Q: What viruses should we worry about

WZZZ wrote:

 

You are painting A-V with a very wide brush. Depends completely on the A-V. I have been running Sophos A-V for Mac Home for a number of years now without any adverse side effects.

FWIW, I don't know of any AV software on any platform that doesn't slow performance to some extent including Sophos. It also uses RAM and CPU cycles for no good reason. I would consider those "adverse" effects.

macjack wrote:

 

WZZZ wrote:

You are painting A-V with a very wide brush. Depends completely on the A-V. I have been running Sophos A-V for Mac Home for a number of years now without any adverse side effects.

Sooner or later, it will turn around and bite you in the butt.

Don't bet on it, but if it does I'll let you know.

And I think I can live with the extraordinary resources it's demanding.

There are just too many topics and posts where A/V software has brought system and application performance to its knees not to come to the conclusion that that type of software is absolutely not needed for Macs. 

Old Toad wrote:

 

There are just too many topics and posts where A/V software has brought system and application performance to its knees not to come to the conclusion that that type of software is absolutely not needed for Macs.

Maybe so, but my reply wasn't about "A-V software in general," it was specifically about my experience with Sophos. No KPs, no false positives, a bit of excessive CPU use for about 30 seconds just after definitions are updated (set daily), and no big deal, no appreciable slowness loading websites.

If you happened to miss it, see

https://discussions.apple.com/message/30230118#30230118

And scroll somewhat before and after for context.

The previous year's category winner did not fare well this time around. Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition (which has since been replaced by a new product called Sophos Home) was not best in any category. It missed malware even during on-demand scans, and had below-average results in two of our three system-impact tests. Still, Sophos' simple and no-nonsense user interface makes scans easy to perform, and helps manage unwanted files.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-antivirus,review-2588-6.html

Now you have an excellent reason to install Avira. Hurry up before someone else rates it lower.

FWIW, the best defense against against viruses and malware is common sense!

1.  If you didn't request it, don't accept it.

2.  No website can have any clue as to what is going on in your system without

     granting access permission.  Don't do it.

3.  Avoid any "shady" websites.  Especially the "warez" sites.  Then again, if you

     are visiting these sites you are trying to do something illegal so you deserve what

     you get.

4.  Never download anything from anywhere other than directly form app vendor sites.

     Downloading from other sites could at a minimum piggy back annoying adware or

     at worse, malware.

5.  Never click on any "log in" button in an email.  Always go directly to the site to

     verify the validity of what is stated in the email.  "Phishers"  can make very impressive

     and official looking notices.  Many use templates from the actual services themselves.

6.  Did I mention, if you didn't request it, don't accept it!

WZZZ wrote:

 

Now you have an excellent reason to install Avira. Hurry up before someone else rates it lower.

Thanks for the recommendation but I've gotten by without any anti-virus/malware programs for this long(decades), and I'm one of the few on here that has actually experienced a genuine Mac virus (nVIR).