antivirus Best Mac Anti-Virus Thread

[Guest]

Hello,

What antivirus do you run if any? I am running Sophos right now. Is there anything better?

Thank you for your time.

Richard

[Glassed Silver]

Nothing.

ClamXav every once in a while.

iAntiVirus is installed and used seldom.

Glassed Silver:mac

[Miuku.]

BitDefender Free but I haven't found a single one ever, in fact I haven't found a single Windows virus in any of my files I've downloaded either >_>

[Glassed Silver]

BitDefender Free but I haven't found a single one ever, in fact I haven't found a single Windows virus in any of my files I've downloaded either >_>

Same here...

Even though I'm frequenting the back alleys of the net quite often, I've never caught crap. ;)

Glassed Silver:mac

[Princess Katie Pixie]

Use Avira for Mac, it's by far better than the rest. =D

[Unrealistic]

Use Avira for Mac, it's by far better than the rest. =D

Interesting. I've used Avira for years on the PC, but didn't realize they had a free version for OS X as well. I've been using/recommending Sophos Free for OS X for almost two years now. Does Avira have the annoying pop ups like the Windows version?

[Guest]

I wonder what the RAM usage is like on Avira. Sophos is quite high to be honest!

[protocol7]

None.

[Rudy]

Didn't use one when I was a Windows user and I really don't see the point of having one on OSX

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

There are many companies which make anti-malware software for Mac OS X, including Avira (in beta now, I believe), ESET, Intego, McAfee, Sophos, Symantec and Trend.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[Tjarboe]

I use Sophos on my iMac. Never have had a problem. :)

[Japlabot]

How can you tell which actually work and which ones do nothing at all? There is not a lot out there to test with

[einsteinbqat]

I'm using and recommending Sophos.

[Guest]

I am using and recommending Sophos, was just wondering about others. Now i know there are more out there i might try them all and look at RAM usage

[DomZ]

Avast also have a free version for OSX (in beta, but it looks good):

http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-mac

I personally don't use anything and I honestly can't remember the last time I've had a virus on any platform - I think the last one was the RPC exploit on windows which would make you constantly reboot (Blaster worm). And that wasn't to do with anything I downloaded was just a exploit in Windows

[einsteinbqat]

I am using and recommending Sophos, was just wondering about others. Now i know there are more out there i might try them all and look at RAM usage

I have never really paid attention to the RAM it uses. Does it use a lot? This is what Activity Monitor tells me.

[Scorbing]

I have never really paid attention to the RAM it uses. Does it use a lot? This is what Activity Monitor tells me.

I have an iMac and I recently installed Sophos because of the Flash virus deal. I scanned the computer and all is good but to be honest, I don't have it running in the background. I use my Mac for business stuff only. I don't visit porn sites, poker sites or warez sites or do anything stupid with it so I'm not really too worried about catching a virus on it. Besides, Apple has a reputation to keep and their ego is way up there. They will never allow a virus or viruses to attack and destroy OSX so you can be sure they will patch whatever security holes come up within hours to make OSX secure again.

[einsteinbqat]

I totally agree with you. Of course, one who knows what one is doing really does help. For the others (like the parents, the little siblings, family and friends), AV is always a good thing.

BTW, Sophos has a new version (8) of their free AV for Mac.

[PyX]

I?m running none. I remember I installed Clam something for a day, scanned my Mac just for the fun of testing a Mac antivirus, and then I removed it. Naturally, it didn?t find anything.

[migo]

How can you tell which actually work and which ones do nothing at all? There is not a lot out there to test with

So at the moment they should have a 100% detection rate. Hell, they should be able to use heuristics to detect any software that makes use of known exploits. But that's my concern with the Mac at the moment - it's getting actively targetted with malware, but there's no idea which software properly protects. At least with Windows you know that MSE is free and relatively non-intrusive, so it isn't a case where the cure is worse than the disease, and it does actually catch malware, or alternatively if you buy WebRoot Secure Anywhere and install it on a clean system you're close to 100% guaranteed you won't get any new infections. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

Right now I would just pick a free Mac AV program that uses the least resources possible, run FireFox with NoScript and Web of Trust and make damn sure I know what I'm downloading.

[cooky560 Veteran]

Nothing, and no problems as far as I can see. The best defence is not clicking on links.

[Billus]

I believe that having an "antivirus" program on your Mac would be like giving it a virus, using system resources that would otherwise be free. There's no need for one and if you can wait, there will be one built into Mountain Lion. I've haven't used an antivirus program since I started using Vista, there's just no need. Microsoft does a good job looking after its OS and I'm sure Apple will do so too. The amount of crap and popups that result in installing a majority of antivirus programs is just not worth it.

[migo]

I believe that having an "antivirus" program on your Mac would be like giving it a virus, using system resources that would otherwise be free. There's no need for one and if you can wait, there will be one built into Mountain Lion. I've haven't used an antivirus program since I started using Vista, there's just no need. Microsoft does a good job looking after its OS and I'm sure Apple will do so too. The amount of crap and popups that result in installing a majority of antivirus programs is just not worth it.

Your faith is completely misplaced. Apple won't take care of security until they repeatedly get hit with malware and it causes them seriously bad publicity.

[bbfc_uk]

I use Sophos. I've tried Avast!, Norton and McAfee.

@einsteinbqat - thanks for the heads up about the new version. Downloading it now.

[bbfc_uk]

I believe that having an "antivirus" program on your Mac would be like giving it a virus, using system resources that would otherwise be free. There's no need for one and if you can wait, there will be one built into Mountain Lion.

Gatekeeper is not a malware detector or antivirus system.