Antivirus for Mac OS X?

Question

Antivirus for Mac OS X?

Do I need antivirus for Mac? I know there are a few products like Intego, Norton, McAfee, etc, but I was told at the Apple store when purchasing my Mac that I do not need antivirus because of sandboxing.

If that is the case, why do the products exist? Do I need antivirus for my Mac if I am only running Mac OS X?

Any information would be appreciated as I am not sure what to do!

Thanks in advance. 🙂

Posted on Sep 24, 2010 8:56 PM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,650 points

Sep 24, 2010 9:04 PM in response to AppleNewbie01

There are no known viruses on Mac OS X. There are only a couple of pieces of malware that must be installed, actively by you, with an admin password. The current OS detects those.

If that is the case, why do the products exist?

Because they can still make money on people who are easily swayed by FUD or think it is their moral obligation to protect their friends and neighbors who made a poor choice in OS's.

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Answer 2

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Sep 24, 2010 11:16 PM in response to AppleNewbie01

See this user tip: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2417665

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Answer 3

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,516 points

Sep 25, 2010 5:54 AM in response to AppleNewbie01

Hi

I think antivirus software would be a waste of your money & time.
If you really want to - this is free, although donations accepted : http://www.clamxav.com/

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