I bought my first Mac today, Air 13" from Best Buy (awesome deal BTW, $60 off on sale, then $100 coupon with .edu email, and tax free). Anyway, they gave me a free virus protection subscription for 6 months. I know Macs do not need it, but the sales rep said it will protect other PC users if I receive and then send an infected e-mail. Is this really needed, or just a waste??
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Got free virus protection from best buy, why??
- Thread starter tgwarmac32
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I encourage you to read: What about sending files to Windows users? from the: Mac Virus/Malware FAQ.
It is a waste, unless you are not computer savvy. And giving you a six-months subscription might get you to extend that subscription and eventually pay for it.
most don't bother,
How do you get your emails? do you use webmail? if yes, then I wouldn't even bother to install it. Webmail does all your AV for you.
If you pass on a PC virus then well thats the PC owns fault for not having AV. (my opinion)
Perhaps sell your licence online.
How do you get your emails? do you use webmail? if yes, then I wouldn't even bother to install it. Webmail does all your AV for you.
If you pass on a PC virus then well thats the PC owns fault for not having AV. (my opinion)
Perhaps sell your licence online.
Name one, please. Read the FAQ posted in post #3 to learn the differences between viruses and other kinds of malware, like trojans and spyware and scareware and worms, which often get called a "virus" even though not actually being one.
I got the same thing with my MBA. It's crapware just to hook you into the subscription. Round file...
Anti virus on mac is only to waste computer resources! And can affect the battery live.
Nowadays, even in windows, using the brain and been very careful with the content that we put on our computer, is very hard to get a virus or similar.
Nowadays, even in windows, using the brain and been very careful with the content that we put on our computer, is very hard to get a virus or similar.
Interesting so all these reports are hoaxes?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/04/mac-os-x-report-virus-infects-600000-computers/
http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/295168-the-ten-most-dangerous-mac-viruses
http://www.securemac.com/
http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/07/tips-secure-mac-from-virus-trojan/
Man, I don't know what to say. You two need to go and refute these hoaxes or maybe you should read and learn.
No, they're falsely using "virus" to refer to Trojans or scareware.
From that article:
From that article:
Not a single true Mac OS X virus is mentioned anywhere on that site. All are Trojans, worms or scareware.
No Mac OS X virus is mentioned here, either, since none have ever existed in the wild.
They're not hoaxes and they're not viruses. As I recommended, read the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ I posted to educate yourself and understand the difference between a virus and other forms of malware. The definition makes a big difference in how you defend against them.
This is true, and only you can decide if you want to run AV on your machine for this purpose. If this is a legitimate concern for you, then you may want to run an AV. There really is not clear cut right or wrong answer here. It is just a judgement call on your part.
I would not pay for an AV app though, you can get ClamAV free in the App Store.
Viruses are self replicating and don't need user intervention to get installed. That is why they are so bad. You can be minding your own business and still get one. There has never been a virus for OS X. A Trojan or other malware does require the users input to actually get installed. They aren't self replicating. The user must actively install it by downloading it or inputing their admin password.
You are mistaken. Some of the more recent Mac malware would infect OS X simply by visiting a web site. Nothing needed to be "installed" and no password was required.
All this "You don't need an anti-virus for Mac because there are no viruses for Mac, only different types of Malware" is just silly. You guys do know that anti-viruses protects against malware too, right?
I say that whether or not to have an anti-virus for your Mac is the same as whether or not to have a condom with you at all time. Better to have the protection there and not having to use it than not having protection and needing to use it.
I say that whether or not to have an anti-virus for your Mac is the same as whether or not to have a condom with you at all time. Better to have the protection there and not having to use it than not having protection and needing to use it.
Or you employ these security steps. I have been using Mac OS X since 2004 and only used AV software for one month. It never found anything, only Windows malware (what do I care?) and I tried to visit all the "shady" sites one normally can get infected on. Nothing, but then again, common sense is gladly thrown aside when there is a software, that can do that for you. Off to Friendface, where I can play with my TweeTwee.
Most of the time, yes. Sometimes they fail to detect malware that a prudent user could avoid.
No one is suggesting that you shouldn't run a 3rd party antivirus app on your Mac if you choose to; only that it's not required to keep your Mac malware-free. All forms of Mac OS X malware that have ever existed in the wild can be completely avoided without antivirus apps by practicing safe computing, as described in the FAQ I posted earlier.
This is true. You're not "exposed" in the same way as you are on a Windows-machine.
However, then you can't really download anything unless you are 100% sure it's safe, and even then, the website could have been hacked and the file you're downloading from XX, which you trust to 100%, is actually some form of malware.
On top of that, I'm not sure how you use your Mac, obviously everyone uses their computers differently, but I tend to download certain programs, freeware, etc, because I want to try out new things or because I require something. For instance, I had some movies I wanted to transfer to my iPad. So I needed a converter to make the .avi files to .mov files, thus making them compatible with my iPad. I read some reviews of the converter I ended up downloading but from a strictly "safety" -perspective, I should never have downloaded that converter.
Safe computing is good and all, but that's honestly something I would teach my grandparents to use. Kids like myself(okay, I'm probably not counted as a kid anymore with my 23rd birthday coming up at the end of the year) tend to think that safe computing isn't that much fun since you can't really download anything.
My point is that you never know what you're downloading unless you ONLY download from the App Store. And when you don't know what you're downloading, or when you're downloading a lot of stuff, then having something to fend off malware is extremely important.
With all that said, I understand your point and sure enough, if you practice safe computing you're considerably more safe on a Mac than a Windows-based PC.
When I got my mac a few days ago I didn't bother purchasing one even though the lady was pushing for a sale for the anti virus but I was talking to a staff member when I popped in to get some new ear phones for my ipod and he said Mac's do indeed get viruses, they just not as prone as windows operating systems but he did say if you feel the need to have one, ones on the mac app store work just as good 
Macs can get viruses, but they don't, since no Mac OS X viruses exist in the wild. They can get other forms of malware. Read the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for more details.When I got my mac a few days ago I didn't bother purchasing one even though the lady was pushing for a sale for the anti virus but I was talking to a staff member when I popped in to get some new ear phones for my ipod and he said Mac's do indeed get viruses, they just not as prone as windows operating systems but he did say if you feel the need to have one, ones on the mac app store work just as good
When I got my mac a few days ago I didn't bother purchasing one even though the lady was pushing for a sale for the anti virus but I was talking to a staff member when I popped in to get some new ear phones for my ipod and he said Mac's do indeed get viruses, they just not as prone as windows operating systems but he did say if you feel the need to have one, ones on the mac app store work just as good
Often sales people don't know what they are talking about, and this sales person was confusing trojans with viruses. If you want to learn more, please take a look at the FAQ GGJstudios posted.
Flashback got installed without the need of the administrator password in some cases - as drive by download. This changed a lot regarding mac malware and the need for AV software. IMO.
As long as there wasn't any malware where no administrator password was necessary I felt pretty safe on my mac. I was sure to install only things from safe sources. But now, as there are drive by downloads, you can't be sure. That's why I'm using AV software now.
As long as there wasn't any malware where no administrator password was necessary I felt pretty safe on my mac. I was sure to install only things from safe sources. But now, as there are drive by downloads, you can't be sure. That's why I'm using AV software now.
If you followed the safe computing recommendations in the FAQ I posted, Flashback was not able to install. One of those recommendations is to disable Java in Safari, which is what Flashback used.