Antivirus Protection

There are no virus that can attack the the Mac running OS X. Hence antivirus software is not required.

No version of OS X comes with anti-virus software. Basically, because they haven't had a need to.

However, it is still possible for Macs to get infected with malware/adware, etc as evildoers are intent on being such.

FWIW, I have used ClamXav and would suggest that you give it a try to see if it meets your security requirements.

There are no viruses that can attack Mac.OS X. So, anti-virus programs are selling a cure for a disease that doesn't exist. And they are renowned for borking Mac systems.

A Mac can pick up malware but not if you just use common sense. You really have to actively invite some malware in for it to happen. That means downloading and knowingly giving your password for it to download. Mac provides all the protection you need with SIP (System Integrity Protection).I About System Integrity Protection on your Mac - Apple Support

Do not get fooled by products that claim to clean, virus check or optimize.

Ars Technica

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/09/os-x-10-11-el-capitan-the-ars-technica-revi ew/8/

Do not get fooled by products that claim to clean, virus check or optimize yoiur Mac. If you do happen to download malware you can use MalwareBytes to get rid of it. Malwarebytes was developed by one of our own colleagues here in ASC. It gets rave reviews and is about the most proven anti-malware software for Mac.

Keep your security set to “App Store and identified developers” Don’t download software from third party sites.If you use torrents, don't. Torrents are a good way to pick up malware because it can hitchhike in on a download package and you’ll never know it.

Safari pop-ups are different and easier to deal with. In Safari 9.1 and later just close the window. For earlier versions force quit and hold the shift key while restarting Safari.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

Finally, stay away from programs that purport to "clean your Mac". They can do damage to your system. Your Mac needs no cleaning in the first place. All the cleaning that is necessary is taken care of routinely by OS X.

Tesserax wrote:

No version of OS X comes with anti-virus software. Basically, because they haven't had a need to.

Actually, every version of OS X since 10.6.8 comes with XProtect which does identify about forty different commonly found forms of malware, to include a few of the more aggressive adware infectors. But that doesn't really come close to covering all possible forms and variants of malware that could possible be contracted today.

I agree with everything else you said.