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Antivirus

which is best in free antivirus "avast free antivirus for mac or sophos free home edition for mac" ?

and i want free one...i want antivirus that removes all types of torjan virus,and many malwares....!!and have many specifications...that's all...and not slowdown my mac...

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), macbook pro,10.7.5

Posted on Nov 4, 2012 7:29 AM

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22 replies

Nov 4, 2012 7:42 AM in response to ankit8083

First, if you choose to use anti-virus software, you need to be aware of its limitations and how to properly protect yourself. Anti-virus software shouldn't be more than a back-up safety net. For that information, see my Mac Malware Guide.


As to which to use, if you choose to use it, I would actively recommend against Avast. It has a track record of having a problem with false positives, often identifying legitimate system files as malware. Steer clear of that one.


As BGreg says, ClamXav is very good. You can use it to scan any files that you download before opening or installing them. Sophos is also good, if you want something that does a little more than what ClamXav offers, though because it uses kernel extensions, it also has a higher chance of causing problems. (It didn't cause me any problems when I tested it.)

Nov 4, 2012 8:16 AM in response to ankit8083

This comment applies to malicious software ("malware") that's installed unwittingly by the victim of a network attack. It does not apply to software, such as keystroke loggers, that may be installed deliberately by an attacker who has hands-on access to the victim's computer. That threat is in a different category, and there's no easy way to defend against it. If you have reason to suspect that you're the target of such an attack, you need expert help.
All versions of OS X since 10.6.7 have been able to detect known Mac malware in downloaded files. The recognition database is automatically updated once a day; however, you shouldn't rely on it, because the attackers are always at least a day ahead of the defenders. In most cases, there’s no benefit from any other automated protection against malware.


Starting with OS X 10.7.5, there is another layer of built-in malware protection, designated "Gatekeeper" by Apple. By default, applications that are downloaded from the network will only run if they're digitally signed by a developer with a certificate issued by Apple. Applications certified in this way haven't actually been tested by Apple (unless they come from the Mac App Store), but you can be sure that they haven't been modified by anyone other than the developer, and his identity is known, so he could be held responsible if he knowingly released malware. For most practical purposes, applications recognized by Gatekeeper as signed can be considered safe. Note, however, that there are some caveats concerning Gatekeeper:

  1. It doesn't apply to software that comes packaged as an installer. Treat all third-party installers with caution.
  2. It can be disabled or overridden by the user.
  3. It can be bypassed by some third-party networking software, such as BitTorrent clients and Java applets (see below.)
  4. It only applies to applications downloaded from the network. Software installed from a CD or other media is not checked.
For more information about Gatekeeper, see this Apple Support article .



Notwithstanding the above, the most effective defense against malware attacks is your own intelligence. All known malware on the Internet that affects a fully-updated installation of OS X 10.6 or later takes the form of so-called "trojan horses," which can only have an effect if the victim is duped into running them. If you're smarter than the malware attacker thinks you are, you won't be duped. That means, primarily, that you never install software from an untrustworthy source. How do you know a source is untrustworthy?

  1. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec,” “plug-in,” or “certificate” that comes from that same site, or an unknown one, is untrustworthy.
  2. A web operator who tells you that you have a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with your computer, or that you have won a prize in a contest you never entered, is trying to commit a crime with you as the victim. [Some reputable websites did legitimately warn users who were infected with the "DNSChanger" malware. That exception to this rule no longer applies.]
  3. “Cracked” copies of commercial software downloaded from a bittorrent are likely to be infected.
  4. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must be downloaded directly from the developer’s website. No intermediary is acceptable.
Java on the network (not to be confused with JavaScript, to which it's not related) is always a potential weak spot in the security of any operating system. If a Java web plugin is not installed, don't install it unless you really need it. If it is installed, you should disable it (not JavaScript) in your web browsers. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This setting is mandatory in OS X 10.5.8 or earlier, because Java in those obsolete versions has known security flaws that make it unsafe to use on the Internet. The flaws will never be fixed. Regardless of version, experience has shown that Java can never be fully trusted , even if no vulnerabilities are publicly known at the moment.

Follow these guidelines, and you’ll be as safe from malware as you can reasonably be.

Never install any commercial "anti-virus" products for the Mac, as they all do more harm than good. If you need to be able to detect Windows malware in your files, use the free software ClamXav — nothing else.

Nov 4, 2012 9:08 AM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:


Never install any commercial "anti-virus" products for the Mac, as they all do more harm than good. If you need to be able to detect Windows malware in your files, use the free software ClamXav — nothing else.



ClamXav isn't as good as many of the commercial packages for detecting malware. Professional people like myself frequently install their companies AV package onto their macs, can be used to sweep through Email for any malware of any kind and remove it. NO real reason to fear AV software...most Email servers use it after all!

Nov 4, 2012 9:18 AM in response to Ewen

ClamXav isn't as good as many of the commercial packages for detecting malware.


Do you have a source for that claim? ClamXav detects all of the Mac malware that I have tested it against. Many other anti-virus software that I have tested can't do that. Sophos is the only one I've tested that catches everything in my collection, though I have not done extensive testing of all Mac anti-virus software.


Professional people like myself frequently install their companies AV package onto their macs


Depending on what AV package you're talking about, that may not be a particularly good idea.

Nov 4, 2012 3:10 PM in response to thomas_r.

They are supplied as a package to enterprise/professional computer users. Seems fuzzy logic to me to advise someone like myself not to use the same package client side for AV as is used server side on our Email server. In my case I am using Symatec with no probs on a MacBook Pro running OS X Mountain Lion. Freeware is cheap, but it isn't always the best for picking up malware of any kind on a computer.

Nov 4, 2012 4:37 PM in response to Ewen

None of that makes much sense. There's no reason to install anti-virus software just because you got it from your office, unless your office requires you to use it. And there's really no reason to believe that some anti-virus software won't cause you problems just because it was supplied in a bundle with the server software your employer uses. There's nothing about that that provides a guarantee of stability or good coverage.


In my testing, both ClamXav and Sophos have been both well-behaved and have been the only free anti-virus packages that were capable of detecting everything in my malware collection. I will trust the results of my tests, and continue to make recommendations based on those results, rather than trust suggestions that are based on supposition.

Nov 4, 2012 10:19 PM in response to thomas_r.

Thomas A Reed wrote:


None of that makes much sense. There's no reason to install anti-virus software just because you got it from your office, unless your office requires you to use it.

If your employer, as mine does, tests software before buying license to it and distributing it round the organisation then it makes perfect sense to use that software rather than use freeware that they haven't. Trouble with a lot of home consumer users of Mac is they actually don't realise that enterprise/professional end-users companies and organisations buy both client and server side AV for their organisation/employees, who of course then use that AV client software. As I wrote above, I have no issues with my AV package, so why would I use another?

Antivirus

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