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Is antivirus really needed on a Mac?

Cutiekitty92

Cutiekitty92

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 11, 2015
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2,158
UK
Hello all,

I have a MacBook Pro 2018 Touch Bar.
Is antivirus really needed on a Mac? Im running the newest macOS and have been using malwarebites for many years now. It’s due renewal but do I really need it or can I do without?

Thanks!
 
There are no Mac viruses in the wild. There is some Mac malware in the wild albeit not wide spread. You are more likely to come across Windows based malware on the web.

MacOS comes with built-in Malware protection. There is no need to be paying Malwarebytes a yearly subscription fee. If you want to keep using that software, you can manually scan at no additional cost.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
There are no Mac viruses in the wild. There is some Mac malware in the wild albeit not wide spread. You are more likely to come across Windows based malware on the web.

MacOS comes with built-in Malware protection. There is no need to be paying Malwarebytes a yearly subscription fee. If you want to keep using that software, you can manually scan at no additional cost.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much, had no idea I can do that. I will no longer pay the premium subscription!
 
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I’ve never needed anti-virus software in nearly four decades of using Macs. The only threats are “socially engineered” ones where you’re tricked into granting access. Nothing can propagate on its own.
 
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No. And not on a Windows computer either if you just don’t click on everything like a lunatic. I’ve been on Windows and Macs for for decades, never had any virus. But, as in real life (whatever the hell that is), think before you do.
 
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Opening that traditional can of worms - two sets of users; one set uses the well-worn 'Apple doesn't get viruses because it's better' theme (largely initiated when Macs were expensive, fringe computers that few could afford or used and very rarely controlled entire networks, and it wasn't worth hackers time to do their magic on them), and in truth, all of that still holds true; while the other set points out that Macs are now increasingly mainstream, not entirely immune, and Apple is traditionally slow at acknowledging - and fixing - weaknesses that are discovered - seemingly seeing that acknowledgement as bad PR.
But if you can find a perfectly fine free AV program that doesn't adversely affect the running of the Mac, why not use it?

For my part, I'm in both camps. I do use an AV app - not particularly to protect my Mac, but rather, because I work with others who use a variety of OSs and online apps, and I exchange / forward documents to them constantly, so I'd rather not be a conduit to an infected email / doc accidently sent to me and then forwarded to those who may not be running MacOS or other OS without AV protection.

Looking out for others - something we seem to have forgotten how to do in the last few years.
 
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doolar said:
No. And not on a Windows computer either if you just don’t click on everything like a lunatic. I’ve been on Windows and Macs for for decades, never had any virus. But, as in real life (whatever the hell that is), think before you do.
Click to expand...
Same here, got my first PC 15 years ago without knowing which end was up, and I learned how to use the computer on my own. 3 years later I started community collage at 48, finished my 4 year degree at NMU, Go Wildcats! at 55 and landed a GIS job before I graduated. Long story short, I only used antivirus software on my first PC, it caused nothing but headaches and after looking around, I found Leo Notenboom of 'Ask Leo' fame. He explains why you do not need antivirus very thouroughly, thoughtfully, intelligently, and at a level most can understand and appreciate.

You are absolutely correct. People are easily tricked, fooled, cajooled, some just plain stupid, and will click on anything bright and shiny.

"But, as in real life (whatever the hell that is)..." ? Thank for the laugh, it seems each day now that we are living in Bizarro World.
 
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I borrowed my brother-in-law's MacBook recently, and as a former PC user he had Norton 360 installed and firewall turned on. The one piece of software I installed (Carbon Copy Cloner) was flagged as a potential threat with never-ending popups. What a headache.
 
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I do not use antivirus too, however by extra safety wife MacBook Air have an antivirus, being a teacher and heavily relaying on usb stick, I installed AV on her laptop to make sure she do not propagate viruses, should admit there have been no alert for almost 10 years.
 
I've edited documents from around the world for many years and have detected only one virus. I'm not worried about PC viruses infecting my Macs, but I am worried about passing them along to my clients. Antivirus software is a business expense for me, which I can claim on my taxes. The drain on my system is minimal for what I do.
 
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Sorry to burst the bubble, but while there are a lot of viruses for Windows, those over achievers are producing viruses for the mac as well. I am not sure why they get their jolly's that way, Macs can get viruses. Sadly, your MacBook, iMac, or Mac Mini can all get infected with malware. Macs are less vulnerable than Windows computers, but viruses and hackers can successfully attack them too.

So, no, Macs are not immune to viruses. And as they become more popular it will become ever more apparent just how dangerous this myth is. If you're a Mac user or your employees use them in your business, it's better to install anti-virus software than it is to rely on blind faith.

Now that is for viruses. As for keylogger, trojans, denial of service, those are a whole different breeds.

Apple claims they have protection on their now and then updates, but if something creeps up today, and you get it, betting it won't be tomorrow before they cure it.

So it is up to you if you want to trash your antivirus/malware software. Go for it. ME? I got the bitdefender total security suite and update my browser and avoid opening up mail with "click here" or any of the usual funnies. I use bitdefender because it is a low foot print , that is doesn't gobble up my resources, works in the background and so far I am doing just fine.

Others may never have a virus,trojan or any malware and not have protection. It is like driving a car, you don''t need insurance (although some states say you do) and you can drive 60 years and never have an accident. But you have the insurance, just in case something remotely might happen.
 
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As mentioned above, there has never been a single OS X "virus" discovered "in the wild".
Not one.

