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anti-virus?

B

brentg33

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 5, 2007
598
5
hate to revisit this...but i was just reading off of Digg....that there is worm that can infect OS X thru openoffice files.....does anyone think its time to install some kind of virus protection of our Macs? i mean i do use clamXav....but is that enough?

thanks
brent
 
You're only truly safe if you use foil.


Picture 1.jpg
 
I don't use any antispyware/virus/firewall utility. They are simply unnecessary on a mac, and will just slow your system down.
 
Luigi239 said:
I don't use any antispyware/virus/firewall utility. They are simply unnecessary on a mac, and will just slow your system down.
Click to expand...

A firewall is a must on any system, you are very wrong for not running one.

However even to all those people that are currently running a AV, i would like to point out... your AV IS USELESS AGAINST THIS EXPLOIT, just like any exploit that will come out
 
Luigi239 said:
I don't use any antispyware/virus/firewall utility. They are simply unnecessary on a mac, and will just slow your system down.
Click to expand...
semaja2 said:
A firewall is a must on any system, you are very wrong for not running one.

However even to all those people that are currently running a AV, i would like to point out... your AV IS USELESS AGAINST THIS EXPLOIT, just like any exploit that will come out
Click to expand...
The Mac firewall (ipfw) won't slow anything down. But it's not necessarily a must. Its main purpose is to block incoming requests on certain ports. If no services are running on the ports that are being requested, there's no point in firewalling those ports.
 
semaja2 said:
A firewall is a must on any system, you are very wrong for not running one.

However even to all those people that are currently running a AV, i would like to point out... your AV IS USELESS AGAINST THIS EXPLOIT, just like any exploit that will come out
Click to expand...

Actually, I should have clarified, I have a router (which is basically a hardware firewall) so there is no need for a software one.
 
No need for anything, but you might want to take pity on Windows users and download and install ClamXav and scan email/documents so that you don't pass anything along.

Even if there's something that ClamXav finds, it won't harm your Mac, but it might just bugger the heck out of a Windows machine!
 
What ????

You absolutely must have anti virus. Its like wearing a seat belt, 99.99% of the time you don't need it but when you do there isn't time to put it on.

Lets face it, the reason most Mac users have not had a problem is because the platform wasn't that popular, relatively speaking. Now look, Intel chips that coordinated with your iPod and Apple's new phone that will "chat" with your Mac, iPod and god knows what else. As the Mac and PC technologies merge the chance of getting caught with your pants down is increasing exponentially.

Do you run a second OS? Do you download movies or music for your pod? Do you add games or ringtones to your phone? What about your PDA? Do you have any important info on any of these devices? If you can say no, then you don't need an AV. Remember, most unscrupulous "hackers" mess with stuff because they can!!!! Tell em you don't need to have any kind of AV and I guarantee you will be infected tomorrow.

Proffessor
 
proffessor said:
Lets face it, the reason most Mac users have not had a problem is because the platform wasn't that popular, relatively speaking. Now look, Intel chips that coordinated with your iPod and Apple's new phone that will "chat" with your Mac, iPod and god knows what else. As the Mac and PC technologies merge the chance of getting caught with your pants down is increasing exponentially.
Click to expand...

viruses have nothing to do with the chip that runs the computer, and very little to do about system popularity. The reason there aren't any viruses for Macs is because of the Unix system it is built on. Buy AV if you want, but the general idea among long-time Mac users is that it is a waste of money, and it doesn't do anything apart from slowing your computer down.

If i'm wrong, i suffer. If i'm right, my computer runs faster than yours, and i've saved $200. If you make regular backups of your stuff, you don't have any need to worry either way.
 
proffessor said:
You absolutely must have anti virus.

Remember, most unscrupulous "hackers" mess with stuff because they can!!!! Tell em you don't need to have any kind of AV and I guarantee you will be infected tomorrow.

Proffessor
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it would seem to me that many hackers, who mainly do what they do because they can, would pounce on the opportunity to become the first person to write a major virus, worm, trojan, etc. that would reek havoc upon the "cocky" mac community. They may not be frequenting message boards like this one to hear mac users claim invulnerability against virii over and over again, but I'm pretty sure they have at least heard about the get a mac commercial that boldly proclaims no virii for macs.

I don't think our lack of virii is due to a smaller market share, or any of the other reasons. The unix base for both OS X has been tested for decades, with only a few virii ever being produced, especially when compared to the numbers for our windows-based friends.

