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Antivirus...Do you use it?

All these fools coming from Windows to Mac and being obsessed with needing Antivirus, i could make a killing if i wrote some stupid AntiVirus application to sit there, take up their system resources slowing down their computers giving the impression its doing something, and then actually not doing anything about viruses because they DONT EXIST and then charging people for it.

Oh i could even give it an update function to update its massive database of 0 VIRUSES!!!! Think how many server costs i would save updating nothing!!!

Ahhh i give up, it seems once your a windows user you can no longer run a bath let alone another different operating system.
 
ppc750fx said:
Did you actually read about those "viruses", or are you just reposting a list you saw elsewhere?

I ask because that's not exactly the best argument you could make for the tired old "nuh uh, Mac OS X *does* have viruses" claim.
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Your "I don't want to believe you so I'm not going to believe you" argument isn't very compelling either. Do a search for removal instructions on the symantec website. :eek:
:):apple:
 
I don't normally run any antivirus software on my mac. However I have ran in past only to check my email attachments
 
I have a question for y'all: not long ago I downloaded MacScan because I was curious how it is to do a virus scan on a Mac, and obviously all it found was like 60 cookies, which I eliminated later on.

Is eliminating them thru MacScan equivalent to simply clicking "Clear Private Date" on, say, Firefox? Do you get rid of these cookies in the same way?
 
I had a case in the last month where my iTunes account was jacked, so thinking I had a virus/trojan on the Mac, I went out bought and installed Norton. After running for many, many hours (dirt slow), it game back and reported 4 items. One was a PDF and the other three were EXE files in my download folder. Nothing found on the Mac would have hurt it, but I decided to leave the antivirus software installed. I noticed that when I was typing, I the response was very slow. Being I had never had this problem before, I uninstalled Norton and everything was fine again.
 
jon08 said:
I have a question for y'all: not long ago I downloaded MacScan because I was curious how it is to do a virus scan on a Mac, and obviously all it found was like 60 cookies, which I eliminated later on.

Is eliminating them thru MacScan equivalent to simply clicking "Clear Private Date" on, say, Firefox? Do you get rid of these cookies in the same way?
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Yeah, but tracking cookies are practically useless and don't do any damage at all. They shouldn't even be detect anymore nowadays.
 
kastenbrust said:
All these fools coming from Windows to Mac and being obsessed with needing Antivirus, i could make a killing if i wrote some stupid AntiVirus application to sit there, take up their system resources slowing down their computers giving the impression its doing something, and then actually not doing anything about viruses because they DONT EXIST and then charging people for it.

Oh i could even give it an update function to update its massive database of 0 VIRUSES!!!! Think how many server costs i would save updating nothing!!!

Ahhh i give up, it seems once your a windows user you can no longer run a bath let alone another different operating system.
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So im a fool for wanting to protect myself from potential viruses and trojans ?

I seem to remember not too long ago people said there were no trojans for macs, now there are. Do you seriously believe there will never be a virus for the mac ? Do you also believe there's a Santa ?
 
dazed said:
So im a fool for wanting to protect myself from potential viruses and trojans ?

I seem to remember not too long ago people said there were no trojans for macs, now there are. Do you seriously believe there will never be a virus for the mac ? Do you also believe there's a Santa ?
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When there is a virus Apple will release a security update, as they have done for the past 10 years. I dont see the issue?
 
i use macsacan and i dont fell any regrets

dazed said:
So im a fool for wanting to protect myself from potential viruses and trojans ?

I seem to remember not too long ago people said there were no trojans for macs, now there are. Do you seriously believe there will never be a virus for the mac ? Do you also believe there's a Santa ?
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im a also a fool:)

i dont see any problem using not a antivirus but a antitrojans for mac
i use macsan i ill keep use it until i fell like, until today was just cookies.
i trust 99.9% on mac produts , but with the apple comunity increasing, there will be more and more attacks to apple:apple:
i belive 50% of the virus and trojans worlwide are create buy does software companys for is one profit.:)
 
kastenbrust said:
When there is a virus Apple will release a security update, as they have done for the past 10 years. I dont see the issue?
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My main issue is it usually takes a while for any large company to issue these updates and by then the damage is done. Anti Virus firms are usually a lot quicker since its in their interest to get a fix out there so people keep buying the yearly subscriptions.

I'm not too worried about a virus as I'm careful but im not the only person using my mac and so for me an anti virus/trojan program is a nice safety net for those in the house that are less computer savvy :).
 
dazed said:
Nope, just not willing to bury my head in the sand and say there will never be a virus for the mac.
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Neither am I, but look at it this way:

Until the first virus appears in the wild, an antivirus program provides no protection.

Therefore: since there is no threat currently in the wild, your antivirus software isn't providing any additional protection. It has, however, cost you money, time and system resources. That's a fine trade-off, and one that I'm quite willing to make when it provides a benefit -- but since there are no viruses in the wild, there is no benefit.

I seem to remember not too long ago people said there were no trojans for macs, now there are. Do you seriously believe there will never be a virus for the mac ? Do you also believe there's a Santa ?
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't remember people ever saying there were no trojans. There are trojans for pretty much every non-niche OS (and even some of the niche ones.)

I'm sure that eventually there will be something we can classify as a virus for OS X. I also believe that, due to a number of architectural features, Mac OS X is by far the most difficult consumer-targeted OS to write a self-propagating virus for.

---

It basically comes down to this: everyone who paid money for a Mac anti-virus program tries to justify it, saying "Ah, but there might be a virus for OS X at some point in the future." Indeed there might. And when that day comes, I suspect that many of us will start using anti-virus software. Until then, however, you've only succeeded in paying money for a product that offers no additional protection.

Personally I probably won't use anti-virus software on my Mac, even when there are viruses in the wild. I am pretty religious when it comes to good security practice, and I've hardened the installs on all my Macs to reduce their attack surface considerably.
 
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