Partitions and safety from malware?

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Level 1

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Partitions and safety from malware?

For many years I have partitioned my hard drive, thinking this will slow down or possibly stop malware from migrating from the main hard drive partition to the second partition. Lately I don’t think that’s really the case. Macs don’t get many viruses now, but that will eventually change, and that malware will be more sophisticated. So it seems to me that partitioning my hard drive for this reason is not such a good idea to rely upon. Is this correct or am I missing some key points? I do back up to Time Machine and iCloud.

M1 MBA 2TB partitioned, roughly 50-50. Partition 1 the OS and docs, files, music, etc. Partition 2 photography stuff.

Thanks

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.1

Posted on Nov 18, 2023 6:07 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Owl-53

Level 10

103,855 points

Nov 18, 2023 7:00 AM in response to SCTom1

To add to previous posting

Part 1 of 2

There are no known Windows-like Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS, because of the underling UNIX Foundation and Permission Limitation.

The Operating System resides in a Sealed and Read Only Volume that can not be opened by the User nor by Third Party Applications.

The only Entity that can open and modify or alter this Volume is Apple.

That would occur when an update or UpGrade is performed.

Part 2 of 2

Security. Built right in

Mac app security enhancements

The Built in Security is all that is required to protect the computer.

There is Adware & Malware which will affect the computer ( User Account Folder " Home Folder ) and is generally downloaded from “ Shady “ Websites or Developers who Inject this software into the download.

Then the User ( you ) must grant expressed Permission for this Malware / Adware to bypass the builtin Security of macOS

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Answer 2

etresoft

Level 9

56,954 points

Nov 18, 2023 6:43 AM in response to SCTom1

You definitely shouldn't do any custom partitioning. That's only going to make your life more difficult. It never will, and never would have, provided any protection from malware.

Anything you've heard about malware or even "security" in general on Macs is fake news. While there is Mac malware, it is getting less sophisticated, not more. Unless you are actively disabling the built-in macOS system protections so you can pirate expensive software, or watch paid videos for free, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Yes, yes, yes. I know what you've read on the internet about "critical security exploits". It's all fake news. Lies, lies, and lies, all the way down. This is the world today.

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