After thinking about it long & hard I ordered the imac. I goggled this question, and got some conflicted information. Does a Mac need anti-virus protection? I had trend micro on my pc. If I am gonna need anti-virus protection, what are some recommendations?
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Does a Mac need anti-virus protection?
- Thread starter gtsgts
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Lord Appleseed
macrumors 6502a
Turn on the integrated firewall and be careful with installing things from the internet so no Trojans/Maleware can infect your system.
Mac Viruses do no exist.
Mac Viruses do no exist.
McGiord
macrumors 601
In a PC just by browsing web on Internet Explorer you get any sort of malware and infections.
For you Mac you can install an antivirus if you want to, mainly it will be to clean any infected Windows file that you might receive in an email attachment and just to avoid spreading it to others.
Your Mac might not be affected at all, but other might see viruses coming from your emails, if the attachment that you are passing on are infected.
Lord Appleseed
macrumors 6502a
If you unknowingly pass on an infected file. They cant send itself though...as you know.
I almost forgot they existed since I move to Mac a few years back. There is no replacement for vigilance but fundamentally Mac OS is a lot more secure than the PC. Never had an antivirus on the Mac and don't think I will waste any cpu clocks on them anytime soon.
thejadedmonkey
macrumors G3
munkery
macrumors 68020
At the moment, this is true. IE 9 has more sandboxing than the current Safari. The next release of Safari will surpass IE 9 in this regard.
For the OP, check out the links in my sig for tips on increasing the security of your Mac.
Last edited:
GGJstudios
macrumors Westmere
No, it needs an educated and careful user. There has never been a virus in the wild that affects Mac OS X since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some education and common sense and care in what software you install:
Badger^2
macrumors 68000
As an OS X user, which is free from viruses, I dont see it as my job to protect PC users from their OS and its vunerabilities.
PC users are on their own.
Just watch out for malware and know what you are downloading/installing.
MacDefender is an example: it's malware which pretends to be an anti-virus program for Mac.
The installation may start automatic, but YOU are still the one who clicks on 'next'...
MacDefender is an example: it's malware which pretends to be an anti-virus program for Mac.
The installation may start automatic, but YOU are still the one who clicks on 'next'...
Something just popped up on my screen called apple security center saying it wants to remove Trojans. I haven't excepted to remove anything. What is this?
simsaladimbamba
Guest
Read the first part in the following FAQ:
Mac Virus/Malware Info by GGJstudios
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
Georgio
macrumors 6502
As far as I remember there has been a few 'viruses' for the Mac over the years but usually they're called 'worms' for some reason.
As the Mac platform becomes more popular prepare for an influx of 'defender' style attacks, you just need to be aware that frequenting 'dodgy' sites usually leaves something behind in your system.
It still makes me laugh that Microsoft made a fortune selling off the original 'tools' to enable companys to infect machines then offer you a paid subscription to remove 'their' virus.
Absolutely hilarious. 😀
As the Mac platform becomes more popular prepare for an influx of 'defender' style attacks, you just need to be aware that frequenting 'dodgy' sites usually leaves something behind in your system.
It still makes me laugh that Microsoft made a fortune selling off the original 'tools' to enable companys to infect machines then offer you a paid subscription to remove 'their' virus.
Absolutely hilarious. 😀
If the OP has bootcamp with Windows installed, it actually might be a good idea to have a AntiVirus program on the Mac side only to protect the bootcamp side, especially if you are sharing folders, at least that is my opinion. If I am wrong about this please let me know.
MonkeySee....
macrumors 68040
simsaladimbamba
Guest
Read the following FAQ to learn the differences:
Mac Virus/Malware Info by GGJstudios
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
Still the user needs to actively install malware.
The Mac OS X Malware Myth Continues
theSeb
macrumors 604
Microsoft defender is free. What tools are you talking about? Unless you're talking about windows, your post does not make sense.
I love my mac but if you're going to bash, at least get some facts right.
My friend called me in a panic last week because he said a pop-up said his MacBook Pro was infected so he downloaded MacProtector and then he started getting a bunch of porn pop-ups. Turns out MacProtector is the malware. I told him Macs are virus free and to ignore things like that in the future.
Badger^2
macrumors 68000
Excellent advice.
Although the porn popups are unrelated.
http://www.remove-virus.net/mac-protector/
No they don't. Please ban yourself now and save the moderators' trouble.
A good way to test your browser and network security is at this site: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
If your system is up-to-date, your settings correct, and you don't fall for behavioral schemes, then you can be 100% certain that you won't have any problems.
Thats just flat out ignorant.
Luckily the moderators are required to have a functioning brain, a requirement you failed to meet.