Hi guys long time Mac lover first time Mac owner here 🤓so I just bought a MacBook Air for light browsing email music maybe a tv show or game... I know Mac OS is supposedly invincible to viruses but I’m also realistic... I actually got to work for AppleCare for a couple years when the iPod were big so I know better lol... just looking for a couple tips if anyone can help me with apps or anything I should install... also looking for a good antivirus don’t mind paying a couple bucks but would rather not... that and any free advice tips or what not that you may think I may need.... thanks for any help you guys can give 😀
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Antivirus suggestions
- Thread starter tboyd37
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There's a discussion over here with some recommendations for various AV
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There are no Mac viruses that have EVER existed "in the wild" (that means outside of lab and "proof of concept" testing, etc.).
You DON'T NEED ANY "anti-virus" protection on the Mac, with one exception that I can think of.
If you exchange MS office docs back-and-forth with others, it's possible that someone using Windows could pass onto you a doc that has a virus in it (weren't there once "Office macro viruses"?). It wouldn't have any effect on the Mac, but if you modified that doc and sent it back to another PC user, the "infection" might be carried along, too. That's just a precaution I recall from years ago. Never affected me in 33 years of Mac usage.
You DO need malware/adware/crapware protection, however, and it's free:
Download MalwareBytes and run it:
www.malwarebytes.com
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
You DON'T NEED ANY "anti-virus" protection on the Mac, with one exception that I can think of.
If you exchange MS office docs back-and-forth with others, it's possible that someone using Windows could pass onto you a doc that has a virus in it (weren't there once "Office macro viruses"?). It wouldn't have any effect on the Mac, but if you modified that doc and sent it back to another PC user, the "infection" might be carried along, too. That's just a precaution I recall from years ago. Never affected me in 33 years of Mac usage.
You DO need malware/adware/crapware protection, however, and it's free:
Download MalwareBytes and run it:
Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.
www.malwarebytes.com
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
Well, just applying logic...
There are no viruses for macOS out there. Thus, the virus definitions in anti-virus apps for Mac are non-existent. Therefore, those apps do nothing for you, unless they also find other types of malware. So Malwarebytes or DetectX Swift will provide protection, while not proclaiming that they find phantom viruses.
There are no viruses for macOS out there. Thus, the virus definitions in anti-virus apps for Mac are non-existent. Therefore, those apps do nothing for you, unless they also find other types of malware. So Malwarebytes or DetectX Swift will provide protection, while not proclaiming that they find phantom viruses.
There are no Mac viruses that have EVER existed "in the wild" (that means outside of lab and "proof of concept" testing, etc.).
You DON'T NEED ANY "anti-virus" protection on the Mac, with one exception that I can think of.
If you exchange MS office docs back-and-forth with others, it's possible that someone using Windows could pass onto you a doc that has a virus in it (weren't there once "Office macro viruses"?). It wouldn't have any effect on the Mac, but if you modified that doc and sent it back to another PC user, the "infection" might be carried along, too. That's just a precaution I recall from years ago. Never affected me in 33 years of Mac usage.
You DO need malware/adware/crapware protection, however, and it's free:
Download MalwareBytes and run it:
Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
thank you I had this on many PCs and it workEd well I actually had forgotte about it
I came from a completely Windows/PC background before buying my first Mac this past summer. I started by trying bitdefender which was a mistake. It is a resource hog from hell, gives false positives and delete certain files it wasn't even suppose to scan along with heating my MBP up.
Anytime I updated apps like Xcode, bitdefender would start scanning files and use a lot of resources on my 2020 13" MBP with 10th Gen I7 and 32GB of ram. It was a joke of a program since I tried to keep it from doing all that but no matter what I did the program did what it wanted. Either way I deleted it and moved on. Also I used the paid version but I didn't ask for a refund even though I could have.
I look at it as a lesson learned. Now I use tools from Objective-See which are free. They help me keep a close eye on everything and run unnoticed in the background
Anytime I updated apps like Xcode, bitdefender would start scanning files and use a lot of resources on my 2020 13" MBP with 10th Gen I7 and 32GB of ram. It was a joke of a program since I tried to keep it from doing all that but no matter what I did the program did what it wanted. Either way I deleted it and moved on. Also I used the paid version but I didn't ask for a refund even though I could have.
I look at it as a lesson learned. Now I use tools from Objective-See which are free. They help me keep a close eye on everything and run unnoticed in the background
I do sometimes wonder if I should forget about anti virus software altogether on the Mac. Keep paying the Norton subscription but is it worth the money? maybe no.
I think you're right. It's not worth paying for. It's not giving you anything in return. I know that it's never found a virus on your Mac, because there are none to be found.