Unless you frequent naughty sites, the Dark Web, or download stuff from less than reputable sources, you don't need AV. It'll only "gum up the works"
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What is the best antivirus for Mac El Capitan?
- Thread starter RLM365
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Bit Defender (paid)
Sophos (free)
Clam XAV (used to be free, but now paid)
True, but some schools/businesses require antivirus on ALL connected devices (my university being one). Think of it as herd immunity, like with vaccines.
Sophos (free)
Clam XAV (used to be free, but now paid)
True, but some schools/businesses require antivirus on ALL connected devices (my university being one). Think of it as herd immunity, like with vaccines.
Here is a recent overview that also tests for system impact while the AV app is running. BitDefender did pretty well with 100% malware detection and low system impact.
To point out AV on Mac only really scans Windows files your sharing to from systems...
It does nothing on a Mac alone. Mac malware yes,,, not viruses.
But even, its then... common sense it best...
A/V software should never be trusted alone
It does nothing on a Mac alone. Mac malware yes,,, not viruses.
But even, its then... common sense it best...
A/V software should never be trusted alone
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I was attempting to go to the UCLA bookstore website when something called dotDefender came up with some stuff about the site being blocked and contacting the administrator with some code. I really don't have any active anti-virus protection. I do have Bitdefender, free version so not complete, and as far as I can tell it is not connected to this other thing.
Just wondering about the need of actually getting full time anti-virus and if so what are your recommendations?
I know that Macs are vulnerable nowadays and maybe it's time to get some protection. I don't have top secret stuff on my new iMac but it may be worth the price today. Thoughts?
Thanks.
Just wondering about the need of actually getting full time anti-virus and if so what are your recommendations?
I know that Macs are vulnerable nowadays and maybe it's time to get some protection. I don't have top secret stuff on my new iMac but it may be worth the price today. Thoughts?
Thanks.
Your Mac already includes all of the protections necessary. 3rd-party antivirus software on a Mac currently offers NO advantages whatsoever and actually introduces vulnerabilities, instability, and performance problems to your mac.
You should remove any antivirus software from your Mac and simply: 1) keep the Mac OS updated, 2) keep your browser updated, and 3) don't be a fool and install a trojan app on your Mac (the ONLY way to infect a Mac is to infect yourself).
You should remove any antivirus software from your Mac and simply: 1) keep the Mac OS updated, 2) keep your browser updated, and 3) don't be a fool and install a trojan app on your Mac (the ONLY way to infect a Mac is to infect yourself).
I definitely agree with this, but some places (ex: my old university, my father's workplace) require a certain antivirus be installed before you access their Wi-Fi. The fact that OP's problem originally occurred while going to the UCLA website made me think of this.
Of course, once I graduated I went through and cleaned out the unnecessary antivirus.
unless you frequently visit naughty sites or the Dark Web, you really don't need it. The only thing it'll really do is make the virus app maker a little bit richer and slow your Mac down
+1. I agree 100%.
If OP wants to be on the safe side, then as @Fishrrman mentioned it, Malwarebytes Anti-malware for Mac will be more than enough.
Thanks for the input. The Dark Web is kinda like dark matter to me, I believe it's out there just don't know where and I'm not going to look for it.
I'll just try to keep everything clean and up to date.
Along sort of the same line, I clean out the history on Safari when I'm done with it . I don't like the idea of having all those little cookies sitting in my computer. Again, thoughts on this practice?
I'll just try to keep everything clean and up to date.
Along sort of the same line, I clean out the history on Safari when I'm done with it . I don't like the idea of having all those little cookies sitting in my computer. Again, thoughts on this practice?
I definitely agree with this, but some places (ex: my old university, my father's workplace) require a certain antivirus be installed before you access their Wi-Fi. The fact that OP's problem originally occurred while going to the UCLA website made me think of this.
Of course, once I graduated I went through and cleaned out the unnecessary antivirus.
Having a mandatory anti-virus on Macs for some employers and colleges is merely nothing more than a checkmark on their internal audit sheet. Most everyone knows that with recommended best practices and not using an admin account, your chances of getting infected are to this point nil. As another poster pointed out, you have to basically infect yourself.
