symantec endpoint protection vs intego virusbarrier

Hi

I'd use http://clamxav.com/ assuming that the school accept it.

Nothing from Symantec has worked well on Macs, and many Symantec products have been disastrous, ever since the advent of OS X more than ten years ago. Symantec has just never "gotten" OS X at all, and has trotted out one miserable dog of a utility after another in a vain effort to make one that was useful and not destructive or crippling. I'm not familiar with "endpoint protection," but if it comes from Symantec, I seriously doubt that it can be both useful and harmless.

Intego has earned some serious demerits in my book by publicizing and (I would say) sensationalizing the existence of a small handful of in-the-laboratory Mac "exploits" that were never seen in the wild, and using scare tactics not unlike those of the recent Mac Protector/Mac Defender/Mac Security trojan to sell intego's own anti-malware products. Intego's products are legitimate, and I have no experience with them on which to base an evaluation, but those distasteful — at best — sales practices assured that I will never try, let alone buy, anything from Intego.

I second the recommendation to use ClamXav if something is required.

Thumbs down for both virusbarrier and anything Symantec related on a Mac.

Thumbs up for Andy's suggestion for ClamXav...

Or, Sohpos: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-ed ition.aspx

They are both free.

http://www.reedcorner.net/guides/macvirus/

I had some problems with Norton version 10, but none whatsoever with version 11. I've also used VirusBarrier X6.

VirusBarrier is very configurable but on can give some false warnings if you set it to watch network traffic, monitor for virus-like activities, etc (like it thought Data Rescue was acting suspiciously). VB has warned me about a compromised web page I visited, so that feature works. I've never had a false alert from Norton but neither has ever found an actual Mac virus so I have no experience with that (NAV has found Windows viruses in attachments, and a Word macro virus).

If you don't want to configure anything and don't want false alerts use NAV. If you want more configuration options such as monitoring Internet port connections, web threats, etc. and don't mind dismissing an occasional false alarm the VB is a good choice.

NAV has never slowed anything down. VB usually is transparent but on rare occasion one of the subprograms has run wild (virusbarrierd or virusbarrierb) forcing me to either kill it or restart my computer.

Symantec Endpoint Protection v11 is an enterprise class solution and not Mac compatible. You must use SEP for Mac or Norton for Mac. Here's a review that may help you make up your mind: http://mac-antivirus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Actually even though Symantec Endpoint Protection v11 is an enterprise class solution it can easily be installed and administered on a single machine. During install it asks if you will administer it locally or remotely. Just chose locally and you have full control of all the options, etc. on the local machine.

I've heard a report from a guy I trust that the Sophos AV can damage e-mail attachments. I don't think it can be a common thing, or it would have as bad a rep as Norton, but my personal preference is ClamXav.

Does ClamXav automatically scan email and downloaded files? From past experience I do not always remember to scan everything I download. Also some malware like the most recent variants of MacDefender download automatically and try to install without the chance to manually scan them first.

Does ClamXav automatically scan email and downloaded files?

It can do that. But there is built-in malware detection in the Mac OS. As long as you download files only with Safari, Mail, or iChat, they'll be checked for known Mac malware automatically. The recognition database is updated daily. Nevertheless, it won't catch everything, and neither will any other anti-virus software.

Also some malware like the most recent variants of MacDefender download automatically and try to install without the chance to manually scan them first.

No they don't. Neither MacDefender nor any other trojan installs automatically, or tries to do so. It's impossible. You have to click through an Installer screen. Not doing that is the only real protection against malware. Relying on software as a substitute for awareness is an illusion.

Yes, RU6 allows management from the SEPM, but my understanding was that the SEP client was different for Mac in v11.