Is anti virus necessary for iMac? if so, what is the best software?
Is anti virus necessary for iMac? if so, what is the best software?
iMac
Is anti virus necessary for iMac? if so, what is the best software?
iMac
No. Your brain.
Have a look at Thomas' Mac Malware Guide: http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg/
I just choose not to do something stupid on the internet.
You do not need any software installed for protection from virus.
Install all System, Applications and Security updates released by Apple.
For more on this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11432
No. Like Barney said, use common sense. Don't go to questionable sites, including those offering free stuff, or por*agraphic material.
Necessity is a matter of perspective, but if you are uncertain about computing "street smarts" then installing a lightweight malware scanner like Sophos or ClamXav and setting it to run on-demand only can help. I've had AV software on every one of my Macs, without seeing any adverse effects from it, especially when configured to run on-demand.
Testing in progress still but some results of all antivirus apps available here: http://securityspread.com/detection-rate-results/
I'd say it's needed. XProtect is useless, Gatekeeper won't catch malware that's signed with a developer ID and as marketshare rises, so will malware for the Mac. I'm sure 599.000 of the 600.000+ people that were infected with the Flashback malware thought they didn't need antivirus either 😝
better safe than sorry.
EDIT: While staying away from shady sites etc etc is always a good idea, a lot of malware comes from trusted sites. Those sites have ads on their pages that load from other servers, if one of those ads or servers is compromised it will push malware to visitors of that trusted site. So avoiding shady sites is not enough anymore.
2. All versions of OS X since 10.6.7 have been able to detect known Mac malware in downloaded files, and to block insecure web plugins. This feature is transparent to the user, but internally Apple calls it "XProtect." The malware recognition database is automatically checked for updates once a day; however, you shouldn't rely on it, because the attackers are always at least a day ahead of the defenders.
The following caveats apply to XProtect:
Gatekeeper doesn't depend on a database of known malware. It has, however, the same limitations as XProtect, and in addition the following:
For the reasons given above, App Store products, and other applications recognized by Gatekeeper as signed, are safer than others, but they can't be considered absolutely safe. "Sandboxed" applications may prompt for access to private data, such as your contacts, or for access to the network. Think before granting that access. OS X security is based on user input. Never click through any request for authorization without thinking.
4. Starting with OS X 10.8.3, a third layer of protection has been added: a "Malware Removal Tool" (MRT). MRT runs automatically in the background when you update the OS. It checks for, and removes, malware that may have evaded the other protections via a Java exploit (see below.) MRT also runs when you install or update the Apple-supplied Java runtime (but not the Oracle runtime.) Like XProtect, MRT is presumably effective against known attacks, but maybe not against unknown attacks. It notifies you if it finds malware, but otherwise there's no user interface to MRT.
5. XProtect, Gatekeeper, and MRT reduce the risk of malware attack, but they're not absolute protection. The first and best line of defense is always your own intelligence. With the possible exception of Java exploits, all known malware circulating 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. The threat therefore amounts to a battle of wits between you and the malware attacker. If you're smarter than he thinks you are, you'll win.
That means, in practice, that you never use software that comes from an untrustworthy source, or that does something inherently untrustworthy. How do you know what is trustworthy?
Fortunately, client-side Java on the Web is obsolete and mostly extinct. Only a few outmoded sites still use it. Try to hasten the process of extinction by avoiding those sites, if you have a choice. Forget about playing games or other non-essential uses of Java.
8. ClamXav doesn't have these drawbacks. That doesn't mean it's entirely safe. It may report email messages that have "phishing" links in the body, or Windows malware in attachments, as infected files, and offer to delete or move them. Doing so will corrupt the Mail database. The messages should be deleted from within the Mail application.
A Windows malware attachment in email is usually easy to recognize. The file name will often be targeted at people who aren't very bright; for example:
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!!!!H0TBABEZ4U!!!!!!!.AVI♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.exe
ClamXav may be able to tell you which particular virus or trojan it is, but do you care? In practice, there's seldom a reason to use ClamXav unless a network administrator requires you to run an anti-virus application.
Is anti virus necessary for iMac? if so, what is the best software?