Recommended Anti-virus software for Macs?

[dscan99]

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase an anti-virus software for my relatively new G4 iBook. Which one should I go with?

Thanks!

 

[flyfish29]

N/A meaning antivirus is not applicable to mac OSX software. since there have been no viruses AT ALL I would personally not spend a cent on it. I have virex through .Mac, but uninstalled it due to conflicting with my palm software as well as the fact there are no viruses that affect osx.
What I would do instead is invest in backup hardware/software of a sort and make sure you have everything backed up often in case not only if someone actually creates a virus for osx, but your hard drive goes bad, a file gets corrupt, etc. Just my opinion of course.

either way, find a way to backup- to dvd, cd's, hard drive, online backup space, etc. Probably THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF. And back up often. There are many ways to have this done automatically- we can help you with that if you are interested!

good luck!

 

[dscan99]

N/A meaning antivirus is not applicable to mac OSX software. since there have been no viruses AT ALL I would personally not spend a cent on it. I have virex through .Mac, but uninstalled it due to conflicting with my palm software as well as the fact there are no viruses that affect osx.
What I would do instead is invest in backup hardware/software of a sort and make sure you have everything backed up often in case not only if someone actually creates a virus for osx, but your hard drive goes bad, a file gets corrupt, etc. Just my opinion of course.

either way, find a way to backup- to dvd, cd's, hard drive, online backup space, etc. Probably THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF. And back up often. There are many ways to have this done automatically- we can help you with that if you are interested!

good luck!

Oh! I never realized Macs are virus-proof (so to speak). But then there's still a lot about Macs I don't know.

BAcking up sounds like a reasonable thing to do. I don't have a DVD-writer.. so I'm looking at doing my back ups on CD-RWs. Which back-up software would you recommend? One that reminds me every 30 days or something is even better!

Thanks!!!
-Deepa.

 

[flyfish29]

I subscribe to .Mac where I get email from as well as back up space for my basic things including word documents I create, my preference setting on the mac, my bookmarks, quicken financial file, email addresses, calendars, etc. Basically stuff that if I lost or only backed up every 30 days I would lose lots of information if my hard drive went bad,e tc. I use software which Apple provides for .Mac users which allows me to easily have it automatically back up these types of files to an online web server so if something goes bad, I just reload the info on my computer. I have it set up to backup every night on its own, but you can choose daily, weekly or monthly. This same software allows you to easily back up to cd or dvd as well which works better for things such as digital pics, music, etc. which are larger files. I do this probably every month or two at best. There are a host of other things that .Mac subscsription provides depending on what you need and use. I use it to post pics of my kids for grandparents to see and it works flawlessly and takes about one minute to do directly from iphoto software. go to apple.com and click the .Mac tab to find out more. some will say you could find everything that .Mac provides cheaper, but in my opinion it would take lots of time to learn where, deal with ads on site to do it, and none of it would be very integrated with the apple software. .Mac is about $69 a year the first year (they have a 60 day trial that I would do for sure that is free with no obligation) then it is $99 each year after that. Apple is talking about adding more things to .Mac when the next Mac operating system comes out next year, but even right now I feel it is worth it.

I am sorry I don't have other software that I know of for backing up but I know it is out there and someone else will advise I am sure. If not, post a new thread and they will.

 

[SilentPanda]

Something to note is not only does .Mac come with backup software but it also comes with anti-virus software.

I don't actively use the anti-virus software but I do have it installed and keep it updated just in case...

 

[Mechcozmo]

I don't actively use the anti-virus software but I do have it installed and keep it updated just in case...

So you don't pass it on to your WinTel buddies?

Macs do not need anti-virus software. They are immune for now...

Older versions of the Mac OS had virus issues, but they were few and far between and mostly did annoying but harmless things to your computer.

If you want to do backing-up on a regular basis, consider the Lacie drives. I think they come with backup software, and are large enough that you can quickly back up over FireWire and without needing to burn a million CDs.

 

[SilentPanda]

So you don't pass it on to your WinTel buddies?

Macs do not need anti-virus software. They are immune for now...

I have it installed because they are immune for now. In fixing Windows boxes I've found out it's much easier to remove a virus (or many) if you already have the anti-virus installed. Some people have the virus scanner installed but have not updated their DAT files in ages... so the virus exists and is not caught. Updating a DAT file is sometimes easier than trying to get anti-virus software installed after the fact.

While I do agree that there is currently not a known virus for OS X I'd really hate to kick myself in the future in the event that one does come around... it's very minimal hard drive space and the program costs me "nothing" since it's part of my .Mac service. No harm in having it...

In short... no known virus on the OS X... but I'd prefer to someday just have to do a DAT update than scramble to find some anti-virus software and get it installed while my system is shakey...

 

[MisterMe]

Oh! I never realized Macs are virus-proof (so to speak). But then there's still a lot about Macs I don't know.

BAcking up sounds like a reasonable thing to do. I don't have a DVD-writer.. so I'm looking at doing my back ups on CD-RWs. Which back-up software would you recommend? One that reminds me every 30 days or something is even better!

Thanks!!!
-Deepa.

What killed virus-development back in the days of System 6 was the introduction of antiviral software such as Disinfectant, Central Point Antivirus, Symantec Antivirus for the Macintosh, etc. The design of the Mac made it virtually impossible to cirumvent antivirus protection. It is true that there are no MacOS X-native viruses. It is not true that there are no viruses on the Mac at all. The viruses on the Mac are M$ Office macro viruses. If you run Classic apps, then you may also encounter one or more of those old System 6-MacOS 9 viruses, which continue to infect old files that have not been disinfected.

Altough no one has yet written a successful MacOS X-native virus, this does not mean that no one is trying. In the meantime, antiviral software will continue to disinfect your files from 10 years ago. It will also disinfect M$ Office files that you receive fom your colleagues. If you send an infected Office document to your colleague from your Mac, no one is going to care that the virus did not originate on your computer. Many companies use automated virus-blockers. They don't eliminate viruses from infected files, they delete infected attachments and possibly your entire message. What is more, you may find that your computer or even your entire domain is electronically blacklisted.