virus protection
What do you recommend for virus protection for Mac? We just got our new computer and noticed there is no virus program installed. Already our email has been hacked....
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)
What do you recommend for virus protection for Mac? We just got our new computer and noticed there is no virus program installed. Already our email has been hacked....
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)
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What a bad luck. Note that it doesn't mean that your iMac is unsafe, because there may have been an attack to your mail provider and your password might be stolen. Change the password now.
Then, OS X has got its own security systems, so you shouldn't need any other security application. As I think you are a bit frightened, you can install an antivirus like ClamXav or Sophos, but they won't do anything incredible. Maybe Little Snitch would be better, because you can control all the processes that connects to Internet. Finally, read > http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg
ClamXav and/or Sophos.
(84495)
You may find this User Tip on Viruses, Trojan Detection and Removal, as well as general Internet Security and Privacy, useful: The User Tip seeks to offer guidance on the main security threats and how to avoid them.
Your email nbeing hacked has nothing to do with your mac. It is probably being done through the web interface from your email provider. If it is Yahoo this seems to be fairly common. Installing anti virus software on the mac won't stop this from happening.
If you find this comment too long or too technical, read only sections 5, 6, and 10.
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.
jmmarsh wrote:
We just got our new computer and noticed there is no virus program installed.
Actually, there is, you just can't see it since it's part of OS X and runs in the background. It consists of the GateKeeper which will prevent you from running unapproved applications as long as you don't disable it; XProtect which will detect most common malware when you first download it; Quarantine which will give you a warning when you launch most new application that it came from the internet; and the Malware Removal Tool which runs each time you install an OS Security or Java update and will look for commonly installed malware and notify you of anything it found and deleted.
virus protection