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What's the best anti virus for Mac OS X right now?

Ulenspiegel said:
@thomasareed: it is a little bit off-topic, but Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac is much slower than your original software was, is there a reason?
Click to expand...

It shouldn't be slower than AdwareMedic used to be... in fact, it should be faster, as it's now written in native OS X code rather than with a rapid application development tool (Xojo) as AdwareMedic was. On all the Macs we're using for development and testing, scan times are around 5 seconds or less. (In fact, we've had some complaints from folks who think the software is broken, because it couldn't possibly be scanning that fast! :) )

However, the signatures have grown significantly, and under certain uncommon conditions involving particularly cluttered folders that need to be scanned by new rules, it can take longer.

What kind of scan times are you seeing?
 
Thanks for the answer, Thomas.
I had been using AdwareMedic for quite some time. It was really really quick. When upgraded to Malwarebytes version the scan time became 15 seconds as a minimum and from the very first use. My use pattern did not change and I have the same apps.

EDIT:

Just checked again. It took more than a minute. Here is the log file:

2015-09-22 19:42:54: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-22 19:42:54: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-22 19:43:09: No malware found
2015-09-22 19:43:09: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-23 18:46:48: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-23 18:46:48: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-23 18:47:01: No malware found
2015-09-23 18:47:01: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-23 19:00:23: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-23 19:00:23: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-23 19:00:32: No malware found
2015-09-23 19:00:32: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-23 20:00:25: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-23 20:00:25: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-23 20:00:35: No malware found
2015-09-23 20:00:35: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-23 22:26:35: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-23 22:26:35: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-23 22:26:51: No malware found
2015-09-23 22:26:51: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-24 01:50:08: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-24 01:50:08: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-24 01:50:19: No malware found
2015-09-24 01:50:19: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-24 01:57:01: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-24 01:57:01: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-24 01:57:12: No malware found
2015-09-24 01:57:12: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-24 02:11:58: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-24 02:11:58: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-24 02:12:09: No malware found
2015-09-24 02:12:09: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-24 03:13:30: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-24 03:13:30: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-24 03:13:40: No malware found
2015-09-24 03:13:40: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-24 20:29:07: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-24 20:29:07: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-24 20:29:17: No malware found
2015-09-24 20:29:17: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-25 23:54:06: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-25 23:54:06: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-25 23:54:23: No malware found
2015-09-25 23:54:23: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-26 04:33:29: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-26 04:33:29: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-26 04:33:40: No malware found
2015-09-26 04:33:40: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-26 14:14:12: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-26 14:14:12: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-26 14:14:22: No malware found
2015-09-26 14:14:22: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-26 22:50:18: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-26 22:50:18: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-26 22:50:32: No malware found
2015-09-26 22:50:32: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-27 00:49:46: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-27 00:49:46: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-27 00:49:57: No malware found
2015-09-27 00:49:57: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-27 10:17:04: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-27 10:17:04: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-27 10:17:42: No malware found
2015-09-27 10:17:42: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-27 16:41:49: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-27 16:41:49: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-27 16:42:02: No malware found
2015-09-27 16:42:02: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-27 17:16:26: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-27 17:16:26: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-27 17:16:38: No malware found
2015-09-27 17:16:38: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-29 20:51:57: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-29 20:51:57: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-29 20:52:08: No malware found
2015-09-29 20:52:08: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-09-30 22:03:24: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-09-30 22:03:24: Scanning with signatures version 18
2015-09-30 22:03:37: No malware found
2015-09-30 22:03:37: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-01 21:11:06: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-01 21:11:06: Scanning with signatures version 19
2015-10-01 21:11:18: No malware found
2015-10-01 21:11:18: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-03 01:47:27: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-03 01:47:27: Scanning with signatures version 19
2015-10-03 01:47:41: No malware found
2015-10-03 01:47:41: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-04 02:40:14: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-04 02:40:14: Scanning with signatures version 19
2015-10-04 02:40:28: No malware found
2015-10-04 02:40:28: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-07 20:12:58: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-07 20:12:58: Scanning with signatures version 20
2015-10-07 20:13:13: No malware found
2015-10-07 20:13:13: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-10 02:29:47: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-10 02:29:47: Scanning with signatures version 22
2015-10-10 02:30:00: No malware found
2015-10-10 02:30:00: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-14 02:20:58: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-14 02:20:58: Scanning with signatures version 22
2015-10-14 02:21:13: No malware found
2015-10-14 02:21:13: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-15 01:59:07: ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-15 01:59:07: Scanning with signatures version 22
2015-10-15 01:59:26: No malware found
2015-10-15 01:59:26: ----- Scan Ended -----

