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Free Anti Virus

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Luke_227

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 20, 2015
4
0
Hello,

Newbie question so apologies if this has been asked before. I have just purchased a Mac Mini and am making the move from Windows to OSX.

Whilst OSX is less susceptible to viruses than Windows, do you still recommend using anti virus software on OSX?

If so, what (ideally free) application do you use? I have heard Aviva is good but want something that isn't going to slow down the performance of the Mac.

Thanks
Luke
 
Most people here (including me) will tell you such software is not needed. Practice safe computing habits, i.e., be aware of what/where you download from. Do not blindly enter your admin password when randomly prompted, etc.

I use Avast for the PC, they do offer a free version for the Mac as well as the PC, so you can look into that if you still want to install antivirus.
 
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Luke_227 said:
Hello,

Newbie question so apologies if this has been asked before. I have just purchased a Mac Mini and am making the move from Windows to OSX.

Whilst OSX is less susceptible to viruses than Windows, do you still recommend using anti virus software on OSX?

If so, what (ideally free) application do you use? I have heard Aviva is good but want something that isn't going to slow down the performance of the Mac.

Thanks
Luke
Click to expand...

Avast or Sophos if you're looking for a free one on OS X.

However as maflynn mentioned it's not really necessary. Just avoid stuff like 'CleanMyMac', which is malware/adware anyway. If you get an application like that, drag it into AppCleaner to completely remove all traces of it. Or use MalwareBytes for Mac to remove any malicious addons - there are far less points of infection on OS X.
 
maflynn said:
Most people here (including me) will tell you such software is not needed. Practice safe computing habits, i.e., be aware of what/where you download from. Do not blindly enter your admin password when randomly prompted, etc.

I use Avast for the PC, they do offer a free version for the Mac as well as the PC, so you can look into that if you still want to install antivirus.
Click to expand...

Do you use the free or paid Avast for your PC? I'm asking for my Windows VM.
 
Personally, the only AV I trust on a Mac is CLamXav, but it's no longer free ($30) and it's relatively lightweight. However, it's one of the few programs that I haven't heard of messing up OS X at some point or causing Kernel Panics.
 
Luke_227 said:
Hello,

Newbie question so apologies if this has been asked before. I have just purchased a Mac Mini and am making the move from Windows to OSX.

Whilst OSX is less susceptible to viruses than Windows, do you still recommend using anti virus software on OSX?

If so, what (ideally free) application do you use? I have heard Aviva is good but want something that isn't going to slow down the performance of the Mac.

Thanks
Luke
Click to expand...

IMHO, No you do not need an AV software for Mac. I have been running 2 Mac Mini from last 3 years and never ever faced any requirement of installing AV on Mac. You may get an ad-blocker since Safari is vulnerable to adware but AV programs aren't recommended. Some tools like Sophos for Mac only confuses the user when they report trojans/viruses/malware from nowhere.
 
Once ClamXav went paid, I switched to Sophos - so far, so good with it. I didn't like Avast because there is no scheduled scan option, and (I don't believe) any way to do an "on-demand" scan on an individual file.
 
fhall1 said:
Once ClamXav went paid, I switched to Sophos - so far, so good with it. I didn't like Avast because there is no scheduled scan option, and (I don't believe) any way to do an "on-demand" scan on an individual file.
Click to expand...
OS X is not MS-DOS. If there were any viruses on the Mac, then a "scheduled scan option" would be worthless. The thing that killed viruses on the Mac back in the System 7 days was that files are scanned as the file system first sees them. New viruses were intercepted before they had a chance to infect anything.
 
I've had 8 Macs since 1985. Not a single one has ever had a virus or Malware. Practice safe computing, don't install anything from C|Net (their downloads contain malware and adware), watch out for fake e-mails. The only Mac I have that had problems was a MacBook Air, and it was due to me falling whilst holding water. Took $700 to fix, but now it's fine. Never a real software problem either.
 
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