Question for all you "I" people!

[Wade E]

Do I phones, Pods, and Tablets come with antivirus and if not do you need some on there. My daughter has an IPod touch and I have Kaspersky, the version thats made for smart phones and the such but she says it comes built into the IPod. I dont think its true but not sure so here I am. Survey says........

 

[djrockinsteve]

Macs don't get virus's but can forward them if sent via an infected computer (e mail)

It is possible to write a Mac virus but very difficult. For the i knock offs I don't know

 

[Wade E]

From what I hear its not that its hard, its just that there arent anywhere as many people that own them vs. the millions of people who own Windows based units due to its price. Thats what Ive heard at least. I woulod imagine noiw with the IPhone and Pod and tablet that will be changing!!!

 

[rawlus]

Wade, check out this link...
http://www.quora.com/Which-platform-is-more-vulnerable-to-viruses-iOS-or-Android

For practical purposes... I don't run anything but a scheduled virus scan on my Mac OS computers... About once a week just as a precaution..I do not run any real time scanners as the threat on Mac OSx is very very low.

iOS devices, the iPods, iPads and iPhones of the world are a different animal. If they are not jail broken, then the only way to get an app is via the app store. And geting an app into the app store is not easy... It must adhere to various requirements and is tested and approved by apple before it is made available. It is a somewhat closed system. The OS itself runs applications in a very specific way too which adds to its security. It is also easily wiped and restored. I would not worry personally about viruses on ios or OSx devices. That's just me.

 

[Julie]

I don't thnk it will change, Wade, Ibglowin will probably have a better answer, since he seems to be the mac boy but I have had an iphone (and I have had one for 4 years) and never had an issue and now I have an ipad and never had to worry about where I went, runs great and I never have to worry about a virus.

 

[rhoffart]

apple guy for 5+ years with no protection. Two Mac book pros, one 1st gen iPad and two iPhones ... my only problem is I buy too many apps.

apple products don't let junk load as easy. Yes you can get viruses ... I have had to clean one iPhone once, but I really think it was a bad app.

 

[Wade E]

Thanks guys, that makes a lot of sense. My daughter did have her IPod jail broken of coarse! So your saying that as long as shes stays with the Apple App store she should be fine then right? Id hate to put virus software on it as I know it will slow it down on her and maybe even have compatibility problems.

 

[rhoffart]

Correct ... heck that is the only way to get stuff on it. You can't download a program from a website as far as I know.

 

[Wade E]

Cool, what about these other smart phones, are they easily susceptible to virus just like a windows laptop or pc?

 

[ibglowin]

Yes, just say no to them.......

Mac user since 1985.

Never had a virus. I do have Symantec installed but not sure why. If your going to write a virus or trojan why write it for only10% of the OS on the market. The only way to get some bad spyware crap on a Mac is if you are so devoid of grey matter that you fall for some pop up that says "YOU HAVE A VIRUS, PLEASE DOWNLOAD THIS SOFTWARE TO REMOVE IT", or you go to porn sites and fall for the old "TO VIEW THIS AWSOME PORNO VIDEO PLEASE DOWNLOAD THIS AWESOME VIDEO CODEC THAT IS NOT LOADED WITH SPYWARE, I PROMISE........

If you jailbreak and download apps from unknown sources, you are asking from trouble, if you download biTtorrented software and install it you ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE......

Get the picture?

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks guys, that makes a lot of sense. My daughter did have her IPod jail broken of coarse! So your saying that as long as shes stays with the Apple App store she should be fine then right? Id hate to put virus software on it as I know it will slow it down on her and maybe even have compatibility problems.

My son has a jail broken I Phone for the past few years - with alot of apps! it started running a little slower ,but that is because of the software version , newer version will repair that issue according to apple
running a I phone 3g 8 gig

thanks steve

 

[BobF]

I'm a new Android tablet owner and s/w guy since the late seventies. The sandbox concept in the Android model is pretty tight. With common sense, the threat is pretty low. Android also uses the Store idea, but you can choose to download from other sources.

 

[Wade E]

Cool, thanks everyone!!

 

[deboard]

Macs are generally safer than windows when it comes to viruses, and that makes them overall more safe. BUT, the main reason for this is that there is just no profit in writing mac viruses. If you're going to spend the time to write one, you write it for the OS that has the biggest user base. I kinda get the feeling that some mac users get a false sense of security from this.

As macs become more popular, there will probably be mac viruses. I know of at least two "proof of concept" mac viruses, but I don't think any have been found in the wild. In fact, it was after the first virus was put out there that Apple began recommending virus scanning software.

However, if I had a mac, I would be more worried about just straight hacking, particularly in public places like coffee shops, airports, hotels, etc. The macs are almost always the first to go down in hacking competitions.

http://www.infoworld.com/t/hacking/apple-security-under-attack-the-view-windows-169586

Of course, if you want to be truly as safe as you can be - use linux - I recommend Linux Mint - http://www.linuxmint.com

 

[BobF]

The Android framework sits on top of Linux (currently 2.6). Security is one of the reasons Linux was chosen for Android.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Just got my first I phone, took me 15 min. to figure out how to make a phone call.

 

[Wade E]

Roflmao!!!

 

[deboard]

The Android framework sits on top of Linux (currently 2.6). Security is one of the reasons Linux was chosen for Android.

Absolutely, I have an Asus EEEpad transformer, it's great. Ipad 2 equivalent hardware for at least 100 bucks less, freedom to choose where I buy my apps, and no itunes to hose up my computer.

 

[Wade E]

I have tons of MP3's, does an IPhone play them or only I tunes?

 

[ibglowin]

Of course, but the iPhone uses iTunes to sync, so those mp3s would need to be imported into iTunes to be used/synced to the phone.