It's not that there is no interest in producing a damaging virus for OS X, it's just damn hard, not impossible - someone will surprise us all one day, just really damn hard.
 
proffessor said:
... Tell em you don't need to have any kind of AV and I guarantee you will be infected tomorrow.

Proffessor
Click to expand...
They were told years ago that MacOS X users don't need virus protection. They were told the same thing last year. It was repeated last month. It was repeated again last week. It was repeated yet again yesterday. But, suddenly a MacOS X virus is going to appear tomorrow if virus writers hear today that MacOS X users don't have virus protection?

There are no MacOS X viruses from which MacOS X users need protection. There, I said it. Now, I will sit and wait.
 
You are both right and I absolutely agree. The Unix platform is superior in numerous ways, but I believe that we have been mislead into a false sense of security and thats just my opinion....I might be wrong. If I am I will be the first to admit it.

One of my main concerns is not about getting a virus that crashes my system but the possibility of "private" or secure information being compromised. This may be more difficult to do on a Unix platform but still a real possibility. Perhaps I am being a bit overly concerned.... I guess time will tell. I respect your position on the issue and if it works for you thats what's important.

As for the cost of software, that is an individual decision. I do know that there are at least three free versions currently available and another three that cost from 30.00 to 80.00 with a year of updates. Again its a personal decision.

As for the effect on performance I tend to disagree with you and here's why. Up until a month ago I was a pc user, my last one was an HP Laptop, 3.4 GHz P4, 1 Gig ram and all the stuff that goes with it. Every AV I tried slowed it down (Norton was the slowest and the biggest resource hog) and believe me I tried everyone software available. I finally couldn't take it anymore ... I turned in my winloser software, PC and Microsh*t stuff.

I bought a MacBook Pro and will never touch another PC. My only regret is that I let a salesman talk me out of a Mac a year ago. Anyway, I decided to go with Intego's Virus Barrier. It does NOT degrade performance at all and is amazingly fast, at least 8 to 10 times faster that the best PC AV software. You can have both, good AV and no-compromise performance.

Proffessor:)
 
proffessor said:
..., but I believe that we have been mislead into a false sense of security and thats just my opinion....
Click to expand...
Until someone actually writes a MacOS X virus, there is nothing false about our sense of security.

proffessor said:
One of my main concerns is not about getting a virus that crashes my system but the possibility of "private" or secure information being compromised. ...
Click to expand...
Viruses and other malware are designed primarily as an illegal source of revenue for their authors. Only badly written viruses crash their hosts.They can't very well do that if the victims are having their hard drives wiped.

proffessor said:
...

As for the effect on performance I tend to disagree with you and here's why. Up until a month ago I was a pc user, my last one was an HP Laptop, 3.4 GHz P4, 1 Gig ram and all the stuff that goes with it. Every AV I tried slowed it down (Norton was the slowest and the biggest resource hog) and believe me I tried everyone software available. I finally couldn't take it anymore ... I turned in my winloser software, PC and Microsh*t stuff.
Click to expand...
MacOS X is not Windows. Viruses are a problem for Windows users because the design of the OS allows viruses to thrive. The culture of the Windows-using community encourages viral propagation. The Mac, MacOS, MacOS X, and the Macintosh community form a very different culture.

proffessor said:
I bought a MacBook Pro and will never touch another PC. ... Anyway, I decided to go with Intego's Virus Barrier. It does NOT degrade performance at all and is amazingly fast, at least 8 to 10 times faster that the best PC AV software. You can have both, good AV and no-compromise performance.

...
Click to expand...
There is free antivirus software available for MacOS X. There are several commercial antivirus titles. I am aware of no loss in performance cause by any antivirus utility on MacOS X. Therefore, price and performance are not issues. Installing antivirus software on the Mac is an act of good citizenship because it helps stem the infection of our Windows-using colleagues. However, it is not a good security measure because there are MacOS X viruses for it to protect us from.
 
imo using AV software is a waste of system resource and money. turn on OS X's firewall and exercise caution - do not download/open any unknown files/email attachments. as easy as it may sound, too many folks tend not to use any caution when using their computers!

even with free AV software like clamX, chances are it won't catch anything. you might as well just visit sites like MR daily to keep yourself informed.
 
That meme fails. >.> I still laugh whenever I see advertisements for companies selling a Mac version of their antivirus software.
 
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