The question is, does an Apple virus exist to begin the discussion in the first place? There’s a news on the internet regarding Apple’s Mac latest threat called “OSX/MaMi” which is a similar virus to DNS Changer known for the devastation it created by infecting millions of computers in 2012.
OSX/MaMi was first reported back on January 17 2018, and was trending virus of Apples’ Mac PC. iOS users witness 82.163.143.135 and 82.163.142.137. in the DNS settings on Mac if the device is harmed by OSX/MaMi.
This is something to root as the popularity of Mac grows as the leading platform and based on that fact the malware attacks are becoming more advanced evolving to become self-learning making Apple devices a hit target. A report by Malwarebytes predicted that Mac malware grew by 270% in 2017 which will definitely make you think twice using your Apple device.
Why Apple doesn’t need Anti-Virus
Apple’s is one of the safest OS available in the market but it doesn’t mean that hackers cannot target it. One another reason why it is less targeted is because of less number of users when compare to Android and Windows. Plus, the level of encryption is better than the other OS as well as vulnerabilities rarely found in the UI.
Its self-explanatory the Operating System is Unix based which means the software is like having doors after doors leading to blind spots – even if somehow the malware reaches your iOS device, it won’t be able to get to the core of the machine. True Apple isn’t hacker proof but its still difficult to bypass the security than the Windows PCs, due to which Apple devices make less of a target.
The most recent version of the Apple MacOS “OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion” takes things a step further in security. It has a GateKeeper functionality which by default prevents users from installing any other apps from unknown sources avoiding them from inviting unwanted malware and viruses from unknown guests. Moreover, the lack of Flash plugins and Java removes the urge to install random apps.
Why Apple need Anti-virus
Fact is criminals do target the easiest fruit and its harder to target Macs to speak of, but the situation change in time. Just as its changing and taking a U-turn now. Windows on the other hand is becoming more and more secure as Windows 8 and 10 have been declared the most secure operating system ever.
The purpose of Apple product is for the class that can afford the gadget. iPhone X being somewhere over $1000 is not easy for everyone’s pocket. When these devices tend to be expensive then the purchaser is definitely has deep pockets, making it an attractive target standing out of the crowd.
One thing needs to be kept in mind that the end user is always the weakest link and in numerous ways security softwares exists to save you from making bad decisions without you knowing it. It’s important to understand even Apple users can fall prey to cybercriminals and for the price of a coffee each week purchased, Anti-Viruses provide much more in a lesser price. Meanwhile we can contemplate about the benefits of the Anti-Virus. And if you want to get more protection which is unbreakable, then we would suggest you to use a best iOS VPN with a best anti-virus and stay safe always.
