Windows 7 on mac viruses

Regardless of the operating system, the easiest way for an attacker to compromise a system is by going after the application level and causing the user to click, open, or run something they should not. Unfortunately, you cannot 'secure' user behavior.

In their words: Experts weigh in on Mac vs. PC security - CNET

But both Apple and Microsoft operating systems, as well as third-party application vendors, can still make a lot of improvements on protecting users. However, those types of changes do not happen quickly as the vendors are forced to consider usability and compatibility. Gary McGraw, chief technology officer at Cigital: Having a Mac is more secure because not that many people have Macs.

I think their market share is still less than 15 percent. For every point of market share, the risk goes up. Mostly I have a Mac because it is a better machine, not because it is more secure. Charlie Miller, a principal analyst at consultancy Independent Security Evaluators: Macs have a larger attack surface out of the box Flash, Java, support for a million file formats, etc. This means Macs have more vulnerabilities and it's easier to turn a vulnerability into an exploit on the platform.

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Despite the fact it is less secure, paradoxically, Macs are actually safer to use for most people. This is because there simply isn't much risk of being exploited or installing malware. Since Macs are only around 10 percent of computers out there, and it takes just as much effort for bad guys to write malware or exploits, they tend to spend all of their time targeting PCs.

In other words, despite the fact that Macs are less secure than PCs, if you give one teenager a Mac and another a PC and come back in a month, the odds are the Mac will have no problems and the PC will be infected with malware. At some point the market share of Macs will reach a threshold to interest attackers, and then things will quickly turn bad for Mac users. Clearly there are major differences between Windows XP and Windows 7.

Second is, are we talking about safety versus security? Microsoft has done more in terms of its inherent security features than Apple has in the operating system. All of that said, Microsoft gets attacked a lot more than Apple does. Right now your odds of being infected as a Mac user by malicious software are quite a bit lower than a Windows user, unless you do stupid things, such as download free versions of commercial software.

And some of the pornography sites on the Internet, the dark corners of the Internet have stuff that will hurt a Mac. It's really a balance because there's little motivation for Apple to do more at this time. The Mac OS has got some holes in there that Microsoft has closed down. But since it's attacked less there is less motivation for Apple to close the gap. Jose Nazario, security research manager at Arbor Networks: But, at present, you're less likely to be exploited on a Mac because there are just fewer viruses and attackers targeting them.

Sadly, there are more tools for Windows like AV [antivirus], personal security suites, etc. The Mac desktop is lagging behind. Also, Apple has often shown less aggressiveness than Microsoft in addressing security issues. Tyler Reguly, senior security research engineer at nCircle: But if you take a look at the two platforms, and the mindsets of the companies behind them then the PC wins hands down. If you compare Windows 7 to Snow Leopard, then the simple winner is Windows 7.

Microsoft brought in teams of security professionals to look at their code and find problems leading to a more secure product while Apple is often criticized for ignoring issues. You also have to consider that Microsoft has a patch program in place that provides patches and updates on a more regular basis than Apple, this is something that the consumer should care about, as should they care about the plethora of PC security products that exist.

Computer Viruses in Windows virtual machines

Until consumers can learn to do this on a regular basis it won't matter if they are running a Mac or a PC Avi Rubin, computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University: The Mac is no more difficult to hack than the PC, but hackers get much more bang for their hacking buck attacking Windows. So, you're safer on a Mac Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research at Websense: I'm using a Mac myself. Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer of BT: Joe Stewart, director of malware research at SecureWorks: Fundamentally Mac and Windows suffer from the same weakness--human programmers make mistakes and users are easily social-engineered.

Whichever platform has the most users is ultimately the riskiest to use. The main advantage for Mac users is the lack of interest from malware writers. Macs don't really have an advantage over Windows systems when it comes to malware. A lot of malware for example, the recent fake-antivirus examples is installed willingly by users. Mac users would do the same thing if asked to install software under the right pretense. Right now, there is no well tested anti-malware solution for Macs due to a lack of samples.

Paul Vixie, founder of the Internet Systems Consortium: First, the code base is smaller and more easily audited.

