Best anti-virus for MacOs Catalina?

First I guess you really have to provide a really clear agreed upon definition for virus.

Here is just one list of malware, virus or otherwise bad stuff that can sneak onto your mac and reek havoc:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/mac-viruses-list-3668354/

Second you would have to determine which 3rd party products, if any, can provide greater security than whats is built into the native OS.

And third if any 3rd party products are effective how much overhead do they take up i.e. reduce performance, interfere with allowed programs etc.

I am a firm believer in common sense don't visit sites that are loaded with malware (for example p@rn sites, spam ads duh).

Don't open email attachments without scanning them first.

Just to name a few perils mac users should be on the lookout for:

There are malicious microsoft macros, though they don't attack binary apps or the native OS they can dump and spam your contact lists in outlook or compromise excel and word macros.

Some info on malicious microsoft macros:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/macro-malware

Also beware of browser plugins/extensions

Info on malicious browser plugins:

https://www.salon.com/2019/07/22/malicious-browser-extensions-are-stealing-personal-information/

Though I personally do run a real-time AV scanner on my mac I neither recommend or dissuade other users from doing so. However I do recommend at a minimum to have on-demand malware and virus scanner that's up to date and run a scan periodically as part of your maintenance schedule or if you notice something suspicious.

Macworld should slap themselves. Every single item they list is a Trojan. Not a virus. And they are far from the only ones who call anything and everything a virus. Even so-called security experts do.

Viruses self replicate. They need no help from the user to move from one device to another, or infect other apps it can see. These do not exist on the Mac at this time, and haven't throughout the entirety of OS X / macOS.

Trojans require you to get onto your system. They can't get there on their own. You have to install them in some way. You may not know you did it, but you did. There are lots of these. Adware, key loggers, back doors, ransomware and other threats.

This is what makes all typical AV software 100% useless. I didn't write that above as a joke or exaggeration. There are no viruses to detect, so what exactly is the AV software wasting your system resources looking for? They cannot stop you from installing Trojans. Every once in a great while AV software may see that you've installed a Trojan, but they can almost never remove them. Yeah. Great. Tell me after it's already installed.

I've seen many topics on these forums alone where the user had as many as four AV software titles running, and yet an EtreCheck report showed their Mac loaded with adware and other garbage. Yup, AV software is just soooooo useful.

You've made the extremely common mistake of designating malware as some sort of individual type of threat:

Here is just one list of malware, virus or otherwise bad stuff…

Anything you don't want on your Mac is malware. It's a generic term (malicious software) that refers to any and all of them. Virus, trojan, worm, etc. They'll all types of malware.

Yes, the very tired argument of macro viruses. And yes, they are a virus - of sorts. They only files they infect are Word and Excel documents. And then only if you turn off the default in Office disallowing macros to run. When either app sees one in a document you open, you get a warning it contains a macro. If you know what that macro is, then let it run. If not, don't and it can't load. That's it. No infection. But once loaded, any macro attaches itself to the default template. After that, every single Word or Excel document you create contains the macro. That's why the default is to disallow them. Beyond that, Office macro viruses are almost entirely Windows threats. On a Mac, they don't do anything. You're just a carrier.

Browser plugins: Again, a Trojan. You have to install them.

No one said there's no malware at all, but AV software is absolutely, 100% junk. They eat up system resources doing nothing useful.

No Anti-Virus software or so-called “cleaning” apps are needed or recommended for Mac OS. They can conflict with Mac's own built-in security. At best they will slow your Mac by using unnecessary resources and at worst will bork your entire system. Your Mac has all the built-in protection you need.

macOS - Security - Apple

Thank you for sharing the https://www.apple.com/macos/security/ link. After reading this I am uninstalling my Norton 360 Deluxe. I did everything they suggested to get it to work. I Allowed access to all my files and disk in system preferences, security. It still would not Finish Setup. I have read all the posts on this thread and agree with other users that Norton is not being forthright at this time. They know there is a problem in their compatibility with Catalina OS but they do not have a resolution yet. We use Norton 360 Deluxe for the other PC devices in our family so we will keep it for those. Best regards to all.

I thought of that, but unlikely when the marked post comes up 11 days later and instantly gets a "Solved".

We see I agree with what I already believed Helpful and Solved marks all the time. Like this one. 6 Helpful posts, all completely unhelpful to anyone looking for a solution or correct answer. All people agreeing with each other how much they dislike 2 factor ID. No dent made in their griping that it won't change.

Hart-Baker wrote:

We use Norton 360 Deluxe for the other PC devices in our family so we will keep it for those. Best regards to all.

FWIW, modern PC operating systems like Windows 10 do not need third party anti virus apps installed. In fact Windows 10 will disable its built in protection if a third party anti viruus app is detected running on the computer. Windows 10, just as with modern MacOS, does not need third party anti virus protection.

USNavyCPO wrote:

Very curious about what is the most effective (free or paid) anti-virus for MacOs Catalina version 10.15 (MacBook Pro) Have been using Kaspersky which is not happy with this update.

More than likely because it's conflicting with XProtect which macOS has built in. Apple does not share information on security with Kaspersky nor any other 3rd party developer. Many of us have been on these forums for years, which is not saying anything against the knowledge and experience of newer users, but we have seen a litany of posts from users around the world with minor issues from 3rd party AV products ranging from false positives, resource hogging to complete instability and outright system panics. In almost all cases removing the 3rd party protection rectified the situation because it was interfering with what Apple had working internally.

If an OS has an AV solution already you don't run a 2nd internally. It doesn't matter if you are running WinXP; you are introducing problems unnecessarily.

I agree with your definition of virus however as incorrect as it may be many people in the public refer to malware, adware trojans etc as viruses. Malware as you correctly stated requires a user to 'trust' or approve the installation or execution for it to be effective. Unfortunately much malicious energy is spent in creating convincing arguments to install such malware my favorite being the pop-up 'Your computer has been infected click here to remove the infection'. As obvious as this may seem to most of us, it is still an effective entry into a substantial user base.

As I also said the best defense is common sense don't install anything unless you trust the source (but even that is sometimes not enough).

As I also said the best defense is common sense don't install anything unless you trust the source (but even that is sometimes not enough).

That is, unfortunately, true. Fellow user etresoft (who wrote and maintains the very useful EtreCheck) has noted even safe software isn't always safe.

Most experienced users know the best way to get adware on their Mac is to download otherwise perfectly safe software from legal aggregate sites such as softonic.com, downloads.com and others. Yes, you get the freeware/shareware/demo software you expected, but the download also very often installs adware. Most times without your knowledge.

What did etresoft find? That some third party vendors include adware in the downloads from their own site! Why do they do that? For the same reason aggregate sites do. They get paid a small amount by the adware maker for every download. In other words, income.

Unfortunately much malicious energy is spent in creating convincing arguments to install such malware my favorite being the pop-up 'Your computer has been infected click here to remove the infection'.

That, too. Can't tell you how many of these we see per week. Every single day you see at least a few people here asking if the web site or popup saying they have 3 viruses (or whatever nonsense the site says) is true.

Read: Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

None.

Do not subject your Mac to any such garbage. All typical AV software is 100% useless. There are no Mac viruses in existence, and the many Trojans that do exist will go right past them.

Consider yourself fortunate that Kaspersky does not "like" it; uninstall it and your Mac will be ecstatic.

Common sense!

Thank you for that information and setting the record straight (so to speak); unfortunately, people believe what they want to believe even if it has nothing to do with logic or facts.