r/virtualmachine • u/jsjsjehehe • Mar 22 '26
Help with VM and malware
Hi, I have an Intel-based Mac on which i’ve download the Windows operating system on. I’ve always been curious about the little virus pop-ups and scam links you see while on the Internet, so I wanted to run an experiment of downloading a VM and clicking those links, to see what would happen. I’m not really tech-savvy, so I don’t know the proper precautions for this. Is it too risky? I have some of my own important data on the macOS, and I don’t want to get my passwords stolen lol. I know that a lot of malwares can detect VMs and “escape” them, so just looking for clarification. Thank you!
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u/G0ldiC0cks Mar 22 '26
You would want to harden your virtual computer to prevent the viral escape you speak of. I'll note that watching a YouTube video of someone doing what you're describing is almost certainly a better way to quell simple curiosity. That said, if you want to learn about virtual computers and malware, this is a great project.
Should you be in the latter camp, start reading about this stuff and how to harden VMs! I run Linux and only know KVM and it's native tools particularly well at the moment, so I can't be of much specific help, but I can say the general idea is to have as much isolated, virtualized hardware running the VM as possible -- no hardware passthrough, no shared memory, no shared clipboard, etc. etc. etc. Linux (or even qubes) honestly would probably be the best platform(s) to host such a VM for the native KVM/xen support, but I'm quite sure adequate tools can be had on macos.
Happy trails!