Need Antivirus Software
Hi, any suggestion for free antivirus software for MacPro? Thank you
MacBook Pro with Retina display
Hi, any suggestion for free antivirus software for MacPro? Thank you
MacBook Pro with Retina display
I'm using ClamXav and Sophos Anti-Virus which are free.
Where can i download it? Have you heard of iAntivirus? Thank you
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. Internally Apple calls it "XProtect."
The malware recognition database used by XProtect is automatically updated; 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:
3. Starting with OS X 10.7.5, there has been a second layer of built-in malware protection, designated " Gatekeeper" by Apple. By default, applications and Installer packages downloaded from the network will only run if they're digitally signed by a developer with a certificate issued by Apple. Software certified in this way hasn't necessarily been tested by Apple, but you can be reasonably sure that it hasn't been modified by anyone other than the developer. His identity is known to Apple, so he could be held legally responsible if he distributed malware. That may not mean much if the developer lives in a country with a weak legal system (see below.)
Gatekeeper doesn't depend on a database of known malware. It has, however, the same limitations as XProtect, and in addition the following:
Apple has so far failed to revoke the codesigning certificates of some known abusers, thereby diluting the value of Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. These failures don't involve App Store products, however.
For the reasons given, App Store products, and—to a lesser extent—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. Sandbox 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 effective against known threats, but not against unknown ones. It notifies you if it finds malware, but otherwise there's no user interface to MRT.
Software from an untrustworthy source
Software that is plainly illegal or does something illegal
Conditional or unsolicited offers from strangers
Unexpected events
I don't say that leaving the safe harbor just once will necessarily result in disaster, but making a habit of it will weaken your defenses against malware attack. Any of the above scenarios should, at the very least, make you uncomfortable.
6. Java on the Web ( not to be confused with JavaScript, to which it's not related, despite the similarity of the names) is a weak point in the security of any system. Java is, among other things, a platform for running complex applications in a web page, on the client. That was always a bad idea, and Java's developers have proven themselves incapable of implementing it without also creating a portal for malware to enter. Past Java exploits are the closest thing there has ever been to a Windows-style virus affecting OS X. Merely loading a page with malicious Java content could be harmful.
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. An AV product from the App Store, such as "ClamXav," has the same drawback as the commercial suites of being always out of date, but it does not inject low-level code into the operating system. That doesn't mean it's entirely harmless. 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.
Windows malware can't harm you directly (unless, of course, you use Windows.) Just don't pass it on to anyone else. A malicious attachment in email is usually easy to recognize by the name alone. An actual example:
London Terror Moovie.avi [124 spaces] Checked By Norton Antivirus.exe
The ClamXav developer won't try to "upsell" you to a paid version of the product. Other developers may do that. Don't be upsold. For one thing, you should not pay to protect Windows users from the consequences of their choice of computing platform. For another, a paid upgrade from a free app will probably have all the disadvantages mentioned in section 7.
ML38 wrote:
any suggestion for free antivirus software for MacPro?
If you told us what you need it for we might be able to give you better advise.
If you have a specific reason for believing you are infected with something, let us know what that reason is. In most cases, it turns out that folks aren't actually infected with anything and there's a solution to the problem completely unrelated to the installation of anti-virus software.
If you're just trying to learn how to protect yourself, see my Mac Malware Guide. If, after reading that, you choose to use anti-virus software, it has some recommendations.
Note that you should avoid iAntivirus entirely. It is completely worthless, barely more than a placebo to make you feel like you're doing something to protect yourself when you really aren't.
(Fair disclosure: The Safe Mac is my site, and contains a Donate button, so I may receive compensation for providing links to The Safe Mac. Donations are not required.)
Sorry, I just need a general antivirus software for once in a while scanning files.
I just need a general antivirus software for once in a while scanning files.
No, you don't.
If you open obviously dangerous files, many will be malware, and many of those won't be recognized by any AV software. Relying on software that can't protect you makes you more vulnerable, not less.
Files that are not obviously dangerous almost certainly won't be malware, and if they are, they almost certainly won't be recognized as such.
Files that are not obviously dangerous almost certainly won't be malware, and if they are, they almost certainly won't be recognized as such.
That's a new one on me, Linc. You know that malware creators don't hang signs on their malware saying "This is malware," right?
It's true that anti-virus software won't catch everything, and should not be relied on to do so. However, it's also not true that all malware will consist of "obviously dangerous files."
An obviously dangerous file is anything that comes from outside the safe harbor, as described above. Any adult of normal intelligence can make that determination, if he or she chooses to. A mentally defective adult or a child shouldn't use a computer without supervision.
If you want to see a practical example of how worthless AV software is, read this:
A mentally defective adult [...] shouldn't use a computer without supervision.
Shockingly condescending as ever, Linc.
Shockingly condescending as ever, Linc.
And as ever, you are projecting your own attitudes onto me. Not for your sake I'll reiterate that you are the one who thinks most people don't have the brains to use a computer safely without automated assistance (which doesn't work anyway, even if it were needed.) I think they can protect themselves the same way I do, and not by relying on useless snake oil like "Sophos."
You wear your attitude on your sleeve, Linc. It's there for anyone to read.
You're constantly saying that only mental defectives allow themselves to get infected, and that's just plain insulting to the countless people I've encountered who have accidentally opened something they shouldn't have. Then you try to turn it around on me and claim I'm the one saying people are stupid?
I'd appreciate if you stop putting words into my mouth.
I'd appreciate if you stop putting words into my mouth.
I'd appreciate if you stop putting words into my mouth.
Need Antivirus Software