what is the best antivirus for my mac?

Thank for your great endorsement.

Allan

You speak of dangerous things! Saying that anti-virus software is necessary is a sure way to start a major "religious" war here. Technically speaking, it is not yet necessary, as there is nothing that anti-virus software could protect you from that the OS isn't already protecting you from. As for future threats, anti-virus software can't protect you against those until some time AFTER they appear, so you can't rely on that to protect you.

Now, all that said, provided that you plan to use anti-virus software appropriately (ie, you don't rely 100% on it protecting you and throw all other safety measures to the winds), there's nothing wrong with running a good anti-virus program. The trick is finding a good one, because there are a lot of junky ones. The only two that I currently recommend are ClamXav and Sophos. Both are free, and excellent, so paying for some other anti-virus software that will be inferior is not wise.

I'm sure I must have posted this elsewhere on this topic, but just to cover the bases again, you can find all this info and more on my Mac Malware Guide.

So, here's my take on it.

You know when you're sitting at your computer, not doing anything, maybe on a call or waiting on an email, etc... and you hear your drives being accessed? Most folks just assume that it's housekeeping going on, or one of your apps is checking for updates, etc.

But what if it's NOT? What if you've downloaded a virus that allowing others access to your computer? How would you KNOW? If it's a known virus, a good anti-virus program will find it (same as for mal-ware). Of course, there are viruses that aren't yet known... and of course, you can get those at any time, and by the time your AV program's definitions get updated to find that, it's already done it's damage. Nothing can defend against that, except for the built-in installation protection. I use that judiciously. And of course, there are times when you provide your password thinking that you're installing a valid app. If you have AV, hopefully it finds the virus attached to the installer. But if you don't, you just installed a virus (or mal-ware) while thinking you're fine.

Those who want to make a religious war out of the question of whether we need AV have, in my opinion, entirely too much time on their hands... and probably don't use their Macs to make a living. To me, the only answer is to take EVERY precaution to protect my computer. Anti-Virus/Malware is one of the many precautions I take, along with consistent backups of data, drive imaging, use of cloud storage for critical data, etc. But then, I maintain a large Sharepoint farm for a very large company - so loss of even one server (or client machine) can be very costly. I treat my dev computer the same way.

Thanks, Thomas - for your take on the entire thing. You appear to want to answer the question, and while I understand your stance that it is not technically necessary - I don't want to become infamous for being the first Mac users to be infected by any new virus 😉 I've downloaded and installed Sophos... maybe it won't do anything for me, but maybe it will.

Actually even with your stance on the issue you could still be the first to get infected by a virus!

All of those product must be coded to recognize the virus once it appears so in fact they are offering you absolutely no protection until after the attack happens and the developer figure out how to recognize the threat. Then recoded the product with that change.

All you are doing now is wasting computer resources for nothing and giving yourself a false sense of security.

Allan

Faulty logic at best. You assume that I will get the virus BEFORE the definition is updated. That's an illogical assumption. Sure, SOMEBODY will get the virus first before there is a definition to id it - but there's an excellent chance it won't be me, and there is a good chance that the definition will be updated before I come across the virus (if ever). Your logic might hold true IF I were the type of computer user who does the same thing that the majority of users do - the group the virus developer is targeting... like opening unknown attachments, falling for phishing scams, etc. I'm not. That's not to say I will never fall victim to a virus - I have in the past, and I will in the future. I don't expect any solution to be 100%... nor did I ever say that I expected that.

Secondly, I'm not "wasting" computer resources - my computer's resources are not maxed out, so there is no 'waste".

Thirdly, I have no false sense of security. As I mentioned previously, AV and Anti-Malware is part of a coordinated and consistent plan to ensure that my Mac continues to operate, and if it DOES manage to become infected, my backup regimen allows me to recover in as quick and efficient a manner as possible. Even with a robust plan, I still operate under the assumption that I am vulnerable.

The question was simply what is the best... it's my choice alone as to whether I want to run it or not... so if you don't have the answer to the question of what is the best... then forgive me, but you're just "wasting my resources" 😉

Oh.. and please, explain to me how telling the OP that he doesn't need AV on the mac is not giving HIM a "false sense of security"?

Message was edited for grammar by: BillRichardson

BillRichardson wrote:

IF I were the type of computer user who does the same thing that the majority of users do - the group the virus developer is targeting... like opening unknown attachments, falling for phishing scams, etc. I'm not. That's not to say I will never fall victim to a virus - I have in the past, and I will in the future. I don't expect any solution to be 100%... nor did I ever say that I expected that.

The only thing an Intel Mac user needed to do was to visit one of several hundred WordPress blog sites that were poisoned by the Flashback Backdoor/Trojan with Java turned on in their browser last Spring to be infected. No need to open or approve anything. The only software able to stop it at the time was Little Snitch. It was three days or so before the A-V vendors got definitions out.

Of course, it took Apple even longer since their definition scheme isn't effective against Java threats.

I realize that falls in your less than 100% effective bucket and I totally agree with your contention that the majority of users are not careful enough in their computing habits. I think that's the real reason many of us hang out here to educate such users.

The first Mac virus was "Elk Cloner" in 1981 on an Apple II. I think this was also the first "personal computer" virus. The first OS-X virus was "Leap-A" in 2006.

The first OS-X virus was "Leap-A" in 2006.

Leap (aka Oompa Loompa) was technically not a virus according to all criteria. It could not install itself... it relied entirely on the user to open it. If the user was suspicious and didn't do that, it didn't get installed. The only virus-like thing it did was spread itself to other machines via iChat... but that alone is not sufficient to make it a virus. It was a trojan.

ChooseAUsername wrote:

The first Mac virus was "Elk Cloner" in 1981 on an Apple II.

A Mac is not an Apple II.

I think this was also the first "personal computer" virus.

That is entirely plausible.

I wear gloves when I draw blood.

I use a condom when I have sex.

I run AV on my MAC.

I use caution and apply common sense in all cases.

I don't need to use any of the above, but doesn't common sense dictate a modicum of safety if available?

I believe the OP asked "if an AV product was wanted, what would the community suggest?"

I personally use Sophos, Latex Gloves and Trojans! 😀

Do you wear a tinfoil hat when you go outside? That's a better analogy.

Not really a great analogy. If you're at home, maybe, if you're part of a network with Macs and PC's, it's a good idea to keep windows malware out.

I'm also not convinced that there will never be malware attacks on OS X.

I thought macs could not get viruses.

Yes - that's why I'm so concerned when folks say you don't need AV on a Mac, and you don't need to worry.

Macs absolutely CAN get viruses - ANY computer can potentially get a virus. It's just that there are systems in place that higly reduce the potential of a Mac getting a virus, AND there are few viruses written that attack Macs (mostly because the market share is still relatively small).

However, none of that means that there will never be a Mac virus.

And, as others have pointed out, there IS Mac Malware out there - and while not technically a virus - they are still something to watch for. The best A/V programs will watch for viruses as well as known malware signatures.

So I think the bottom line is - if you're worried about it, get an AV program. If you're not worried about the consequences, don't. The original question was "which is the best"... not "Should I use AV". So far, it looks to me like Sophos is the best for Mac.