2015-10-22 21:49:07 :
2015-10-22 21:49:07 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-22 21:49:07 : Scanning with signatures version 23 (2015-10-15)
2015-10-22 21:49:26 : *** scan time: 0d 00:00:18 ***
2015-10-22 21:49:26 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-10-23 23:29:22 :
2015-10-23 23:29:22 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-23 23:29:22 : Scanning with signatures version 23 (2015-10-15)
2015-10-23 23:29:40 : *** scan time: 0d 00:00:17 ***
2015-10-23 23:29:40 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-10-23 23:41:44 :
2015-10-23 23:41:44 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-23 23:41:44 : Scanning with signatures version 23 (2015-10-15)
2015-10-23 23:42:16 : *** scan time: 0d 00:00:32 ***
2015-10-23 23:42:16 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-10-24 11:02:57 :
2015-10-24 11:02:57 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-24 11:02:57 : Scanning with signatures version 23 (2015-10-15)
2015-10-24 11:04:02 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:04 ***
2015-10-24 11:04:02 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-10-24 13:47:35 :
2015-10-24 13:47:35 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-24 13:47:35 : Scanning with signatures version 23 (2015-10-15)
2015-10-24 13:49:29 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:53 ***
2015-10-24 13:49:29 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-10-28 20:17:11 :
2015-10-28 20:17:11 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-10-28 20:17:11 : Scanning with signatures version 25 (2015-10-26)
2015-10-28 20:18:51 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:40 ***
2015-10-28 20:18:51 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-11-04 01:58:14 :
2015-11-04 01:58:14 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-11-04 01:58:14 : Scanning with signatures version 27 (2015-11-02)
2015-11-04 01:59:24 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:10 ***
2015-11-04 01:59:24 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-11-08 19:22:36 :
2015-11-08 19:22:36 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-11-08 19:22:36 : Scanning with signatures version 28 (2015-11-06)
2015-11-08 19:23:48 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:11 ***
2015-11-08 19:23:48 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-12-10 20:05:14 :
2015-12-10 20:05:14 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-12-10 20:05:14 : Scanning with signatures version 38 (2015-12-07)
2015-12-10 20:06:50 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:36 ***
2015-12-10 20:06:50 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2015-12-29 22:31:26 :
2015-12-29 22:31:26 : ----- Scan Started -----
2015-12-29 22:31:26 : Scanning with signatures version 42 (2015-12-29)
2015-12-29 22:33:01 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:35 ***
2015-12-29 22:33:01 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2016-01-10 18:57:22 :
2016-01-10 18:57:22 : ----- Scan Started -----
2016-01-10 18:57:22 : Scanning with signatures version 44 (2016-1-4)
2016-01-10 18:58:56 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:33 ***
2016-01-10 18:58:56 : ------ Scan Ended ------
2016-01-11 23:52:25 :
2016-01-11 23:52:25 : ----- Scan Started -----
2016-01-11 23:52:25 : Scanning with signatures version 44 (2016-1-4)
2016-01-11 23:53:59 : *** scan time: 0d 00:01:34 ***
2016-01-11 23:53:59 : ------ Scan Ended ------
 
Ulenspiegel said:
When upgraded to Malwarebytes version the scan time became 15 seconds as a minimum and from the very first use. My use pattern did not change and I have the same apps.
Click to expand...

That's probably normal. The Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac signatures include definitions for malware and PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), which AdwareMedic never did, plus the adware definitions have grown significantly. Most likely, one of the new rules somewhere is searching a folder that AdwareMedic never did, and that folder is probably very crowded. Or it could be more than one somewhat-crowded folder.

We're definitely interested in keeping scan times down, though, and will continue working on ways to optimize the detection engine and the signatures.
 
It is ok with me. The scan time is still very good. It was just an observation comparing to the previous version. But your post gives an explanation.
Thank you for taking your time.

P.S.: I have posted the scan times from the log file in my edited OP.
 
rshrugged said:
Tangential, if a little off-topic : I prefer removing malware/adware manually. Your adware removal (manual) guide hasn't been updated since Sept. 2015. Are you no longer updating it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I haven't updated that in a while. Part of the problem with continuing to do that is that there's a fair bit of adware out there these days that can't be easily identified by filename. We frequently see detections for things in people's logs and I think, "Huh, that's a new one." We're detecting this kind of stuff using more sophisticated checks, so we may catch something, but it's still a new name that I haven't seen before. So, even if I bring it up-to-date, it'll never be nearly as up-to-date as the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac signatures.

Plus, so much new stuff has come out that it's just gotten harder and harder to find enough time to update the pages.

I've been wrestling with what to do about that, and feeling bad about letting it languish, but I suppose that I need to make a decision, and either update the pages or put a notice there that they won't be updated anymore.
 
thomasareed said:
Yeah, I haven't updated that in a while. Part of the problem with continuing to do that is that there's a fair bit of adware out there these days that can't be easily identified by filename. We frequently see detections for things in people's logs and I think, "Huh, that's a new one." We're detecting this kind of stuff using more sophisticated checks, so we may catch something, but it's still a new name that I haven't seen before. So, even if I bring it up-to-date, it'll never be nearly as up-to-date as the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac signatures.

Plus, so much new stuff has come out that it's just gotten harder and harder to find enough time to update the pages.

I've been wrestling with what to do about that, and feeling bad about letting it languish, but I suppose that I need to make a decision, and either update the pages or put a notice there that they won't be updated anymore.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the answer.
It'll be a big loss for the Mac world if you do decide to abandon it. I don't know of another resource that encourages an independent mindset, such as your site does/did. Does anyone else?
 
rshrugged said:
I don't know of another resource that encourages an independent mindset, such as your site does/did. Does anyone else?
Click to expand...

I don't know of any other site that has adware removal instructions like those. There are a lot that make claims to help you remove adware, but many of them are just bait to draw people in to further scams, while others aren't very complete.
 
thomasareed said:
I don't know of any other site that has adware removal instructions like those. There are a lot that make claims to help you remove adware, but many of them are just bait to draw people in to further scams, while others aren't very complete.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
I was a Windows guy when I learned of your site. I recommended it to Mac people and actually used your removal instructions a couple of times to help people remove adware. [Even a Windows guy could understand it, haha.] After walking through the removal process with them, they learned to become better, safer users. Thanks, for that. Hopefully, they've thanked you, as well. As I said, it'll be a loss (that will be cumulative, IMO) if you can't continue with it. It was well done.

Maybe someone trustworthy will see this as an opportunity.
 
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