the best virus protection?

There are a few really good Antivirus programs available to Mac users, but you generally do not need antivirus on a Mac.

If you would feel safer using Anti-virus try some of these programs:
FREE:

Sophos for Mac

PC Tools iAntivirus (Free and paid version available)

Avast! Free for Mac (Supposedly coming soon - Last report was they delayed the GUI)

PAID:

Norton for Mac

McAfee VirusScan for Mac

PC Tools iAntivirus (Free and paid version available)

There are plenty more - Just Google and you will find plenty of information.

By defult Mac's ship with the built-in firewall turned off, to turn it on just go to System Preferences > Security > Firewall

Hope this helps you

Tim

This begs the question WHY?

You don't need it..

The most common antivirus recommended for Macs is ClamXav:

http://www.clamxav.com/

While Macs are generally not suseptable to viruses, it may be possible to pass on a virus if you share files with Windows users. For example, if you get an infected Word document from someone... work on it... then forward it on to another Windows user, you can pass a virus along with it. The virus however would not be able to infect your Mac. If you install Windows (either via BootCamp or virtualization), you should install an antivirus program there as you would on any Windows machine.

Unlike on a PC... you would need to specifically give permission (by entering your password) for any malware or possible viruses to get onto your Mac. Unless you are downloading questionable content from torrent sites or other locations, you will generally not need an antivirus application.

For now you've already chosen the best anti-virus software there is - OS X 😁 since there are no viruses that affect the Mac OS at this time. There have been a few examples of malware but they've not gotten out into the general world the way they have for Windows. Staying away from warez and pron sites pretty much solves that problem. If you feel the need to have a virus program ClamXav is highly regarded.

Absolutely do not install any anti-virus software other than ClamXav, and that is unnecessary.

The best anti-virus software is your mind. If you're on a website hosted in Russia that offers, say, free "funny cat" videos, but it says you have to install a special "codec" only available from that site in order to view them... don't.

Don't download warez torrents.

Use only software from reputable sources, and don't be one of the first to use new software.

I'm curious about one part of this discussion. In any discussion I've seen on antivirus apps for Macs, one of the main rationales for getting it seems to be the concern about being a "Typhoid Mary", and passing on viruses (for example Word macro viruses) to a friend who is a Windows user.

but who runs Windows these days with no antivirus??? If someone is stupid enough to do that, and then gets a virus in a document I passed on to them, I would not feel responsible. In fact, the only way they could get infected from something I send to them is if they are not running antivirus. But if they aren't, then wouldn't they be likely getting viruses and malware very often?

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't buy the argument that I should worry about accidentally passing on an infected file.

then the other problem with the argument people make for getting a mac antivirus app, is that they say "it can't hurt, and might just help". but given the potential for antivirus software to slow down or muck up a system, I don't see that the antivirus software itself is totally benign.

People debate about whether Macs can get viruses in the wild, but to me the fact seems to be that many, many windows users have to wipe their infected hard drives clean to restore, losing their data (which of course wasn't backed up). I don't know what percentage of windows users this happens to, but clearly infected windows machines are not at all rare. But I've NEVER heard of anyone with a Mac having to wipe their hard drive because of a virus infestation. (I've never even read of an account of it on any website)

I also don't buy the argument (made for getting antivirus) that Macs are just as easy to write viruses for, but the virus writers don't bother because the market is too small. Firstly, the market isn't that small, so I don't buy that they couldn't make money from it. Also, a lot of hackers seem to want the infamy, and the fact that Macs don't get viruses would be a compelling reason for a hacker (or virus writer - sorry if I'm insulting hackers) to be able to claim "I created the first Mac virus that caused mayhem in the wild!" Since no one has done that yet, I take that as a sign no one can, not that no one is motivated to try.

Anyway, all this is just my opinion - keep in mind I'm not a security expert or programmer 😉

I've always liked ESET Nod32 on my Windows. If I got one for Mac, I would get the same.

Nice Opinion piece Neil. My question would be are Macs susceptible to malware? And what's the best way to deal with that? Is something like MacScan a good tool?

Joseph

I don't know the answer MacJoseph 🙂

As I said, I'm no expert, but again I have never heard of any mac user getting a virus, trojan, etc.

Were you wondering about a specific type of malware?

Hello,

I would suggest this topic at Mac-Forums:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/209182-official-antivirus-malw are-firewall-faq.html

Joster Macedo

Neil

No specific malware. I have heard that there is some malware protection built into Snow Leopard. Maybe someone can confirm or refute that. I've been using Sophos, but perhaps I'll uninstall it. I'm going to follow the link Macedo just dropped. Thanks!

Joseph

Since no one has done that yet, I take that as a sign no one can, not that no one is motivated to try.

It certainly is possible to create trojans for the Mac and it has been done (the "Oompa Loompa" trojan, for example.) It's unwise to be complacent about the threat of malware. You should assume that it exists and take reasonable precautions against it. The point is that commercial anti-virus software is not a reasonable precaution.

Macedo

Thanks for the link. Great thread!

Joseph

Makes sense to me, Linc, that reasonable precautions are in order, on any OS. (although one of things I like about the Mac is that there seems to be less need to worry as there is with Windows)

I keep trying to tell my mother not to email cute cat videos, etc to everyone on her email list, as she doesn't know the source of the attachment (she often forwards these things when other people email them to her) - oh well 😉

I can let every one know that one day I got a virus on my MBP, so I thought. The way it started was a screen/window opens without your opening it and it said I had like 80 viruses and the Apple Security Center was on it, all I had to do was press a button and it would all go away, so I pressed, and instead of cleaning my computer it downloaded it it was a software company wanting me to buy there virus protecter and scanner. My screen was full of activity with numbers of viruses and threats and lights flashing it was something to see but not on my computer. So I called Apple Store and took my computer in, it took me 45 minutes to get there and they took the scareware download out in 2 minutes thats all it was.