2020-02-13T20:14:55Z")
Mac viruses are almost always Chrome or Safari extensions. They are installed from websites – and not necessarily dodgy ones. I’ve seen very few traditional viruses on PCs these days. Chrome extension malware has taken over. So while that one type of virus is growing, the vast majority of older Windows viruses are just not a problem. Thus, that sector is shrinking, while the extension malware – which infects both Windows and Macs – is growing. It’s probably the same rate of growth for both, but the drop in OS viruses makes PCs look better. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/17 "2020-02-14T02:21:18Z")
I’ve been an Apple user since 1982, started with the IIe, then the original Mac 128, and numerous machines since then, I’ve been an Apple Authorized service tech for decades, and in all my time, I’ve only encountered ONE virus, and no viruses on customer machines, strangely enough The virus I encountered? [nVIR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIR)an old virus that was malicious up to Mac OS 8.6, it was on a floppy disc with some old SyQuest external drive extensions (drivers), my freeware antivirus app nailed it right off the bat and eliminated it Even if the virus did make it onto my Mac\*\*at the time, it wouldn’t have done anything at all, as I was running Mac OS 9.2.2, and nVIR was incompatible with anything past Mac OS 8… The only virus I encountered in the wild wouldn’t have done anything to my rig… \*\* _HEAVILY_ upgraded 7600 with maxed RAM, processor upgrade, nvidia video card, three internal hard drives, ZIP drive and CD-RW, a very high performance rig for the time, I even had to jury rig in three additional cooling fans to keep it running cool), ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-viruses-on-macs-than-windows/847871/18 "2020-02-14T02:26:01Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > True; the virus writer people need to up their game and release something novel and original. I fondly remember a room full of Macs (at a critical organization you’ve heard of) periodically telling people, “Don’t panic.” The [nVIR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIR) strain of viruses, I encountered the B strain in the wild on a compromised floppy, but since I was running Mac OS 9.2.2 it wouldn’t have done anything, my antivirus killed it as soon as the floppy mounted