Why are there more reports on attacks against Windows PC but fewer reports of attacks against Mac computers?

Answer 1

The other answers are very true. One other reason is due to the size of the two companies. Microsoft had been considered the "Bully" and Mac the "Little" guy that gets his lunch stolen by the "Bully".

Since Windows was first introduced the news media has gone after Microsoft. The news media determined (with the help of accusation made by Apple) that Windows was the Apple OS modified slightly by Microsoft and stolen from Apple.

Apple and Microsoft came to an agreement that Microsoft could produce an OS simular to the Mac OS. When Windows was introduced, Apple knew they screwed up. The did not expect Windows to be as good as it was. Apple immediately claimed MS stole the Apple OS and filed lawsuits claiming Copyright infringements.

The media now publishes everything they can find that puts MS in a bad light. All the good MS does is never published by the "main stream media". You have to find the few blogs and Tech news sources that publish it in order to learn about it.

I read an article, today, that claims Vista is full of holes that make the Security weak. The article could only site that someone figured out how to bypass the Anti-Pirating protection built into Vista. What it doesn't say is that flaw pertained only to the Business version due to the method of allowing the registration of one program being used on many computers. This is not a security flaw that allows Vista to be infected. So the claim of many security flaws is bogus. But, any lie to make MS look bad is AOK for the media and is overlooked by most people.

Answer 2

Market Share,
Mac has done some wonderful stuff in the past year so they are getting media attention like never before (since the launch of the iMac) so their market share is growing.

But currently it is around a generous number of 5% (yet 75% of portable music player markets: ipods)

So most programmers choose not to program for such a small number of computers. Also the languages that people write viruses in don't run the same way on a mac so it isn't to convert over unlike a image file or movie clip.

And.... biggest reason.. people who own macs love them, and wouldn't want to hurt them.

Answer 3

Macs are more secure. Believe me, any time the media gets a whiff of a possible Mac OS X virus, they're all over it. They would love to see an actual working real world virus hit the Mac, but it hasn't happened yet. Here's a link explaining exactly why Mac OS X is more secure than Windows.

http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisemac/archives/2006/08/is_windows_inhe.html

Answer 4

I would say its because most individuals and companies are using pc's and the associated software. If you want to spread a virus quickly that would be the way to go. I had a pc before but found some of the programs difficult to run and some of the programs for my children that said they would run on both pc an mac did not.

Answer 5

The way I have always understood it, its because the Mac OS traditionally was harder to write viruses for, plus there is definitely a public dislike of Bill Gates and Microsoft (more than of Steve Jobs). The other's answers are also correct... if you're going for maximum destruction, there are many more PCs than Macs in the marketplace.

Answer 6

There are more Windoze than there are Mac computers out there so it makes sense to go after which numbers can have the most damage.

There are more security vulnerabilities in PCs running Windows than in Macs, but we'll see what happens when Leopard is released.

Answer 7

Windows is the most popular brand of computer in the world so most people use it. There for it makes more sense to create a virus that would attack the most computers. However, there are viruses made specifically for linux and mac computers, and there are multiplatform viruses that can attack all brands of computers. The last is really rare however. God Bless.

Answer 8

More Windows PC means higher percentage of attacks. Most Mac are in homes or schools. PC are in homes and business and business is where they want to do the most harm.

Answer 9

Windows has about 92% of the market and Apple has about 5 or 6. More viruses are written for the windows because it will effect more people.

Answer 10

Because there are more hackers (stupid idle people) working at overcoming Windows systems than Mac systems.

Windows is the more common system: so hackers are more likely to be using it. Besides by attacking Windows hackers are more likely to harass a large group of targets (a lot of lams are using it)....