Antivirus??

Question

Antivirus??

New to Mac and just purchased a MBP. Was told I don't need to purchase any type of antivirus and I am afraid to go without! Was looking into Norton for Mac! What's the difference between dual protection and Norton 10.1?? Do I need to worry about adware and/or spyware? What other recommendations for virus protection can you suggest?

Tiffany

iPhone 3GS, iPad 64gb -3G, HP Pavilion Dv6338se, HP Desktop, Windows Vista

Posted on Jul 6, 2010 2:33 PM

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Answer 1

sig

Level 8

35,862 points

Jul 6, 2010 2:44 PM in response to TiffanyNicole

You don't need it. That said, stay away, far away from anything Norton. If you must to feel OK try ClamXav:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/52238

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Answer 2

RicD

Level 2

235 points

Jul 6, 2010 2:47 PM in response to TiffanyNicole

You truly do not need to run an anti-virus program on your Mac. Inevitably, they all cause more problems than they solve.

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Answer 3

JasonFear

Level 5

4,965 points

Jul 6, 2010 3:58 PM in response to TiffanyNicole

Hi Tiffany,

As someone who supports thousands of Macs in a "mixed" environment (PC & Mac) I will say that there is some advantage to an anti-virus solution. If anything it can help the flow of PC viruses across a campus/corporate environment. I know we use Sophos here and the Mac client does a pretty good job of sniffing out emails or other files that are infected (files created on a PC).

Would I consider this a compelling reason for a home user? No. But I will say that Sophos has been pretty good to us, it's pretty light weight and it's definitely a better 'premium' alternative to Norton.

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Answer 4

Jul 6, 2010 6:38 PM in response to JasonFear

If you do decide to get one, which you really don't with a Mac, do NOT get Norton. They actually gave my PC viruses by not protecting the computer. They are the worst option you could make for an anti-virus software.

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