Can you get viruses on iPads and iPad minis?

My pleasure.

No spyware, unless you give personal info responding to suspicious email messages and/or SMS.

Carefully read this support article:--> Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Regards

Giulio

Providing that you have not attempted to jailbreak your device - or have bypassed protections by side-loading third-Apps (if you don’t know what this is, then don’t worry about it), then it is highly unlikely that your device will have been infected with a virus or other malware.

Most alerts that you see are pop-up messages from websites - these being designed to scare the unwary into giving away sensitive information - or to fool you into doing something that you shouldn’t.

Due to the system architecture of iOS/iPadOS, unless jailbroken, your iPad is not susceptible to traditional malware infection per-se. However, as with all computer systems, there are still vulnerabilities and exploits to which you remain at risk. Immunity from malware is a myth perpetuated by those with little understanding of the threat landscape; if the statement were true, there would be little need for security updates to the system - which actually occur with nearly every system update.

Whilst traditional malware will find it difficult to infect and/or self-propagate via the iPad, the iPad itself can harbour infected files - that, if transferred, may pose a risk to other computer systems.

iOS/iPadOS doesn’t use traditional AV protection by way of an installed anti-virus product, but instead relies upon the system architecture to provide a high degree of protection; only “trusted” (digitally signed) processes can run - and all processes are constrained to to their own private (sandboxed) area of the system. In simplistic terms, by design, processes cannot access other processes on the system - and this architecture inhibits both execution and spread of malware code.

Fo iOS/iPadOS, the most significant threats arise either directly, or indirectly, via you browser. Browser-based attacks can largely be mitigated by installing a good, trusted, Content and Ad-blocking product. One of the very best and most respected within the Apple App Store - designed for iPad, iPhone and Mac, is 1Blocker for Safari.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/1blocker-for-safari/id1365531024

1Blocker is highly configurable - and crucially does not rely upon an external proxy-service of dubious provenance. All processing takes place on your device - and contrary to expectations, Safari will run faster and more efficiently. 

Unwanted content is not simply filtered after download (a technique used by basic/inferior products), but instead undesirable embedded content blocked form download. A further benefit on metered services, such as cellular connections where you data may be capped or chargeable, this not only improves speed but also saves you money.

When using a good quality Content blocker, a high proportion of otherwise inescapable risk when using your Safari browser, or linking to external sources from email, is effectively mitigated before it even reaches you.

There are additional protections that can enhance protection further, such as using one of the better Recursive DNS Services in preference to automatic settings. This can either be set on a per-device basis in Settings, or can be set-up on your home Router. I recommend using one of the following services, for which IPv4 ad IPv6 server address are included here:

Quad9 (recommended)

9.9.9.9

149.112.112.112

2620:fe::fe

2620:fe::9

OpenDNS

208.67.222.222

208.67.220.220

2620:0:ccc::2

2620:0:ccd::2

Cloudflare+APNIC

1.1.1.1

1.0.0.1

2606:4700:4700::1111

2606:4700:4700::1001

Use of the above DNS services will help to shield you from “known bad” websites and URLs - and when used alongside 1Blocker, provides defense in depth.

I hope this reassurance and guidance proves to be helpful in resolving any issues with suspected malware issues.

Unless your device has been jailbroken, your iPad can't get any viruses.

Regards

Giulio

You are most welcome