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Free anti-virus?
- Thread starter EasyMac.
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Common sense? Or are you talking about Windows?
Mac Virus/Malware Info by GGJstudios
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
There are currently no viruses for Mac OS X in public circulation, only a handful of trojans and other malware, which have to be installed manually via entering the administrator password.
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
Regardless of the above post, here is one on Apple's site.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/avastantivirusmacedition.html
Whether it is any good or even up to date is unknown to me.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/avastantivirusmacedition.html
Whether it is any good or even up to date is unknown to me.
That is quite old software. Will it really protect from all the battery viruses out there?
Btw EasyMac., to edit your posts, use the
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Yes, it is "old" which is what I pointed out. I appreciate the redundancy though.
My point in posting is to show the OP that he can likely find something on Apple's site. If he cannot then it's a great starting point. Think about it. Another thing to consider while you're perched on your ivory tower is that some people will use ASV software because they're concerned about receiving something that may not hurt their Mac, but could hurt someone else's PC. I'm not saying many do have that concern, but I know a few. I am not in that camp myself. Either way, AV software may have a place in the OP's daily use. But hey, you go on with your bad self buddy.Sophos anti-virus for Mac is completely free and unlike some of the other solutions floating around the Internet it comes from a big name security company. I've used it on Mac with know problems over the last 3 months, well worth a try in my opinion!
http://http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx
http://http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx
Speaking against Sophos are these two posts, which tell you, that Sophos makes your Mac even more vulnerable.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12029337/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/11570070/
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Well, if you're talking about for use to protect Mac OS X, I don't recommend any, unless you have a specific need, such as you're required to have one to connect to someone's network. In those cases, I recommend ClamXav. It doesn't put a high demand on your system resources, checks for both Mac and Windows malware, and doesn't run with elevated privileges, like Sophos, which could increase your Mac's vulnerability.
The reason I don't recommend any antivirus is no viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any, since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install:
iAntiVirus is one app that makes inaccurate claims about the existence of Mac malware, in order to hype the need for their product. This post will give details.
Well, it's free. Get what you pay for?
Does this mean it's not effective? I used to pay for my Mac anti-virus until I upgraded computers and found this. I think I was using Avast before.
I believe ClamXav is a better choice, and it's free, as well.Well, it's free. Get what you pay for?
A suspicious number of these posts recommending Sophos in various threads are by first-and-one-time-only posters. It gives me the impression that Sophos employees are creating MR accounts just to promote their product. I would not recommend it in any case, as it runs with elevated privileges, which can increase your Mac's vulnerability. Other antivirus apps do not run with elevated privileges, eliminating that potential for exploitation.
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iAntivirus is dead.
ClamXAv is utterly useless because it does not detect Mac malware. Furthermore it requires an additional cumbersome plugin to provide real time protection.
Sophos is your best bet. The odds of encountering an exploit like that ^ are pretty low.
ClamXAv is utterly useless because it does not detect Mac malware. Furthermore it requires an additional cumbersome plugin to provide real time protection.
Sophos is your best bet. The odds of encountering an exploit like that ^ are pretty low.
That's not true.
Also, you don't need real-time protection on Mac OS X, as there are only a handful of trojans that require the user to install them before they can affect your Mac. Real-time scanning is a waste of system resources, with no benefit.
So now I'm nobody?
It's OK. I've been called worse!
I have to read quickly when taking a lunch break. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
What's for lunch?
They must've started doing that with the new 2.0 version.
Still the Windows malware detection is mediocre.
Yeah right, you should wait until a trojan gets into your systems and steals your passwords and then run a scanner when you feel like it to detect the threat.
If you're gonna use an AV, might as well use something that protects you in the first place.
A trojan can't do anything unless I intentionally, deliberately install it. If I don't install it, I don't need protection from it.
No antivirus can protect a user from their own foolish actions.
That's true, but you still might want a second opinion. Theoretically you could use Windows without an antivirus software, but since they use so few resources nowadays, it's an unnecessary risk, especially if you have an economic interest in keeping your passwords to yourself.
It doesn't make sense to even bother cluttering your library with an antivirus scanner's files if you're gonna be careful not to get infected in the first place anyway, right? So why bother installing it if you're confident you won't allow anything to get past your carefulness? But then if you're not so confident about it, why run the risk of getting infected just to save a few megabytes of RAM and a couple of seconds of speed?
The difference is, there are still Windows viruses in the wild, that can infect a computer without the users knowledge or permission. For these, antivirus is needed to detect infection. There are no viruses in the wild that can infect Mac OS X.
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