MAC EMAIL ANTI-VIRUS
Can anyone tell me the best EMAIL anti-virus protection/remover for my MAC? If so where i can purchase or download it? Thank you!
iMac
Can anyone tell me the best EMAIL anti-virus protection/remover for my MAC? If so where i can purchase or download it? Thank you!
iMac
ClamXav and Sophos are potentially worth having; they're both free. Any Mac antivirus product which actually costs money to use should be avoided.
(84281)
ClamXav and Sophos are potentially worth having; they're both free. Any Mac antivirus product which actually costs money to use should be avoided.
(84281)
ajs908 wrote:
Can anyone tell me the best EMAIL anti-virus protection/remover for my MAC?
Be cautious with handling potentially infected e-mails.
Never use ClamXav (or any other A-V software) to move (quarantine) or delete e-mail. It will corrupt the mailbox index which could cause loss of other e-mail and other issues with functions such as searching. It may also leave the original e-mail on your ISP's e-mail server and will be re-downloaded to your hard drive the next time you check for new mail. Track down the file and double-click it to open it in your e-mail client. If you agree that it's spam/junk/phishing that you don't need, use the delete function of your e-mail client application to eliminate it. If this happens to be a Gmail account, you will probably have to do some additional work to permanently delete it from the "All Mail" folder.
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.
Linc Davis:
Without a doubt, the best explaination of 'infection' i have ever received and i Thank you, your time is much appreciated
However, i have one more question....i ran ClamXav and found 70 'infection names' and 'filenames' in my AOL account. Should i now 'filter' or 'block' this in my email settings? Wouldn't this stop the vius/infection?
I apologize, because, now i am completely into 'tech support' and have left the question at hand! But, i figure, i am on a role here and may as well ask....dosen't hurt!
I am fairly new to the 'Apple World'....and in my previous 'PC/Windows World' the solution in question is how i would normally 'get rid of a virus' in my email
ClamXav has its own user forum. I suggest you go there for help with it. I don't use it myself.
ajs908 wrote:
i ran ClamXav and found 70 'infection names' and 'filenames' in my AOL account.
As Linc suggested, for fastest, most efficient answers to question such as this visit the ClamXav Forum.
I suspect most of those possibly infected files are in your Spam or Trash folders, so empty them first and then re-scan your home folder (the little house with your user name) again and see how many you really need to deal with.
To get detailed infomation on what ClamXav has found, click in the top pane of the ClamXav window showing the Infection / File Name / Status to make sure it's in front and type Command-A, Command-C (or choose "Select-All", "Copy" from the "Edit" menu) to copy the information to your clipboard, then post it to the Forum by typing Command-V or choose "Paste" to show us what was found where.
MAC EMAIL ANTI-VIRUS