Free virus scan for macbook?

[Macsforcollege?]

I got my macbook last Aug. Dont have any virus protection and i feel like doing a scan. anyone know of any good free virus scans for macbooks???

Perhaps a link too?
Thanks

[shady825]

I got my macbook last Aug. Dont have any virus protection and i feel like doing a scan. anyone know of any good free virus scans for macbooks???

Perhaps a link too?
Thanks

Google-> ClamXav

[macintosh.apple]

what's the point?

[shady825]

what's the point?

haha I was gonna say the same but I figured I'd just answer his question.
FIX YOUR SIGNATURE

[NewMacbookPlz]

I'm glad you feel like scanning for nothing, as there isn't a SINGLE mac virus out there.

There're a couple Trojans, but you actually have to self-install them, and they're only found when you download pirated software (iWork/iLife '09 was the last set)

[Macsforcollege?]

hahaha.. thanks... i just felt like checking.. making sure everything is perfect!

[NewMacbookPlz]

Installing crapware isn't going to help you reach that goal ;)

[Macsforcollege?]

ok.. i wont download anything...thanks!!!

[shady825]

ok.. i wont download anything...thanks!!!

Yes. You must NEVER download ANYTHING on your computer.

[jpk32092]

FIX YOUR SIGNATURE
I think you meant to direct that at Macsforcollege? Seems like he didn't see tonight's game.

Go Sox.

[NewMacbookPlz]

I think you meant to direct that at Macsforcollege? Seems like he didn't see tonight's game.

Go Sox.

No, he meant for macintosh.apple to add "collector's edition" to his sig :p

[Quillz]

If you want anti-virus software, get it. Just because you may not need it now doesn't mean you'll never need it. Unfortunately, as secure as Mac OS X is, it still isn't truly free from viruses. And one of the biggest reasons there aren't any viruses in the wild is due to low market share.

[NewMacbookPlz]

If you want anti-virus software, get it. Just because you may not need it now doesn't mean you'll never need it. Unfortunately, as secure as Mac OS X is, it still isn't truly free from viruses. And one of the biggest reasons there aren't any viruses in the wild is due to low market share.

There's a lot more to it than market share. One big one is the way that the Unix core handles user/program permissions. That is essentially what MS was trying to emulate with the UAC in Vista, which people hated.

Gizmodo Explains... (http://gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows)

[Quillz]

There's a lot more to it than market share. One big one is the way that the Unix core handles user/program permissions. That is essentially what MS was trying to emulate with the UAC in Vista, which people hated.

Gizmodo Explains... (http://gizmodo.com/5101337/giz-explains-why-os-x-shrugs-off-viruses-better-than-windows)
Yes, I know. But don't write off "security through obscurity," as they call it, because, like it or not, it is a factor. Maybe not a huge one, but it's still a factor.

There wouldn't be nearly as many Windows viruses as there are if it didn't have such a huge market share. In fact, the vast majority of known Windows viruses came into existence in the mid to late 90s, when Windows really took over in terms of market share. Before that, viruses were much less common, although still more prevalent than on the classic Mac OS.

[NewMacbookPlz]

Yes, I know. But don't write off "security through obscurity," as they call it, because, like it or not, it is a factor. Maybe not a huge one, but it's still a factor.

There wouldn't be nearly as many Windows viruses as there are if it didn't have such a huge market share. In fact, the vast majority of known Windows viruses came into existence in the mid to late 90s, when Windows really took over in terms of market share. Before that, viruses were much less common, although still more prevalent than on the classic Mac OS.

My friend told me that back in the 80's, he put a floppy disc "virus" on his bosses Mac SE that made it have a "puke" sound every time it'd eject a floppy disc...

Mind you, that's how viruses were spread prior to the internet :p

[Macsforcollege?]

its always good to have virus protection. i will look into it and see.....


also, terrible game tonight.. 0-6 vs sox... awful, just awful. go figure ortiz hits a homer..

[dejo]

Yes, I know. But don't write off "security through obscurity," as they call it, because, like it or not, it is a factor. Maybe not a huge one, but it's still a factor.
Perhaps. But there were viruses for Mac OS 9 and it had smaller market share than Mac OS X. So, doesn't seem like it, does it?

[Quillz]

My friend told me that back in the 80's, he put a floppy disc "virus" on his bosses Mac SE that made it have a "puke" sound every time it'd eject a floppy disc...

Mind you, that's how viruses were spread prior to the internet :p
Yes, viruses exist for all the major platforms. But Windows is the most popular so it attracts the most attention.

I remember some novelty viruses back in the day. There were some great ones for MS-DOS.

[NewMacbookPlz]

Perhaps. But there were viruses for Mac OS 9 and it had smaller market share than Mac OS X. So, doesn't seem like it, does it?

OS 9 was quite the OS for it's day, albeit outdated. I only ever used it at school, was it really that poorly secured?

Personally, I went OS 3-->OS 7.5-->OS 10.3-->OS 10.5

[mr.stinki]

I'm glad you feel like scanning for nothing, as there isn't a SINGLE mac virus out there.

There're a couple Trojans, but you actually have to self-install them, and they're only found when you download pirated software (iWork/iLife '09 was the last set)

I found it completely hilarious that people would download pirated versions of iWork when you can download the full version from Apple.com for free. If you're going to pirate the software, do it the right way and just get the serial.

[NewMacbookPlz]

I found it completely hilarious that people would download pirated versions of iWork when you can download the full version from Apple.com for free. If you're going to pirate the software, do it the right way and just get the serial.

The issue here was people not wanting to pay for it though, not the means of distribution.

[Quillz]

OS 9 was quite the OS for it's day, albeit outdated. I only ever used it at school, was it really that poorly secured?

Personally, I went OS 5-->OS 7.5-->OS 10.3-->OS 10.5
The "classic" Mac OS was well known for its weaknesses, such as the lack of protected memory among other things.

Things like Talingent and Copland were supposed to be much more secure, but they never got off the ground. Fortunately, Steve Jobs came back and turned NeXTstep into Mac OS X.

[NewMacbookPlz]

:cool::cool:

Thanks for that!

My experience with OS 3.2 (whoops, it was finder 5) was on the Mac Plus, well before the internet, and OS 7.5 was on our family's Performa 577 on the good ol' 33.6kpbs dial-up connection then the v.92 56k which was SMOKIN' fast for the time. Not much going on back then to even get a virus, too young at the time...haha

[dejo]

Yes, viruses exist for all the major platforms.
Not for Mac OS X.

[NewMacbookPlz]

True, OS X only has a couple Trojans.

[Quillz]

Not for Mac OS X.
Nothing in the wild exists, but proof-of-concept viruses have been demonstrated, proving that even Mac OS X isn't flawless. You will likely never see anything in the wild, but my point is that anti-virus software is never a bad thing to consider.

[ppc750fx]

Nothing in the wild exists, but proof-of-concept viruses have been demonstrated, proving that even Mac OS X isn't flawless. You will likely never see anything in the wild, but my point is that anti-virus software is never a bad thing to consider.

To consider? No. To use? Well... that depends on the costs/benefits. In this case, the benefit is near-zero (no viruses in the wild, see above), while there is both a financial cost and a CPU/RAM cost.

Personally, I'd skip out on the "antivirus" software for now.

Then again, I run BSD and Debian on almost all my systems, so the concept of allowing potentially-malicious software to run on my machine is somewhat foreign to me. ;)

[dandaman2]

Hey macsforcollege - I generally use safe web surfing practices to stay safe, but if someone recommends me a sketchier product I will run it through iAntiVirus (free, google it) before opening it.

[Prenvo]

its always good to have virus protection. i will look into it and see.....

No, it's really not. Just wastes resources and time, however little. :p

Nothing in the wild exists, but proof-of-concept viruses have been demonstrated, proving that even Mac OS X isn't flawless. You will likely never see anything in the wild, but my point is that anti-virus software is never a bad thing to consider.

"Anti virus" pretty much works by detecting known rubbish: even if you have super unbelievable Norton AntiVirus 360 Mac edition 8.3.2 (!), you'll still be susceptible to everything if it's brand new (which would always be the case for OS X).

"Anti virus" isn't something you could even attempt to rely on in OS X if you're paranoid about "viruses" in my opinion

P.S. I absolutely hate the stupid naming of everything like "viruses" and "anti virus", hence the nice quoting :rolleyes:

[M-5]

Will ClamXav also check if a Trojan is present?

[ppc750fx]

Will ClamXav also check if a Trojan is present?

Windows Trojans, yes.

[ppc750fx]

I will run it through iAntiVirus (free, google it) before opening it.

I've got some bad news for you... iAntiVirus is pretty close to worthless.

I've gone over the list of threats that it claims to protect against, and... well... take a look. (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7174192&postcount=15)

[NewMacbookPlz]

I've got some bad news for you... iAntiVirus is pretty close to worthless.

I've gone over the list of threats that it claims to protect against, and... well... take a look. (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7174192&postcount=15)

Wonderful post! :cool:

[oligore]

Virus generally means self replicating. I'm pretty sure nothing has done achieved that on the mac. I think there is some malicious software (rare though) for mac but has to be spread by the user actually putting the file on their disk and opening it

[NewMacbookPlz]

The "common" threat for the OS X setup are Trojans, yes.