In short, malware is almost as prevalent as regular software, with nearly 600 million known malware in existence as of 2016. You can even get it from USB flash drives you find on the sidewalk (ok, that one might be obvious). Advertisements on web pages aren’t even safe. You can get it from suspicious links in emails. You can get malware from software you download, even from seemingly safe and reputable websites. “ Malware ,” (short for malicious software ) is the broader term for any malicious program that could potentially mess with your computer. These utilities often slow down your computer, so they don’t want to promote them. They say you don’t need an antivirus because they know people hate antivirus software. Apple markets these products as virus-free.

Mac OS X software has more high-risk vulnerabilities than all versions of Windows put together. As Bitdefender CEO Bogden Botezatu explained in a 2015 Digital Trends article: Every operating system is susceptible to viruses. You’ve also probably heard (most likely from a smarmy Mac user) that Macs don’t get viruses. Windows operating systems are running on over 90 percent of all computers currently in use, making them a larger target for cybercriminals and bored internet troublemakers.

This is even truer if you’re a Windows user. If you’ve been poking around on internet-connected computers for a while, there’s a very good chance you’ve gotten at least one of the hundreds of millions of malware floating around. Let’s face it: Malware is pernicious, annoying, and quite often dangerous.

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