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]
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/01/1020089/apple-walled-garden-hackers-protected/
Weird......... almost like you don't actually know EVERYTHING about the vulnerability of digital systems.....
Equally strange: this thread is about a Macbook Pro (M1 chip specifically), not an iPhone as that is the article you linked to. One is a computer with macOS, the other an iDevice with iOS. Different operating systems.
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.
Be careful, you’ll hurt the feelings of many on here by stating facts.
Really? "Facts" like "the world leader in internet security software.". Funny, but I'd expect a guy who claims to have 30 years IT experience to be able to tell the difference between a fact and a marketing slogan. It's the little things that undermine credibility .
"Running any ad-blocker will go a long way" - Finding an effective one seems to be getting tougher these past few months. Those that used to work well, don't seem to do so any longer. What do you use?
James Brickley wrote:
I run Pi-hole for my entire network at home
I have started down the Pi-Hole path a couple of times. Each time that I tried to piece together a purchase of the hardware kits, it quickly grows into more than desired. You would think that there would be an off-the-sheIf, ready-made, solution out there somewhere. I did attempt to get Pi-Hole running in Windows Subsystem for Linux, on an old Windows machine, but never could get it working.
Right, Windows WSL isn't enough. In your case, I would recommend setting up Docker on PC or Mac and installing it there. It runs very well in a Docker container. It takes very little in the way of resources. It's using 130MB of RAM, 1.7GB of storage and very little CPU as a Ubuntu LXD container and it would be less under Docker.
Apple security causes update errors in many applications and IDk why but it will always get an error in one way or the other.
One thing i have realized that works is to set your updates to manual, and then update with the security turned off,
[Link Edited by Moderator]
Old Mac Pros (or even better, 2010+ Mac minis) are perfect for this. I'm running Mint Linux on a 2003 Mac Pro, stock, except for an SSD. There is a bit of router adjustment (changing DNS,) but I basically followed the pi-hole readme and chose default options. I'm not sure I'd recommend it for casual users, but I'm not even close to being a network guru. For example, I haven't been able to successfully set up a VPN, but for the home LAN, pi-hole is a breath of fresh air when it comes to browsing. It even keeps me from hitting the 3rd-party links in Amazon. It's so easy to see when an email links to tracking services from emails. If I want to view the link, I just go the main site and search.
I beg to differ. I just spent 2 hours removing malware/adware that wasn't tagged by either MalwareBytes or DetectX. Included were app Profiles, launch agents, also preference files that caused Chrome to be "managed." Apple did nothing to help this user keep the OS clean. (Fully patched Catalina.)
Matt W (TechnicalMac) wrote:
I beg to differ. I just spent 2 hours removing malware/adware that wasn't tagged by either MalwareBytes or DetectX. Included were app Profiles, launch agents, also preference files that caused Chrome to be "managed." Apple did nothing to help this user keep the OS clean. (Fully patched Catalina.)
Baloney. Why should we believe an anonymous poster claiming to be an expert.
That's complete bunk.
macOS has more than adequate protections built into the OS itself. All 3rd party antivirus software is going to do is slow the system down and cause problems.
I cannot believe we're still having this discussion at the close of the 21st century's second decade.
There never has been, nor will there ever be, a macOS "virus".
Apple M1 Chip - native Malware/Anti-Virus App
