Is Scanguard MAC software legitimate?

Understood. I knew you were asking if it were okay to use. Not that you already had it installed.

To answer your original question in a technical manner; yes, they are a legitimate company. Scanguard is also $49 of wasted money. For you, that is. Not them.

Apparently (from reviews on it), this thing used to cost $212! And that $49 is only a one year subscription to torture your Mac with. Then you get to pay for another year, if a person were crazy enough to believe what they're selling is useful.

So I don't come off sounding like someone who just wants to rail against third party software like this, let's explain why it, and anything else like it is a complete waste of your time and money. Apps like MacKeeper (the all time leader in the Worst column), MacCleanse, MacCleaner, CleanMyMac, and others.

Here's what they say it does.

Boost Memory - Read it closely. I already don't trust a company that doesn't understand the difference between memory (RAM), and storage space (your hard drive or SSD). They're talking about storage space. There are more than a few free apps out there that will look for duplicate files to help you remove such items.

Anti Virus - And I bet it looks for Unicorns, too! There has never been an actual virus (self replicating software) that can directly infect the Mac OS. Ever. Are the perps of the world trying? I'm sure they are. But you can't find something that has yet to exist. There are plenty of Trojans. That is software you knowingly, are much more often, unwittingly install that you don't want on your computer. But it cannot get there without your help. AV software? It can't stop you from choosing to install software anymore than the OS can.

Enhance Performance - Naturally slow down? Seriously? There's a completely false statement. Computers aren't biological organisms that slow down like all mammals, fish, birds and other creatures do. Sure, you can cause your computer to slow down by installing all kinds of garbage on it, getting it loaded up with adware (in the Trojan category) and other junk, but there is no computer in existence that will naturally slow down as if it's aging the way people do.

Internet Protection - Smoke and mirrors. They don't even explain what that is. If a person is concerned about their web browser while connected to a secure web site, your browser and the site you're connecting to automatically negotiate an encryption key. From then on, all data moving between you and your bank, or whatever site you're using that's secure, is encrypted. So, anyone snagging data in transit won't be able to read it without the key. To make it ever harder, a new key is negotiated every time you log into such a site. Note the URL right where you are now. It shows a lock, meaning you're on a secure site while using these forums.

Firewall - Gee, I could have sworn the Mac OS already has one of those built-in. And you don't even need that if your router has a firewall, which all but the most dirt cheap ones do. With the router's hardware firewall active, you don't even need the Mac's firewall on. It won't have anything to do.

Browsing Performance - Here's a tip. You can do this in seconds yourself, too. Open Safari's preferences and click on the Advanced tab. Turn on the check box at the bottom. You'll see Develop has been added to the menu bar at the top of the screen. Now you can press Command+Option+E anytime you want while using Safari to clear its cache.

Parental Control - Err, that's also been built into the Mac OS for well over a decade. System Preferences, Users & Groups. Setup a Parental controlled account there if you need one.

File Protection - Yet more useless junk made to sound important. All better routers also have VPN built into them. So they're duplicating a feature you very likely already have.

Hello dadgg1,

When asking about a specific app like this, please provide some other way for us to reference it. A direct URL to the web site would be ideal. I have never heard of this app so I don't know anything about it one way or another.

But I can tell you that any app with words like "scan" or "guard" are very likely to be scam apps. There is a huge market for scam apps and many of them use words like that. There are a few legitimate ones that also use those words. How do you tell the difference? Unfortunately, most people cannot tell the difference. But we will be happy to research any specific one and give you a recommendation.

However, we would need a direct URL. There may be a great app named "ScanGuard for Mac". There might also be 3 scam apps with the exact same name. That's the problem here.

There might also be 3 scam apps with the exact same name. That's the problem here.

Very true. Especially with these kinds of apps. As I know you're already well aware, there are at least a couple dozen apps like this in the App Store that barely differ in the name they carry.

The one I linked to was the one I found, but it isn't necessarily the only app by that name.

Garbage. Don't touch it, or anything else like it with a mile long pole.

macOS has security software built in, so there is no use in installing a third party software.

Mostly they slow down your computer without doing anything useful.

con

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