Hi and welcome.
I connect to the internet via my wireless Linkysys router with 128 bit WEP.
Is this a dealbreaker for you? Why are you using WEP? You should really migrate to WPA (version 1 or 2 doesn't really matter) unless you absolutely have devices that have to be on WEP. WEP is the technological equivalent of putting a spare key under the doormat.
Assuming I need firewall software (ala ZoneAlarm), what is the best/most popular? I have heard of many Mac owners who don't even have software firewalls and that virus protection just isn't a big deal on a Mac.
You get lots of variation on this one... I personally say:
- Firewall -- OS X has a fine incoming firewall based on the ipfw technology built in. If you trust the apps you use, then this is all you need. It's in Sys Prefs -> Sharing -> Firewall, I believe (not in front of a Mac). Or you can spotlight it by typing firewall into the spotlight bar in the sys prefs window.
Turn it on, enable the smallest number of ports you need, put it in stealth mode, block UDP if you don't need it. Never think about it again. If you do NOT trust your own applications, you could potentially need an outgoing firewall as well; Mac people seem to like Little Snitch (I've never bothered). Outgoing firewall is less necessary on Macs purely because there is no spyware as of now, and so any outgoing transmissions are the result of software for which you authorized installation yourself.
The alternate theory applies if and only if you activate no incoming services on your Mac. The logic is that if no services are listening to any incoming ports, there is no value in having a firewall, as it is blocking "deaf ears." If that situation applies, you can read more about this and possibly decide for yourself to do without a firewall. But as I understand it, this doesn't really apply once you have services listening on ports.
- Virus protection -- get ClamXAV (free) installed, just to have it there if you need it ever. But you won't get any Mac viruses. I have it installed on my iMac but I don't have its Sentry (background scan) enabled, and I don't make a regular practice of running virus scans.
If you run Windows in Parallels, VMWare, or Bootcamp, and allow the Windows partition to see the internet, you should also continue to do what you do in Windows now in terms of virus protection. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that Parallels and VMWare don't "pierce" the OS X firewall, and so you don't need a separate firewall for Windows with them. With Bootcamp, you should use a Windows firewall of your choice.
With the recent WSJ article on how Mac is outpacing PC growth, I can only wonder how many "new" viruses might end up approaching the Mac..
I really wouldn't hold my breath. It's likely there will eventually be a virus someday, but it's less likely that we'll end up in a situation like Windows for a variety of reasons related to (1) our install base size, (2) the paucity of OS X machines used in mail / web server environments (so the servers don't get infected and become vectors), and (3) the architecture of OS X.
So bottom line question, do I need Firewall and/or Virus Protection software for my iMac? If so, what?
Hopefully answered this question?
