Are Macs REALLY Safer?

There's a common belief that Macs aren't as susceptible to malware as PCs, but how true is that?

[sheepman]

I Have been an IT Guy for years. I have worked on MAC, Linux, and windows. They are all about as secure as the system admins supporting them.

[Twinrehz]

No joke, ad-blocker has probably saved my ass more times than I can imagine.

[Chard]

Big Macs are safe though.


Unless you want to get hypertension.

[NathanYoungman]

Top tip: password managers are helpful for avoiding phishing attacks. Autofill isn't going to fill if the URL is visually similar but not identical.

[mrguest]

Don't worry, my $999 apple stand has no chance of getting a virus.

[lucidtheming]

Linux community has entered the chat....but does not want to know your location.

[Dhairya_Dj]

But Pro Display XDR isn't Safe Without the Stand

[nemlol]

Fun fact my typewriter doesn't get windows or Mac viruses.

[Thuazabi]

This reminds me of a VERY old IT joke: "the safest computer in the world is one where no firmware or operating system has been installed, all external and internal IO has been disabled, there is no display, nor keyboard nor mouse, and it's been sealed in a steel box and dropped into the Marianas Trench - super secure, but essentially worthless"

[MsPfpfpf]

there is tons of viruses for mac, just have to pay for them
:D:D:D

[gkid]

The Chromebook image at the end is a Dell Chromebook 3189 don't know who would find this information useful but here it is

[SIeipner]

4:19 "If you do, you will have to give up pirating your favorite games"

I'm pretty sure going from Windows to Chromebook means giving up on all games period.

[OmegaJazz]

idk whats cheaper. getting your wallet banged by a hacker (699$)
Or an apple stand (999$)

[ColHogan-leyk]

Where's my 8k option, my Chromebook can take it Linus!

[nERVEcenter]

I was hoping you might talk about BSD sandboxing and other such differences, but alas.

[krenzzie]

It just depends on how you use your computer

[ymi_yugy]

I think the issue goes much deeper than that. If I am not mistaken Win32 apps have a more rights than apps on Mac OS. I heard that UWP fixes most of these issues but very few people seem to be using that.
Another thing to note is that the UAC (User Account Control) on Windows seems to be less granular than the permission model Mac OS or most UNIX based OS use. An App that needs system level access on Windows is usually started in admin mode and can than do whatever it wants for the duration it's running. In the UNIX world you typically grant those rights only for a specific action.

Aside from that there is also the topic of kernel access that I know very little about and that you should have discussed.

[theharbingerofconflation]

There are a fuckton of advanced security features stemming from the UNIX world getting more numerous since SL. Among them are Mandatory Access Control to the kernel level, App Sandboxing, PKI, Standardised ACL and POSIX permissions, W^X, or more recently SIP. Gatekeeper even offers build in security scans of all apps since 2011, way before Windows had a build in virus scanner. Add to this the Full Disk Encryption offered by FileVault since (again) Snow Leopard, at this point even the TimeMachine (Apples fully timelined Backup Solution) offers build in Encryption (End to end and endpoint). I was a security researcher (penetration tester) for years and can whole heartedly endorse that MacOS is indeed harder to attack. For example a common tactic, using pdf embedded JS scripts, simply fails on a mac due to their tight but restrictive integration of the pdf format. It is by no means OpenBSD, but it is a joke to compare the well exploited NT lineage to macOS.

As for pure Viruses, there are about a handful for the Mac. Only 1 of which I know you could get running right now thanks to gatekeeper exploding with denial messages for the others. That is in part definitely due to value of attack market. However it still does make the Mac a profoundly safer place to be a noob. By default you cannot even install Apps from unknown developers without specifically pushing "run anyways" in the right settings submenu.

[sittingstill]

I’ve never had any malware or viruses on Apple products since 1985. It’s anecdotal, but in a circle of primarily Mac users, I’ve never met a Mac user who has ever been infected with viruses or malware. So, just another data point.

(Yes, I’ve read about and watched DEFCON and like demonstrations of Macs and Apple devices being compromised. I am aware of what is possible and the shortcomings present in every architecture.)

[Zeales]

Fun fact: In 2013/2014 while OS X and general Apple product adoptation was storming ahead, virus and malware targeting OS X increased by over 4000%. Hilariously, in 2011 a lot of OS X installations was struck by the 'Mac Defender' malware and Apple reacted by basically telling their techs: Don't confirm or deny that an infection exists and whatever you do, don't try to remove it."