There ARE such things as malware, adware, crapware, trojans, and there has been one known case of "ransomware" (but the latter was discovered and corrected quickly).

For that, I use MalwareBytes.
Download MalwareBytes and run it:
www.malwarebytes.com

Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy

Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.
www.malwarebytes.com www.malwarebytes.com

IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download

IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!

You CAN pay to register it if you wish. The cost is very reasonable.
Do this, and it will offer malware scanning/protection "in real time", continuously.

The free version only runs when you launch it manually.
 
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I'm 58, I've never used virus protection on Mac or Windows. I have had a virus once. What is important that many neglect are regular backups and offsite backups. Your data is what you want to protect, images, documents things you've created. Backup often and make sure you have a copy of important stuff where your computer isn't stored. In case of fire or theft, for example.

Another tip that many use, is never use your computer with the admin account. Set up an account for daily use where you intentionally need to sign-in as admin to make system changes.
 
Not according to Apple. I’ve actually not used it for a long time, without issue. The bigger problem is adware. But then I have 4 protective apps on my M1Pro.
 
I believe we have gone through this discussion many ,many times on many, many threads. I am 74, I have been using computers since 1972 and that is fairly long. true back in the dark ages they were not as fancy as we have today. I have always had a virus protection, and to me it gave me peace of mind. Yes, backup your important stuff and I am sure you can find several threads on what is recommended, external drives, clouds and so on.

Some people are lucky, born under a happy cloud and others not so much. So you can get rid of all your computer condoms, and see what happens. IF you save a bundle of money, things work out great and if you don't it is your choice and be big enough to live with it.
 

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I’d highly recommend buying Malwarebytes. It’s incredibly light on resources and only takes 5-10 seconds to scan so I just set it to scan every hour. Macs can get a lot of things now, the worst being ransomware. The advice of saying you don’t need any protection because Macs don’t get a specific subset of malware is irresponsible … because they get everything else. And saying Macs just aren’t popular enough yet is nonsense. This isn’t the 80s, which is about how old that argument is. There are millions and millions of Mac users out there. Thinking you don’t need protection because you’re on a Mac makes you a prime target. Yes, everything works fine … until it doesn’t.
 
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I just did a MacRumors forum search with keywords "need" and "antivirus"; titles only. Got around 40 hits. I did it a while back with just keyword "antivirus" in the title. That got about 25 pages of threads.

Bottom line get one if you're from the windows world. Don't want your Wintel friends to think you're a wild and crazy guy. Otherwise, worry more about phishing attempts and the like.

I bought the first Mac in 1984 and there were a handful of viruses until Apple switched to a UNIX based core. I've never had an AntiVirus for my Mac, but always had one for my PCs. The latter was needed.

OK, for the record, I programmed my first computer in 1968 using Fortran (not Fortran IV) on punch cards. Computers were fun back then. You could walk inside some. They also put a man on the moon. Memory was in kilobytes.

Had to make sure to swap calls to subs from Main to stay within memory. Our PDP's had a massive 64KB of core (sorry computer programming gobble gook).
 
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WeatherWeasel said:
As mentioned above, there has never been a single OS X "virus" discovered "in the wild".
Not one. Really? Just because there isn't one now , according to you, doesn't mean there won't be one coming.
Click to expand...


It does seem inconceivable, especially to PC users, but it's true. The simple reason is, anything that is installed requires an admin password. Therefore nothing can self-propagate. That's why Mac viruses are always "proofs of concept", and vulnerabilities are always demonstrated by those who already have admin or root access.

Now if you are talking all types of "malware", rather than just "viruses", that's a different story. There are all sorts of exploits the user can unwittingly install themselves.

I should have mentioned earlier, another safeguard its to turn off auto-open on browser downloads.
 
WebHead said:
It does seem inconceivable, especially to PC users, but it's true. The simple reason is, anything that is installed requires an admin password. Therefore nothing can self-propagate. That's why Mac viruses are always "proofs of concept", and vulnerabilities are always demonstrated by those who already have admin or root access.

Now if you are talking all types of "malware", rather than just "viruses", that's a different story. There are all sorts of exploits the user can unwittingly install themselves.

I should have mentioned earlier, another safeguard its to turn off auto-open on browser downloads.
Click to expand...
Windows has it’s own feature that many rarely take advantage of and that is UAC. If one sets UAC to it’s highest level, it adds another level of protection to the OS. The problem is that a user will more frequently get the annoying UAC prompt on the screen. I can live with that.

On my Windows PC’s I always set UAC to it’s highest level as well as elevating the built in AV settings and adding folder protection. I have been a Windows user since the 90’s and I have never had a single virus but I use commonsense when browsing.

On my Macs, I have never used an AV or Malware program and i’ve using Macs since 2000.
 
A close relative had a nasty ransomware attack on her Mac, and I know someone who claims to have had a virus though I have my doubts in this case, but his machine may have got some kind of malware on it...

I do use Bitdefender and over the years it has found and removed some viruses, but that said always when I've Googled the name of the quarantined item it's been a Windows virus so probably harmless to my system.

With this experience, and even if it's unnecessary I don't mind paying for Bitdefender to run on my three current Macs. The cost is irrelevant to me and any hit on performance is unnoticeable, so for me it's worth the peace of mind.

Honestly if the only thing antivirus has done is to catch a few Windows viruses and stop me unwittingly passing them on to friends and family I'm happy I had it.
 
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