Anti Virus ??

You were trolling

Actually, MadMacs0 is an active member of the anti-malware community and I'm sure knows more now about Mac malware than you will ever know in your lifetime. I would advise you to cease this pointless bickering on topics that you don't have full knowledge of.

MBonde70 wrote:

does anyone of you use anti virus?

I do. I have been using Sophos Home Edition since it became available in November of 2010. The main reason I started using it is I was concerned about how much Windows malware passed through my Macs to & from friends, family, & colleagues I share information with.

This is something most Mac users don't seem to think about. I think they should give this serious consideration because most of us don't live in an isolated, Mac-only world. All your private data may well be quite secure on your own computer, but you can't assume the same is true of anything you share with other people.

The simplest, least serious example of that is your email address & other address book type info: if you are like most people that info is probably stored on a lot of other people's computers. Lists of valid email addresses, especially those that can be associated with real names & addresses, are valuable to spammers & to others that use them for nefarious purposes. So it is relatively common for some types of Windows malware to "harvest" the address book info of infected Windows computers.

Other personal & private info may also be on other people's computers, much of it that we intentionally share in email or attachments. That isn't much of a concern unless someone is specifically targeting you or the owner of a compromised computer but it is something some users need to consider.

Because I use Sophos, I can be reasonably sure I won't be passing something on that ends up compromising my info on other computers, & just as important, when I receive something that is infected I can alert the sender about it.

Beyond that, Sophos gives me another layer of security for my own Macs. Apple's built-in security is pretty good but on occasion Apple has been a little slower in updating it to protect against things Sophos was detecting before Apple did that.

I can't speak for anyone besides myself, but I have never encountered any of the problems using Sophos some users seem to think is inherent in using any AV software. If I do a full "on demand" scan of my entire hard drive with the option to scan inside compressed files (where malware often hides), it does use a lot of CPU time, but that is to be expected. More importantly, it runs with low enough priority that if I need to do something else that is CPU-intensive, it doesn't hog the CPU. And there really is no reason to run the "on demand" scanner more than once to detect any malware that is already present before using the background "on access" scanner to detect anything new.

Using it is also very straightforward (much more so that the above might make it seem). It comes preconfigured with defaults that most users will never need to (or should) change & once a full "on demand" scan is done, there is no need to interact with it at all unless the "on access" detects malware.

It is totally free & comes with an uninstaller that makes it easy to remove it if you don't like it. So if you decide you might want to run AV software, I think it is worth checking out.

Thomas A Reed, please stop posting false information.

Thomas A Reed, please stop posting false information. MadMacs0 has very little knowledge of mac malware and viruses, as does anyone who claims Macs don't need protection. Being a member of something doesn't automatically make that person knowledgeable of the subject.

You haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about. Of course, that has been pretty evident for some time. I only replied to you so that folks who were not knowledgeable on this topic didn't get fooled by your poor recommendations and one-sided arguments. You seem not to comprehend the very real problems and limitations involve with using anti-virus software or what the actual threats are.

stevejobsfan0123 wrote:

Do NOT download commercial anti-virus software as those companies' only goal is to make a quick buck.

This kind of blanket, demonstrably factually inaccurate statement doesn't help anybody decide if commercial AV software is right for them or not. There are now several completely free commercial AV apps for Macs. For example, there are at least four of them available through the Mac App Store & several have very good average user ratings.

The need for Mac AV software is & probably always be a controversial topic. But whatever one thinks about it, for or against, there is no justification for the kind of knee-jerk reactions & bickering that invariably clutter up discussions like this one.

Thomas A Reed, please stop spreading false information and insults.

Thomas A Reed, please stop spreading false information and insults.

Please demonstrate to me, with appropriately documented facts to back it up, what I have said that is false.

Please demonstrate to me, with appropriately documented facts to back it up, what I have said that is false.

To follow.

You haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about.

Of course, that has been pretty evident for some time

I only replied to you so that folks who were not knowledgeable on this topic didn't get fooled by your poor recommendations and one-sided arguments

You clearly know nothing of me or about me, demonstrating you're simply a troll with no knowledge on the subject of Anti-Virus software.

You seem not to comprehend the very real problems and limitations involve with using anti-virus software or what the actual threats are.

Please demonstrate to me, with appropriately documented facts to back it up, what exactly are the "problems and limitations" with removing viruses, worms and Trojans to protect the community.

What do you have against doing whats right to protect the security of yours and others computers? Why do you wish to cause other people harm by condoning harmful, dishonest and blatantly false advice?

I ask for facts and I get nothing. MY facts are published on my web site, which i linked to earlier, much of it with sources referenced. Based on those facts, you are posting inaccurate information. And you're doing it in a very rude manner.

If you can't counter with facts backed up by legitimate sources, this conversation is at an end.

LordZedd wrote:

MadMacs0 has very little knowledge of mac malware and viruses, as does anyone who claims Macs don't need protection.

I have never made that claim.

R C-R wrote:

stevejobsfan0123 wrote:

Do NOT download commercial anti-virus software as those companies' only goal is to make a quick buck.

This kind of blanket, demonstrably factually inaccurate statement doesn't help anybody decide if commercial AV software is right for them or not. There are now several completely free commercial AV apps for Macs. For example, there are at least four of them available through the Mac App Store & several have very good average user ratings.

I should have made a slight modification saying commercial highly-advertised, you are correct. Our friend LordZedd here, unfortunately, is not.

If antivirus is incorporated in OSX, then why do i have vuruses on my Macbook Pro? I just found out my wells Fargo account for hacked today. This is scary. All i use is my MAC and iPhone.

Debbie65 wrote:

If antivirus is incorporated in OSX, then why do i have vuruses on my Macbook Pro? I just found out my wells Fargo account for hacked today.

There is no currently known malware that could have caused this. I can only guess that you were tricked into going to a fake Wells Fargo site and entering your login credentials. Changing your password should take care of that.

Your profile says you are running OS X 10.6.7. If that is still true, then you need to keep it fully up-to-date with OS X 10.6.8 and all updates since to be fully protected by the security features of OS X.

I have version OS X 10.8.4.