Hi,
I am getting my new MacBook Air with the new M1 chip very soon and wanted to check if ...
a) I need a malware/anti-virus program and
b) if there is already one out there running natively on the new M1 machines?
any recommendations?
thank you very much
martin.
Yes, malware, adware, scareware, and ransomware is out there in the wild attacking Macs. Most of it is not terribly dangerous but more annoying. Mac's are not immune to these threats but if you observe common sense safe practices it is unlikely to be a problem.
Exercising some caution in regards to phishing emails and text / social media messages as well as noticing those pop-up advertisements that attempt to convince you that you are infected and to install fake anti-malware tools, etc. goes a long way to protecting you. The rest is a matter of the following:
[Edited by Moderator]
I agree that Kapersky is total garbage, not to mention entirely unnecessary. Malware is not a virus and can easily be avoided by just using common sense when installing apps, like only downloading from a trusted source.
mickeyfromny wrote:
Antivirus? We don’t need no stinkin’ antivirus.. we have the M1 to protect us! 😂
https://apple.news/A1FhzdF_TRsCyKiwCUgVQRw
Believe what you want but take it from those of us volunteers who have been around the Mac platform for decades. We get questions many times a day from users who installed anti-virus software only to see their machines come to a screeching halt, programs refusing to open, files missing, etc.
You’re just a tad late. That was from February and dealt with quickly. and it was for M1’s only.
I’ll say it again: no need. I’ve been working with Macs since 1994 and have never encountered a virus or malware. But, I am careful where I go and only download from a known to me developer or the app store. I do not have anything MS related.
It looks like Bitdefender will have SOME M1 compatibility in Jan 2021. https://www.bitdefender.com/support/bitdefender-endpoint-for-mac-support-for-apple-m1-faq-2646.html
I can only say these 2 things:
1- I tried Kaspersky AV for my MBP back in 2015, and I noticed that this App was sending constantly some kind of data to its server since I saw my internet connection always at full capacity even when I was not sending nor downloading anything. So I decided to delete the App. I did not like the idea that an AV software was constantly sending something from my hard drive to a server.
2- For my PC and Mac, recently, I purchased it again to use it to block the ads and some tracking going on the background during web surfing (be it Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Edge). Since I noticed that on my Windows PC Kaspersky was blocking all of them, and I could see the actual sites and trackers trying to get what kind of activity. And more: Kaspersky alerted me that even some Apps that I did not suspect were attempting to access my webcam. So, when I installed it on my MBP, it also showed me the trackers that it blocks, and many more. It was quite astonishing to see that a 5 minute surfing on a social media, or watching a 5 minute video in YouTube, Kaspersky was blocking up to tens or even 100 trackers and ads. So on my Mac, I use Kaspersky mainly to block ads, and trackers. And on my PC, to protect against virus, and other things.
So, it is up to you.
And from my 20 year-use of Macs, I do not recall getting virus threats on my Macs. And lived most of those 20 years without AV on my Mac, excepto for now, but for the reason I mentioned above.
Hey, I don't know if you reached satisfaction but anyone who said you needed AV was very correct. I'm also Team-M1, but as ARMv8a is a much newer and much more shallow pool of knowledge for the world to pull from, especially in the way of deep-scanning antivirus software specifically made for this new architecture (before mentioning the previous uses of ARM tech, please understand that just because they use the same "type" of chip in all cell phones that their is ANY ubiquity to them, Apple's newest offering if largely uncharted territory, and not a lot of security has had a chance to be organically developed/deployed on a massive paradigm shift such as this one that happened just a couple months ago.
Just this week it was discovered that there are new macOS malware that are custom-engineered to go undetected as most live scan AV software is based almost entirely if not just entirely around x86_64 as it's sun to orbit, and implementations for the alien surprise apple dropped on us all last nov (and even though we were expecting it) we stilll don't know what can be exploited.
well, I take that back. SOME exploitable conditions were obviously known.
Unfortunately KiltedTim you are incorrect. macOS can get compromised by viruses and malware just like any OS. In regards to M1 in particular they can also be compromised when the source code of the malware is recompiled into native M1 ARM code. source : https://objective-see.com/blog/blog_0x62.html
Apollo87 wrote:
I also have been working with Macs, and have had malware on my Mac Pro, 2 of my MacBook Pro's and my Mac mini.
You are not paying attention. Malware is a broad term that includes adware, trojans, adware, virus, etc. There are no viruses so third party anti virus apps are not needed. And the MacOS has built-in protection. We can all get adware and other types of malware but third party anti virus apps will do nothing to protect against these types of malware.
frustratedincorporated wrote:
Not at all. I’ve just been in IT for over 30 years and understand the importance of security. I trust them because I’ve never had a single virus the entire time I’ve used their products personally and organizationally.
That's a bit like saying "I carry a rabbits foot and have never been struck by lightning. Therefore, a rabbit's foot protects against lightning strikes." I've had Macs for thirty years and don't use any AV programs. I've also never had a virus. Every year or so, I run Malwarebytes to check to make sure I haven't accidentally downloaded any adware. It never finds anything.
Users are going to continue to shoot themselves in the foot. It's not like malware is infecting the Mac like a worm. It's the user clicking something, installing something. The landscape of malware / adware is constantly changing. It also doesn't help when MalwareBytes, DetectX, etc. do not flag all these things as malware because it doesn't fit the narrow definition of malware.
From worst to least:
Same thing goes for all those people who answer their phones and get scammed and end up sending money to criminals offshore. Hundreds of millions of US dollars a year. Not to mention the ransomware which is typically more targeted to businesses lately.
How many users have posted on these discussion forums and they haven't backed up their devices? Mostly it's iPhones but Macs too. Some people just have to learn the hard way.
I like what Apple is doing security wise but not thrilled in losing flexibility. I don't want the Mac to become like an iPad.
Right...the 400% increase in Mac related infections between 2018 and 2019 beg to differ. You always need some kind of end point protection.
That shows that you shouldn’t be visiting questionable sites such as Bit torrent or try to download anything unless it is directly from a known developer. A lot of it is totally avoidable.
Can’t hurt
Actually, it can. Take a little time and read around the forum. Discover the examples of issues from false positives to system instability arising from some of these apps.
I trust Bitdefender, the world leader in internet security software.
Are we still having this discussion? "Make a fool proof system, and someone will come up with a better fool". There is obviously doomed to be two schools on the mac platform, the ones feeling the need to have an "antivirus kind of software" and those who don't need it. Does the os have builtin protection, yes it has, does software have bugs, yes it has, can those bogs be security related, yes they can, is extra protection needed, why not? I feel this is a little bit like the vaccin debate, do I need a vaccin? No, it is such a small risk to get the illness, of course you don't need it! Some illnesses you only need to get once, I guess you did not need the antivirus "kind of software" after all... I mean the odds were on your side....
Apple M1 Chip - native Malware/Anti-Virus App