Now, as with anything these days, this may change going forward. But as someone who works in IT, I can testify that not only are the Macs I've dealt with generally more secure, they're also much more reliable (hardware/software.)
If you want to feel some peace of mind, download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac. I have it, it has no impact on the performance, and hasn't exhibited any false-positives.
@Old dog guy
Full time anti-virus apps tend to have an impact on performance and may cause other issues. That is why it is preferable to use an on-demand anti-virus software (Malwarebytes, ClamXav).
Full time anti-virus apps tend to have an impact on performance and may cause other issues. That is why it is preferable to use an on-demand anti-virus software (Malwarebytes, ClamXav).
Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.
Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.
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OP wrote above:
"Along sort of the same line, I clean out the history on Safari when I'm done with it . I don't like the idea of having all those little cookies sitting in my computer. Again, thoughts on this practice?"
I agree with you on that.
I routinely "reset" Safari (still can do that if you're running 10.8.5).
On El Capitan, I quit Safari, then open Safari's folders and delete EVERYTHING in them (with the notable exceptions of Extensions and Bookmarks). I clean it out, but good.
I just can't figure out those folks with months and months of "history" and who keep 40 tabs open at once. I don't use tabs, ever. If I open a tab by mistake, I quickly close it and re-open what I was looking for in a "new window" instead.
I'm also one of those who shuts the Mac down every night, and reboots every morning...
"Along sort of the same line, I clean out the history on Safari when I'm done with it . I don't like the idea of having all those little cookies sitting in my computer. Again, thoughts on this practice?"
I agree with you on that.
I routinely "reset" Safari (still can do that if you're running 10.8.5).
On El Capitan, I quit Safari, then open Safari's folders and delete EVERYTHING in them (with the notable exceptions of Extensions and Bookmarks). I clean it out, but good.
I just can't figure out those folks with months and months of "history" and who keep 40 tabs open at once. I don't use tabs, ever. If I open a tab by mistake, I quickly close it and re-open what I was looking for in a "new window" instead.
I'm also one of those who shuts the Mac down every night, and reboots every morning...
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Vulnerable to 'malware' NO!
Vulnerable to 'trojan' YES! (as with ever OS on the planet)
The ONLY way to infect a Mac is to purposefully infect yourself by downloading a trojan, installing it, and authenticating as your admin account. As with any OS, installing a trojan is nearly impossible to protect against.
In the future, I wish that Apple would review EVERY single file in EVERY single app in the app store and from major developers to integrate into an OS-wide whitelisting framework. Unfortunately, the future of safe computing is going to be whitelisting of every single executable file hash on a computer prior to execution. Short of that, stopping trojans is impossible and is simply not the fault of the OS maker.
@willmtaylor thanks, I requested a merger.
@Old dog guy in this sub-forum, https://forums.macrumors.com/search/2589499/?q=malware&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=2 (three pages of topics with titles that include malware) https://forums.macrumors.com/search/2589504/?q=virus&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=2 (eleven pages of topics with titles that include virus) etc..
Yesterday I allowed Sophos Anti-Virus to remove threats, adware and PUAs where at least one alternative third party solution had failed to find the threats. But this is not a recommendation to use the Sophos solution.
@Old dog guy in this sub-forum, https://forums.macrumors.com/search/2589499/?q=malware&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=2 (three pages of topics with titles that include malware) https://forums.macrumors.com/search/2589504/?q=virus&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=2 (eleven pages of topics with titles that include virus) etc..
Yesterday I allowed Sophos Anti-Virus to remove threats, adware and PUAs where at least one alternative third party solution had failed to find the threats. But this is not a recommendation to use the Sophos solution.
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Look up "herd immunity." No man is an island.
Additionally many do inadvertently infect their Mac. Hence, the anti-malware programs.
If you had "threats, adware and PUAs" on your Mac then you, and you alone, were FOOLED into installing them and infecting yourself. If you insist on infecting your Mac by downloading untrusted software, ignoring Gatekeeper, installing it, and then authenticating as administrator, then no antivirus product is going to help you.
If you MUST use anti-malware product occasionally to undo what you have subjected your Mac to, then get rid of Sophos and use Malwarebytes because it (as I understand it) is only an on-demand scanner and not an active scanner.
I did not.
Too many malware-related topics are repetitive with readers making false assumptions or false statements.