Antivirus - Do I really need it??

[WilliamBos]

Clamxav kept crashing on me, so I deleted it. Do I really need an antivirus?? If so, what ones??

 

[wordoflife]

No you don't need it. Not downloading files you aren't familiar with or have knowledge of is all that is necessary. I would just uninstall it and go without AV.

 

[Repo]

ClamXav is only to protect your Windows friends/family from Windows viruses your Mac might carry. Any anti-virus for Mac won't likely protect you, because by the time they discover a security threat and send out updates, you've already heard about it.

 

[WilliamBos]

ClamXav is only to protect your Windows friends/family from Windows viruses your Mac might carry. Any anti-virus for Mac won't likely protect you, because by the time they discover a security threat and send out updates, you've already heard about it.

Ok, so my mini is wired to a router, and a vista notebook surfs wirelessly, and is protected with NOD32, so no need then??

 

[Repo]

Ok, so my mini is wired to a router, and a vista notebook surfs wirelessly, and is protected with NOD32, so no need then??

If your Mini has it's Firewall turned on, and your router has it's Firewall turned on, I'd say you're fine. As long as you don't download and install everything in sight, and use your head, you're Mac won't see any trouble. As for your Vista machine, you should definitely have anti-virus running, either the built in or a third party like Norton.

 

[GGJstudios]

ClamXav is only to protect your Windows friends/family from Windows viruses your Mac might carry.

For the record, ClamXav scans for both Windows and Mac malware.

Do I really need an antivirus??

No viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any, since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install:

Mac Virus/Malware Info​

 

[WilliamBos]

Thanks guys.

Should the firevault be on?? And should I set a master password??

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Thanks guys.

Should the firevault be on?? And should I set a master password??

Do you have the fear of getting your Mac mini stolen?

I never set a Master Password nor do I use FileVault, as I don't have a need for this, even though I have mobile Macs since 2004. Only one got stolen two years ago, but even since then, I don't have that much crucial data on my Mac, that it needs to be protected. I keep the important document in DropBox, thus in the event of something being stolen, a password change is quickly done.
Other, bigger data, is stored on external HDDs.

And if you have Mac OS X 10.6.8 and earlier, FileVault still has some bugs that can turn a day to ****.

 

[WilliamBos]

Do you have the fear of getting your Mac mini stolen?

I never set a Master Password nor do I use FileVault, as I don't have a need for this, even though I have mobile Macs since 2004. Only one got stolen two years ago, but even since then, I don't have that much crucial data on my Mac, that it needs to be protected. I keep the important document in DropBox, thus in the event of something being stolen, a password change is quickly done.
Other, bigger data, is stored on external HDDs.

And if you have Mac OS X 10.6.8 and earlier, FileVault still has some bugs that can turn a day to ****.

No fear at all. Thanks a ton.