Avira vs Sophos - are they safe?

Thought I'd toss in my two cents, since I think a lot of bad answers have popped up on this thread.

1)

Macs are more secure than their PC counterparts, but feel free to wholly ignore people who say Macs don't get viruses. It's more difficult to write viruses for Mac, it's more difficult for Mac users to inadvertently install/run malicious programs, and the market for infecting Macs is muuuch smaller than the one for PCs. macOS is still just an operating system that can have its safeguards/protections circumnavigated by malicious actors.

Do they need an active virus scanner? Not really, as long as you browse the internet with discretion, keep stuff up-to-date, and are wary about launching/opening files. However, in a business environment or where multiple users will have access to the machine and the like it's often a good idea to have the safety net of an antivirus.

2)

a)

Some AV programs do "spy" (typically disclosing what/where they glean) on users and it's worth looking into which companies do that and in what way. Most "spying" is more diagnostics & product usage (telemetry- which helps the products improve) as opposed to marketing snooping. Investigate which sort of phoning-home the AV vendors are doing.

b)

A Sophos staff member had this to say about the user account:

"

We automatically create an account called "_sophos" when we install the software. Its full name is "Sophos Endpoint". If you run the uninstall app we will automatically remove that user from your system.

We needed to do this because we no longer run all of our software as root, and we didn't want to "borrow" any of Apple's standard accounts. We have intentionally disabled login to the account, and limit its access to the rest of your system: it can't do anything that requires privileges, and it cannot access the private data of any other users on the system. This is a fairly standard security technique for UNIX-y systems (which includes Mac OS X).

"

c)

Avira is very simple and isn't a good choice for anyone wanting thorough management controls.

d)

The common free AV solutions for Mac have real-time protection (Avira, AVG, Avast, and Sophos). If you decide to go the route of having an AV on your Mac, seriously consider using a free, AV-only product as the extra features of the premium versions ("system optimizers", VPNs, ect...) are often redundant, bloated, or unnecessary.

(even though your comment doesn't warrant a response, here)

OSX/Dok, MacDownloader, FruitFly, macro viruses, compromised plugins... do I really need to do something as dumb as list current exploits/vulnerabilities to shake the unskeptical dogma some users approach a brand of OS with?

What understanding comes with any basics of programming and computers: Apple doesn't make magical code/hardware that's impervious to manipulation or circumnavigation. Apple isn't regularly releasing security updates, paying bug bounties, developing additional methods of protecting their OS & their users' data, and run their own anti-malware processes just because it's fun.

For later potential comments on this thread, I won't be replying to such vapid responses ("prove that macOS isn't magic") in the future.

IslandPaper wrote:

Apple isn't regularly releasing security updates, paying bug bounties, developing additional methods of protecting their OS & their users' data, and run their own anti-malware processes just because it's fun.

No one has said Macs are magically impervious to malware. That's a strawman argument that shows up way too often. What they have said is that third party AV software is not necessary.

IslandPaper wrote:

In many (probably most) cases it isn't necessary. In some situations it's a good idea to have.

In thirty years, I've yet to find that situation. However, I have found out the havoc AV software can wreck on a Mac. Installing software on your Mac because, at sometime in the future, it may be nice to have goes way too far past belt and braces for me.

It's a terrible idea to have them on Mac

If you read these forums there are a myriad of posts showing conclusively that 3rd party AV programs for Mac interfere seriously with the built in securities of OS X/Mac OS and removing these products resolved the issues. Moreover 3rd party AV products for Mac, especially with ones with "windows credibility" have provided users with false positives, erroneous directions and in many cases conflicts ranging from instability to the system as a whole to outright kernel panics. If you want to run this garbage on your own mac do so, but do not instruct others to follow you in this foolishness. If you insist on making this claim it will get better traction elsewhere, your claim has been proven wrong almost daily on these forums. Macs can be infected like anything else, however at this time there are no OS X/Mac OS/ iOS virus reported by any credible securities lab in the world despite what "facts" sales people at Sophos, Kaspersky, MacAfee and AVG are required to make up.

Not directly responding to your rambling and yelling.

I've responded to the original poster's direct questions, my answers were nuanced (big mistake in this thread, apparently), I didn't "instruct" others to install AV, and I haven't drawn the conversation off-course~ like some others here.

In the future: feel free to read the words I actually wrote and respond to them. Have a nice day.

Jashuboma wrote:

1) Is Mac really so safe that it has no need for real time scanner?

`Yes.

It's unlikely you'll get any recommendations for such programs here. Most people who've spent much time on these forums have spent too much time helping people clean up the messes made by such programs to recommend them.

See this tip buy fellow user John Galt for more details:

Effective defenses against malware and other threats

As there are no viruses there is no need for software to get rid of them.

Jashuboma wrote:

I see. May I ask why do these programs exist?

To make money for their developers.

Jashuboma wrote:

But if there is nothing to catch, wouldn't the business crash and burn then? I apologize, but I really am curious of this. Windows only exist if there is anti-virus so this is still very new concept to me.

Most buyers look at it this way: "i installed antivirus and my Mac has no viruses. Therefore, the software works". It's rather like those companies that sell cholesterol-free broccoli.

Your money, what else.

Jashuboma wrote:

But if there is nothing to catch, wouldn't the business crash and burn then? I apologize, but I really am curious of this. Windows only exist if there is anti-virus so this is still very new concept to me.

They won't if some people still live in fear of the non existent.

May I ask why do these programs exist?

To placate hundreds of millions of gullible consumers brainwashed into believing they need it.

I mean, what do they seek then?

For a hint, click:

You have it, they want it, that's the end of it.

The "anti-virus" business is a multi-billion dollar industry. It is so sleazy and corrupt that it makes politicians look like saints.