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Do I need antivirus on OS X?
- Thread starter Baymack
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Need of an antivirus strongly depends on user computer skills/habits. Sophos, Avira, and BitDefender are all great AV for macOS. Personally I use Sophos.. for the entire life of this Mac i am using to post. No issues, no hassles.. and it has helped me resolve issues on PCs as well(Can scan network drives via SMB protocol.)
I've never had an anti-virus program on any Mac I've ever owned, and I've never had a virus problem. Safe surfing has a lot to do with it too. Surf porn and other potentially malicious sites, and you'll probably infect your computer with something detrimental to your computer's health.
Of course there are regular phishing attempts, adware and other exploits. The last targeting 166 models of routers that don't seem to care what OS or platform, just router firmware.
Most A/V lack documented APIs to work properly and instead interfere with the kernel in MacOS.
Most A/V lack documented APIs to work properly and instead interfere with the kernel in MacOS.
One thing to consider, although Macs are less prone, is passing along virus's to your non-Mac friends. I run bitdefender and it routinely finds problems within emails sent to me.
I don't, but then again I don't try to download free games and movies, torrents, video streamers, etc.
Should >you< install antivirus? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't run any antivirus and never have. I have recommended Malwarebytes for mac which is a stand alone app that will look for nasties and is especially useful for the occasional browser issues. I also run browser extensions to protect my mac. I like to run Ghostery and Adblock Plus. Extensions help block tracking, adds, autostart videos, redirects to other potentially bad websites etc.
Just my thoughts!
Just my thoughts!
Or, if you find out that someone in your Contacts is using Windows without anti-virus software, delete them and use a phone to call or text them a warning.
