Hi, I recently bought my first Mac. My previous machine was a windows xp computer, on which I ran Mcafee virusscan and Zonealarm pro firewall. I was wondering just how good the built in firewall on my macbook was, and if i should purchase another firewall like netbarrier. Also, what about virus protection/scanning software?? Thanks for the help.
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security help (Mac Newbie)
- Thread starter det2004
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i only have the bulit in firewall, like pretty much all mac users have.
i have NO antivirus software and NO spyware software.
us mac users have it easy
i suppose you could get something if you want, its really not neccessary though.
i have NO antivirus software and NO spyware software.
us mac users have it easy
i suppose you could get something if you want, its really not neccessary though.
You only need anti-virus if you have other windows machines and you worry about passing a virus to them. ClamXav will solve that problem. OSX firewall is very good.
thanks for the replies. After using Zonealarm, I feel like I'm naked without the firewall monitoring the outgoing traffic. I was wanting to try out some of the freeware games listed on apple's site under 'downloads' but I'm kind of paranoid about them giving me viruses or spyware.
Really? I heard there were only like two or three virus outbreaks and most of them were hoaxes or patched up within days...
^^ lol u didnt think that there were absolutely no viruses in the world for mac?? in the WHOLE world.... of course there are, apples just very good at patching and fixing. and dont forget their firewall is 2nd to none.
A vulnerability is not the same thing as a virus. Apple patched vulnerabilities. There are people of dubious credibility who claim to have Mac viruses in the laboratory. There are no MacOS X viruses in the wild. No privately-owned MacOS X computer has ever been infected by a virus.
Simple answer to your question as previously mentioned in this thread. Turn on the OS X firewall, and don't worry about any anti-virus or anti-spyware software unless there is a KNOWN high security threat for OS X. And believe me, you will know as soon as possible as there are many "windozers" on the net just waiting for their chance to tell the world about the first SIGNIFICANT OS X virus.
Congrats on your tansition to Mac.
Congrats on your tansition to Mac.
Monitor outgoing traffic
If you want to monitor outgoing traffic, you could try the Little Snitch firewall.
If you want to monitor outgoing traffic, you could try the Little Snitch firewall.
*^@$*)@&$)(@&$
would Apple carry Mac viruses on their website?????
Well, most of the stuff says it's freeware, and coming from windows, and people putting malicious code inside programs, I wasn't sure if the same could be done on osx. Also Apple has a disclaimer at the bottom saying they provide the links as a courtesy, and aren't responsible for the content.
Again, it's probably me just being paranoid, after years and years of windows use.
I am also new to Macs (just bought a new Imac), and I to was wondering about running virus software and spyware programs. I'd like to confirm my firewall settings. I haven't come across this utility yet, can you tell me where to look? Also, where is ClamXav available from? Thanks!
www.clamxav.com
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html
For the built-in firewall
->System Prefs->Sharing->Firewall
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html
For the built-in firewall
->System Prefs->Sharing->FirewallNo, that's just the first line of defense that fanboys use. They claim it's all just a hoax or a big joke.
Well they sill check it. I have software on their site and they wouldn't host it until I changed a few things to the icon!
ok lol so your trying to tell me that there are zerp viruses in the world of apple??
"absolutely" is always wrong. being cautious is always right.
unnecessary is half true, I don't believe Norton makes an AV for mac just for fun.
There are no viruses for OS X. There are TROJANS, but they are not the same time. Too often in the lexicon of teh intrenets, virus and trojand and malware become interchangable words. And they should not be.
If you can find one, I will not only infect my computer with it I will give you $5. Now Go!
And ok, I used the word "absolutely" because in a world with so many shades of gray, you sometimes have to give a black or white solution. And a majority of people do not need Anti-Virus on their Macs, ever.
EDIT: Or find me a Trojan. Let's get this crap settled once and for all.