Best anti virus software?

[notjustjay]

This is a perfect example of one of the "lame trojan horse apps" I quoted above.

Seriously, what percentage of Mac users are dumb enough to be downloading contaminated torrents of iPhoto -- something that already comes on every Mac?

OK, I get that people might want to upgrade from say iLife '06 without paying for it. So wouldn't you download a torrent of the entire iLife installer DVD image?

No, I don't count that as an "threat" worth worrying about.

 

[eves-son]

Just answer the question - Best anti virus software?

A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability.

From Symantec:


As of this time, there are NO viruses in the wild that affect current Mac OS X. In the past, there have been a few viruses that ran on older versions of the Mac operating system, but no longer.

There are, as of this time, trojans that can affect Mac OS X, but these must be downloaded and installed by the user, which involves entering the user's administrator password. Trojans can easily be avoided by the user exercising common sense and caution when installing applications. A common source of trojans is pirated software, typically downloaded from bit torrent sites.

Having virus protection software on your Mac is pointless, as far as protecting your Mac from viruses, since AV software can't detect a virus that doesn't exist. It is possible to have a file reside on your hard drive that contains a Windows virus, but since a Windows virus (program) can't run in native Mac OS X, it would be harmless to your Mac. Some choose to run AV on their Mac to scan for Windows viruses, so the Mac user can't pass a virus-infected file to a Windows user. In my opinion, a Windows user should be protected by their own AV software, so the burden of protection lies with the Windows user.

HUBRIS!

On September 10, 2001, America was still convinced that the protections she had in place were adequate to preventing terrorism on US soil. That belief was radically altered the next day. There was a lot of finger pointing but the damage was done. And guess what, it was not a very sophisticated attach, just unexpected. Mac users like the US government on September 10, are complacent. When the attack does come, it will probably be a from a simple unexpected source. Let us just hope that unlike the US government, Apple and mac users wont lash out preemptively without checking their facts. "I told you so", is a bitter pill to swallow.

Toyota was also once convinced that they had a quality product that couldn't fail. Recent events have shown big holes in their quality control.

There were banks in 2008 that no longer exist today. They were considered too big to fail but fail they did.

And the view that windows user should have their own protections is counter-productive. Its like Pakistan saying the US should have its protection in America and not complain about Al Qaeda in Pakistan - short sighted. Also some Mac users are also windows users and have a vested interest in both systems being safe.

All I am trying to say is don't have faith in things you know nothing about. You know nothing about the inner workings of Apple, Inc. They won't be calling you when they discover a mac vulnerability to a virus or trojan or some new type of mac threat. They may try to fix the vulnerability but in the interim, some machines will be attacked. Is it worth the risk? Ask the customers of Lehman brothers and Goldman Sachs. Ask the passengers who died in stuck gas pedal Toyotas. Ask the 3,300 who died in the World Trade Center.

Now answer the original question. What is the best anti-virus/anti-malware protection out there for a mac?

I too am interest as I just bought a 17" Macbook Pro and dual boot to Windows 7.

 

[spinnerlys]

HUBRIS!

On September 10, 2001, America was still convinced that the protections she had in place were adequate to preventing terrorism on US soil. That belief was radically altered the next day. There was a lot of finger pointing but the damage was done. And guess what, it was not a very sophisticated attach, just unexpected. Mac users like the US government on September 10, are complacent. When the attack does come, it will probably be a from a simple unexpected source. Let us just hope that unlike the US government, Apple and mac users wont lash out preemptively without checking their facts. "I told you so", is a bitter pill to swallow.

Toyota was also once convinced that they had a quality product that couldn't fail. Recent events have shown big holes in their quality control.

There were banks in 2008 that no longer exist today. They were considered too big to fail but fail they did.

And the view that windows user should have their own protections is counter-productive. Its like Pakistan saying the US should have its protection in America and not complain about Al Qaeda in Pakistan - short sighted. Also some Mac users are also windows users and have a vested interest in both systems being safe.

All I am trying to say is don't have faith in things you know nothing about. You know nothing about the inner workings of Apple, Inc. They won't be calling you when they discover a mac vulnerability to a virus or trojan or some new type of mac threat. They may try to fix the vulnerability but in the interim, some machines will be attacked. Is it worth the risk? Ask the customers of Lehman brothers and Goldman Sachs. Ask the passengers who died in stuck gas pedal Toyotas. Ask the 3,300 who died in the World Trade Center.

Now answer the original question. What is the best anti-virus/anti-malware protection out there for a mac?

I too am interest as I just bought a 17" Macbook Pro and dual boot to Windows 7.

And as you haven't paid attention to the tenses used in all the posts here:

There ARE currently no viruses, but maybe there will be one or three in the next decade for Mac OS X.

For Windows use AVG maybe, and for Mac OS X use your brain.

