Remember those old I’m a Mac, I’m a PC ads? In one, the Mac looks on, concerned, while the PC keeps sneezing from a virus it's caught, eventually crashing backward onto the ground. For a while, Macs did seem mostly immune to computer viruses. But when Apple’s market share ballooned, with it came a new fan club: hackers.
Yes, MacOS comes with XProtect, Gatekeeper and other tools, and most Mac owners get by just fine with these plus a dash of skepticism. Still, security firms keep spotting fresh malware strains, and some of the old tricks (like phishing and social engineering) still work.
So while your Mac isn’t helpless, it’s not untouchable either.
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Can Macs get viruses?
Yes, Macs can get viruses, and they always could. The idea that they can’t comes from a time when most malware was aimed at Windows users. But when Macs grew in popularity, they caught hackers' attention.
Apple does include some built-in tools to help keep things safe. XProtect checks downloaded files for known malware. The Malware Removal Tool tries to clean up anything that slips through. And Gatekeeper stops you from opening apps that haven’t been approved. These features run quietly in the background, and most Mac users don’t even notice them.
They’re not foolproof, though. They rely on Apple’s list of known threats, which doesn’t always update as fast as threats evolve, so newer types of malware can still sneak in. If you’re curious, you can take a look at XProtect’s malware database by opening this folder on your Mac:
/Library/Apple/System/Library/CoreServices/XProtect.bundle/Contents/Resources/
Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/CNET
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