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Third and finally, because the Mac market size is smaller, there are fewer users and fewer ISV's [independent software vendors] and fewer device driver writers and it's just not as interesting a target for bad guys. Vincent Weafer, vice president of Symantec Security Response: So, from that perspective, the Mac would appear to have the edge. However, in reality, all technologies are subject to security vulnerabilities, including the Web browsers, common Web browser plug-ins and common applications that run on top of the operating systems.

So in reality, consumers can fall victim to online threats regardless of the operating system they're using. Also consider that we're seeing today's cybercriminals almost exclusively going after personal and financial information, and often times, they do this by employing social-engineering tactics, like phishing attacks, that are platform agnostic. It's also important to keep in mind that as any platform gains popularity, its likelihood of becoming targets for cybercriminals increases.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is computer users deciding which platform best fits their computing likes and dislikes and then doing everything they can to make sure that they have protected themselves. This includes keeping up-to-date with security patches, having full-featured security software protection, setting sensible policy and controls on how they use their computer--especially in open environments such as free Wi-Fi hot spots--and being aware of how to spot threats and how not to fall victim to them.

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Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode: I think the Mac is less risky, not more secure. The difference is in the threat environment. An analogy would be an unlocked house in an urban vs.

Both are insecure. One, the rural, is less risky. This virtualized computer is as vulnerable to viruses as an usual PC running Windows. We highly recommend you to have antivirus AV software installed in the guest OS. You may install any preferable antivirus software compatible with the version of Windows OS you are running in virtual machine. Don't run multiple antivirus software in one OS: Please be aware that although computer viruses and similar malicious software cannot affect Mac OS X itself, it may corrupt Shared Folders content which is accessible from Windows side, so we recommend that you avoid storing any important data there or at least create backups.

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Parallels Desktop for Mac Home Edition. I was told by Parallels Support team that my Windows virtual machine is infected by a malware and I need to install antivirus software. How do I check that? Resolution Parallels Desktop for Mac runs guest OS in special virtualized environment that emulates entire computer. There are anti-virus, etc. I routinely run Linux, and while it has little malware, I still run an AV. You can tell that you have some sort of a bug if just random things start happening. If your computer is running extremely slow, check the processes Not sure how on Mac, ps -A on Linux, so may be the same and see if any of them seem suspicious.

While most of the times a keylogger will not be called keylogger. Also, if you see any data being moved along port 0, that could be a problem. But most importantly, run your AV. I know that there are some free ones out there. I know that McAffee I think or one of the major companies has started making a mac Av, so you might consider it.

Sorry for the long run on. Email me if you need anything and Good Luck.

Source s: I'm trying to use malwarebytes on a google browser as I keep having something trying to download when I use safari. I don't know what I'm doing wrong as it shows that it is in my applications folder but won't let me eject or even run the program. I feel like I'm missing a step in the installation but have done everything the instructions say. Any help? What would I do in that scenario? What would I have to download in order to get rid of any infections? I've tried everything and my problem has not been solved. I keep seeing popups on my browser, usually when I'm being redirected by a link.

They are all from Mackeeper, and they all force me to quit Safari. I did not install anything on my computer, other than Adobe. I've searched everywhere for a way to keep the ads from appearing, but I have not found a solution yet. I downloaded and installed Malwarebytes but it has not found anything. I've followed instructions that said to delete certain files from the Library, but I don't have any of the ones mentioned.

I've tried switching networks and the problem just won't go away. Hey Grace, if you switch your browser does the problem happen there too? Download Firefox and try it out. If the ads don't pop up there, I'd suggest checking your Safari extensions and seeing if anything familiar is there. I was having pop up's out of no where. It was hell. I used the AdwareMedic and it fixed everything. Thanks so much for this information. I've tried it out, runs quickly. And it seems like they've hired the blogger behind The Safe Mac, which bodes well.

Thank you very much Justin, I used AdwareMedic and it helped. Then I donated them of course. It is very frustrating constantly getting those "wasps"- adds. But now my new mac book pro is fast again. Good morning! I removed 2 different Mac viruses in my first six months I remember because it surprised me so much , and I was only put in charge of about 30 Macs.

I wouldn't call them common, but they are just as easy to get and they're just as bad. Go to a shady website, or stick in a flash drive from a co-worker and whammo, you're infected. The best way to describe it is the two "S" words: