Now before you tell me that I don't need it, trust me I know. I just got off the phone with university tech support who says that I can't connect to their network unless I have some form of antivirus installed. This is new from last year and is quite frankly pretty agrivating. They're holding to the line that there are viruses out there for everyone regardless of the lack of examples for us. I'm pretty safe on the internet and know better than to let a virus onto my system. Anyways, we get Symantec's End Point Protection for free on a license to the school. I used a Symantec program back when I was on XP and I felt that it really bogged my computer down. Is there anything a little lighter on system resources that is free that you can recommend?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Antivirus Utility for Lion
- Thread starter podsorcerer09
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I used Nod32 last year, back when I was naive and doubted the unix platform.
I'd recommend it.
I had it back when it was in beta and was free.
Here's the link to the official site, http://www.eset.com/us/home/cybersecurity-for-mac
-
Another alternative would be Virus Barrier Express. It's freeware on the AppStore and helped heaps of people in that recent malware craze some months ago.
I'd recommend it.
I had it back when it was in beta and was free.
Here's the link to the official site, http://www.eset.com/us/home/cybersecurity-for-mac
-
Another alternative would be Virus Barrier Express. It's freeware on the AppStore and helped heaps of people in that recent malware craze some months ago.
I use ClamXav. Get the version direct from them instead of from Apple's app store. It has more real-time protections in place.
I've used Sophos for a while now. It'll find both Windows and Mac malware and it's an incredibly minimal program (it doesn't noticably slow down my computer and it's not cluttered with features, it just scans and protects), so it's a good program to have just in case.
You can download it here: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx
You can download it here: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx
Interesting thread, I will try one of these, I also have trouble getting on my work network, without anti virus!
I run ClamXAV once a year...
But it's not really needed. If your university IT complain about you not having protection for your computer, lay a condom across the keyboard, and tell them you solved your virus protection problem.
But it's not really needed. If your university IT complain about you not having protection for your computer, lay a condom across the keyboard, and tell them you solved your virus protection problem.
Just tell them "yeah, I've got virus protection" and move on. Admin are idiots and won't know the difference.
No can do. You have to download a 'get connected' utility when you get on campus and it scans your computer for anti virus software. I'll probably try out sophos as the best alternative. it's either that or clam. never a symantec product again.
How often do you have to scan?
I'd install AV, run their program, then proceed to dump both of them.
Most likely PC only too. What I'd do. Get virtualbox, install windows, install some free antivirus there. Then connect to the network, use their windows tool to scan for antivirus and now you're free.
Thats funny the university I went to let Mac's automatically connect to the networks, it was the PC's that had to go through a 45 minute process to get on the network their first time, or whenever their was a Windows update.
Unfortunately I can't help you with that problem.
Unfortunately I can't help you with that problem.
My son goes to Trinity University and they use Sophos across the network. It has been reliable since I started using it. It's also found a few threats that I would have missed had I not been using it. That free part is nice too.
This is not true
I wouldnt let anyone's personal computer on my network, AV or not anyway.Sounds like you need to get updated on what Network Access Control is and does.
Nope it's a native Mac app as well. They're really good about supporting both windows and unix base operating systems. I'm not sure how often it scans but I've been told that they literally won't let you on without it. I know that I won't have to run the get connected utility every time, but it's very probable that they also have a server side copy that can check me for it. I just sent them a novel claiming that it's unfair to make me run this but I know that I'll just get a response saying that there are viruses out there for everyone and that I run the risk of infecting other non-unix computers without anti virus. Other than the fact that I couldn't care any less about other peoples' computers, it's ********. But they'll stick to their party line and that's that. Thanks for all the recommendations guys.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/11570070/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12029337/
The above two posts might be of interest to you if you intend to install Sophos.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12029337/
The above two posts might be of interest to you if you intend to install Sophos.
Another vote here for ESET CyberSecurity. I was a big fan of NOD32 on Windows, it used as little memory as possible and never bogged down the system at all. It was a natural progression to use an ESET product on my Mac. Also their tech support is excellent.
Running AV software on a Mac on a mostly PC network is not about protecting your Mac. It is about keeping the PCs protected. While your Mac is not going to be affected by viruses, it can still act as a carrier and pass them to other computers.
It's all about being a good netizen.