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Do I Need an anti virus on my macbook
- Thread starter mpc91
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Do you need virus/malware protection running 24/7? Probably not…if you're careful about what you install. However, if you do install apps that aren't from the official App Store it would probably be a good idea to run a MalwareBytes (the free version) scan after doing so.
just went onto their website cant really see a free version only 14 day free trial
When you install it there's a free "Premium" trial period but somewhere in the settings you can switch to the free version which does not do the 24/7 scanning of the premium version.
i see thank you, is this as good as norton then?
part of me thinks if its free it cant be that good?
help is much appreciated
Yes you do.
swap over to bit defender they have 50% off , I just did mine a couple of weeks ago.
Question:
"Do I Need an anti virus on my macbook"
Answer:
NO.
There has never been a "Mac virus" discovered "in the wild". Not one.
What you DO need is "anti-malware" protection, because malware and adware DOES exist for Macs.
The solution is free:
https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/
Just download it and run it periodically.
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
You DO NOT need to "upgrade to the paid version".
The "free version" will run and work FOREVER.
When you run it, just IGNORE the "upgrade now" button, and click the "scan now" button.
"Do I Need an anti virus on my macbook"
Answer:
NO.
There has never been a "Mac virus" discovered "in the wild". Not one.
What you DO need is "anti-malware" protection, because malware and adware DOES exist for Macs.
The solution is free:
https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/
Just download it and run it periodically.
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT
You DO NOT need to "upgrade to the paid version".
The "free version" will run and work FOREVER.
When you run it, just IGNORE the "upgrade now" button, and click the "scan now" button.
What I do is use OpenDNS.com because with there check marked section of account uses Phishtank.com and I set mey account to clock known Trojan hosting sites! This along using common sense in going to main sites and not sketchy sites!
sorry.......That is close to COMPLETE GARBAGE
Are you perhaps the person trawling the mac Q&A pushing "malwarebytes" sw?
you need active protection not some thing you pull on to check if you have an infection now & again.
sorry but i don't even see a rating for this "software"
https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-november-2018/
oh... and there ARE mac viruses, just you have not seen one.
here is a handy research for beginners, I recommend you study it.
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/mac-viruses-are-here-to-stay10-examples-of-mac-viruses/556/
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Fishrrman is right. It is your posts that are misinformed.
You have not seen a macOS virus either, because there are none.
No one has ever been able to win this challenge: provide the Name of the supposed macOS virus. Good luck!
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No anti-virus is needed. A waste of time, money, and hard drive space.
The link for "handy research for beginners" is a marketing piece provided by Kaspersky, an anti-virus company, that uses FUD along with a few vague references to malware (Here are 10 examples of Mac malware over the years) in an attempt to convince the user they need to purchase an antivirus program.
If you read your own link, you would see that none of those 10 listed by Kaspersky is an actual virus for Mac OS X.
None.
Malware, Trojans, and pre-OS X stuff. Pointless. If you don't know the difference between a virus, a trojan, and malware....you really should not be giving security advice.
There are no viruses for MacOS. There have been a very small number of Trojans, but Fisherman is correct in asserting that the vast majority of what might end up on Mac is in fact adware/malware.
Symantec has a a very poor record of catching Mac adware/malware. I know that as we have been using it where I work for more than a decade, on well over 6000 machines, including about 1000 Macs. It's not good, and it will be replaced this year.
Malwarebytes is as good as anything out there, and they have a good reputation. For the average user, Malwarebytes is enough, the vast majority of the time.
What's even better is using a good firewall with some web filtering, a good DNS source with filtering as was mentioned, and staying on top of legit updates to all web enabled tools (browsers, plugins, etc.)
If someone needs full featured AV tool too, there are plenty of good options. Free tools better than Symantec enterprise....at least for Macs: Sophos, AVG, Avira, and Avast. All better on Macs, and even the "limited feature" free versions.
Stop spreading FUD. It's not helpful. Unless you make your living selling security software...
We were not arguing % we were arguing "all encompassing statements"
and at no point did I argue "semantic" was good software, in fact i would not use it to scrape the S**t of my shoes
Tell you what.. just you carry on and do what you like ,It really does not impact me in the slightest.
you can keep arguing semantics and accuse people of spreading FUD......
In fact you don't even know my formal qualifications & background so you are hardly qualified to judge anything.
meanwhile I'll keep getting paid mega bucks by my employer to keep the international corporate network safe....
A large part of which is actually mac computers spread over 3 continents.
and at no point did I argue "semantic" was good software, in fact i would not use it to scrape the S**t of my shoes
Tell you what.. just you carry on and do what you like ,It really does not impact me in the slightest.
you can keep arguing semantics and accuse people of spreading FUD......
In fact you don't even know my formal qualifications & background so you are hardly qualified to judge anything.
meanwhile I'll keep getting paid mega bucks by my employer to keep the international corporate network safe....
A large part of which is actually mac computers spread over 3 continents.
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That's nice.
Rather than worry about your credentials or mine, please show us all an example of an actual live, in-the-wild MacOS virus. Not a trojan, word macro, worm, malware, or PUA/PUP....actual viruses.
You assured us Mac viruses exist, so let's see them.
Just to shame us all, and prove your awesome security prowess.
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Actual evidence of one would certainly make for a more compelling argument than playing the “I make more money than you” card wouldn’t it
razorfsh --
Name ONE Mac OS X virus that has been discovered "in the wild".
Just one...
Name ONE Mac OS X virus that has been discovered "in the wild".
Just one...
Talking of malware, had a user Mac just yesterday (running 10.14) that clearly had some nuisance stuff on it, including browser changes: home page changed, search engine changed, etc.
Free version of MalwareBytes found and removed it...almost everything. Could have dug it all out manually, but the tool is fast, and lets the user do it themselves fast and pretty safely should there be a next time. The only thing it did not clean up that we could find was the default home page in Chrome. Easy manual change.
If I had the time, I would have liked to test a few other tools (Sophos, AVG, Avast, Avira) to see how they compared...but had to get the user up and productive ASAP. Not a test machine...
Hope to have a test box later this month to be able to do side-by-side detection testing.
Free version of MalwareBytes found and removed it...almost everything. Could have dug it all out manually, but the tool is fast, and lets the user do it themselves fast and pretty safely should there be a next time. The only thing it did not clean up that we could find was the default home page in Chrome. Easy manual change.
If I had the time, I would have liked to test a few other tools (Sophos, AVG, Avast, Avira) to see how they compared...but had to get the user up and productive ASAP. Not a test machine...
Hope to have a test box later this month to be able to do side-by-side detection testing.
I have a dog named Mac. He once had a virus. Does that count. Though he's not wild.
I agree with thought that Mac system is SO protected that it dodn't even require an AntiVirus system. But then I faced some strange activity on my Mac and I used anti-malware app. I was impressed with number of infected files on my Mac.
Infected with what? It wasn’t a virus because there isn’t one.
Last I checked, it switches to free/non-premium after the trial period automatically.
When it warns that the trial is almost over (their nag to buy)....don't do a thing. Just let it expire, and then update and run manually as needed.