Btw, there are other parties involved in finding threats for Mac OS X too, and they will inform us sooner than Apple does. They informed us about the existing malware titles (a dozen or two - the end of the world as we don't know it anyway), not Apple.

But if you want to be sure you are fully protected, install nothing you don't know about. Or every AV software for Mac OS X you can find. The i5 or i7 will have no problem using its CPU for those threads anyway.

Btw 2, have you looked at the dozens of other threads about viruses? Have you used Mac OS X? Do you know what you are talking about when it comes to Mac OS X?

See, I only used Mac OS X for five/six years, and have done some pretty stupid installations in my days, but still haven't found any virus or trojan or other malware to be on my Macs.

Now answer the original question.

You missed an exclamation mark. Then we would obediently answer your question, as it hasn't been answered ever, never ever.

 

[notjustjay]

All I am trying to say is don't have faith in things you know nothing about. You know nothing about the inner workings of Apple, Inc. They won't be calling you when they discover a mac vulnerability to a virus or trojan or some new type of mac threat. They may try to fix the vulnerability but in the interim, some machines will be attacked. Is it worth the risk? Ask the customers of Lehman brothers and Goldman Sachs. Ask the passengers who died in stuck gas pedal Toyotas. Ask the 3,300 who died in the World Trade Center.

Now answer the original question. What is the best anti-virus/anti-malware protection out there for a mac?

Are you seriously comparing a Mac OS X virus attack with 9/11? Lives were lost in those incidents, having an annoying virus on my computer is nowhere near comparable!

Look, you're right, nobody can predict when a virus will eventually attack. But unlike 9/11 and Toyota, where arguably they could have been avoided if the problems were detected in advance, NO anti-virus can detect attacks BEFORE THEY HAPPEN. If no viruses exist, then the anti-virus program has NOTHING to scan for! Only once the first virus attack hits, will the writers of the anti-virus program be able to take the virus, extract a signature and include a write-up on how to remove it, which they can then include in the NEXT version of the anti-virus software. Until then, there's nothing you can do!

So TODAY, any Mac anti-virus program would be able to scan for at best a handful of trojans (which, by the way, Snow Leopard is already capable of doing, BUILT IN to the OS). Maybe they include older Mac OS viruses (from System 7 and MacOS 8 days) to make you feel better and pad the numbers. It's a waste of time.

 

[GGJstudios]

And the view that windows user should have their own protections is counter-productive.

It's only counter-productive for the Windows user who chooses to run without AV protection; not for the Mac user. Even if a Mac user runs AV to shield Windows users from possible viruses being transferred, that still doesn't protect the Windows user from viruses that come from other sources than the Mac. Therefore, the most productive method is for only the Windows user to run AV, protecting them from viruses, regardless of the source.

Its like Pakistan saying the US should have its protection in America and not complain about Al Qaeda in Pakistan - short sighted.

Actually, it's nothing like that. What happens with Al Qaeda in Pakistan can have an effect on what happens in the US. That scenario is more akin to a Windows user who should run AV scans not only on their internal drive (the US), but also on any external drives they use (Pakistan), because a virus on an external drive can easily be transferred to and infect the internal drive.

A Windows virus CANNOT infect Mac OS X. Very poor example.

Also some Mac users are also windows users and have a vested interest in both systems being safe.

While a user who has both Mac and Windows systems may choose to run AV software on both, it's only so the Windows system is safe. Any viruses detected by Mac AV programs are only a threat to Windows, since there ARE no Mac OS X viruses in the wild.

All I am trying to say is don't have faith in things you know nothing about.

All I am trying to say is don't have fear about viruses that do not exist.

You know nothing about the inner workings of Apple, Inc. They won't be calling you when they discover a mac vulnerability to a virus or trojan or some new type of mac threat.

If a Mac user gets a virus that runs on Mac OS X, you won't need Apple to tell you about it. It will be splashed across news media all over the world.

They may try to fix the vulnerability but in the interim, some machines will be attacked. Is it worth the risk?

We all have that risk, anyway. There is no protection anywhere for viruses that haven't been created yet.

Now answer the original question. What is the best anti-virus/anti-malware protection out there for a mac?

I already answered the original question. The answer is: None.

I'll try to make the point one more time, using your poor analogy of nations. The US is trying to protect itself from threats. There's a new weapon out there. We know nothing about it. We don't know if it's nuclear, biological or ZX-beams. How, exactly, would you recommend we defend against that weapon? Gas masks? Anti-ballistic missiles? Body suits? Armor? Board up windows and doors? Dark sunglasses and a flyswatter? Squirt guns with grape Kool-Aid?

The point is, you CANNOT defend against something that doesn't exist, because you know nothing about what its characteristics are. You have to first understand the nature of the threat before you can devise a defense. Since THERE ARE NO Mac OS X VIRUSES in the wild, THERE IS NO DEFENSE. None of the existing AV programs will protect a Mac user from a future virus. None!

 

[kainjow]

There are plenty of existing threads on this topic, please use those instead.