Advice on SECURITY SOFTWARE please

[SamJames170]

Hi, I have done my best to try and nail a good security software to use on my IMac El Capitan. Despite finding some solutions with good capabilities online they also get reviewed as making machines run sluggish which I could really do without. Mostly i could do with a good scan of the system from time to time. Anyone had good experiences in real term use.

Are free versions worth it or best i spend some money

Thanks in advance
Sam

 

[chrfr]

Hi, I have done my best to try and nail a good security software to use on my IMac El Capitan. Despite finding some solutions with good capabilities online they also get reviewed as making machines run sluggish which I could really do without. Mostly i could do with a good scan of the system from time to time. Anyone had good experiences in real term use.

Are free versions worth it or best i spend some money

Thanks in advance
Sam

One important factor to consider is that your computer is more secure when the operating system is kept up to date. Does your computer support a newer operating system than El Capitan?

 

[keysofanxiety]

MalwareBytes, that's free to scan, don't buy the upgrade. Almost all infections you'll get on macOS will be malware: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac-download/

 

[Anarchy99]

most security software on a mac is there to scam people out of money and/or protect your coworkers PCs in a mixed computing environment.

there still are no MacOS viruses.
there is some malware that you can mistakenly install.
Malwarebytes free can help with that but honestly if i had only one choice i'd take a good adblocker over Malwarebytes or any other security software as that's where the majority of normals get "infected" from these days.

typically for most clients I recommend uBlock Origin and adgraurd's DNS servers.

personally I run uBlock Origin with uBlock extra, nano defender with a updated Greasemonkey script for anti-adblock blocking but I acknowledge that overkill for most people unless you go to the shadiest of sites

 

[casperes1996]

Hi, I have done my best to try and nail a good security software to use on my IMac El Capitan. Despite finding some solutions with good capabilities online they also get reviewed as making machines run sluggish which I could really do without. Mostly i could do with a good scan of the system from time to time. Anyone had good experiences in real term use.

Are free versions worth it or best i spend some money

Thanks in advance
Sam

Well, security... That's a big topic. As someone else said, if you can upgrade past El Capitan that's one way of improving security.
But in the end, security is more about you than whatever software you have to "protect" your computer. And security is also more about what software you don't have as opposed to what you do have.
And what is security really for you? Is the idea that you don't want your privacy invaded on? In that case Facebook violates security.
Your Mac already is protected with XProtect by Apple. It's invisible to you, but it's there. If you don't act reckless that should be enough.

 

[Fishrrman]

What kind of "security software" are we talking about?

Do you mean "anti virus"?
If so, don't bother.
There has NEVER been a Macintosh "virus" that has yet been found "in the wild".

If you're worried about malware or adware, that's a legitimate concern.
All you need for that is:
MalwareBytes.
It's FREE.
IMPORTANT: When you run it, MB will keep "prompting you" to upgrade to the "paid version".
YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS.
It will run FOREVER "in free mode" (all shouting is intentional).

 

[Apple_Robert]

Make sure your firewall is turned on, and that you only download apps from the MAS or recognized developer. Outside of getting a good adblocker like "Adguard," you shouldn't need to do anything more, unless it makes you feel better to run Malwarebytes once a month.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Go with MWB for Mac as suggested and the remainder of the 'security problems' rest with the 'nut behind the wheel,' as our auto mechanics say.

 

[SamJames170]

One important factor to consider is that your computer is more secure when the operating system is kept up to date. Does your computer support a newer operating system than El Capitan?

Yes but each time I upgrade Op systems I ALWAYS have some kind of glitch with some software somewhere, at the moment El Capitan seems to be working quite well with everything, I use my Mac as my work in design and cannot afford any problems it will give me a heart attack !. I tend to upgrade the machines every 4 years or so knowing I have a running system and then can migrate to new machine and finally switch when all is good. I can't tell you how much time I have lost with problems over the years !.... good suggestion though thanks !
[doublepost=1549199962][/doublepost]

 

[chrfr]

Yes but each time I upgrade Op systems I ALWAYS have some kind of glitch with some software somewhere, at the moment El Capitan seems to be working quite well with everything, I use my Mac as my work in design and cannot afford any problems it will give me a heart attack !. I tend to upgrade the machines every 4 years or so knowing I have a running system and then can migrate to new machine and finally switch when all is good. I can't tell you how much time I have lost with problems over the years !.... good suggestion though thanks !
[doublepost=1549199962][/doublepost]

But again, you’re missing protection from many, many published security problems. If you’re concerned at all about security, keeping the operating system up to date must be a priority.

 

[JoshuaMoraski]

I personally use Bitdefender on my MacBook, and it has no performance problems. It runs in the background and you can do a system scan if you feel something happened. It even offers Time Machine cleanup, safe files with quarantine, and web protection through Trafficlight. I would highly recommend this, plus if you only have one Mac it is not very expensive!

 

[SamJames170]

*update....05-Feb-19

Let me tell you what happened might be best.....

Got email from my own web email address which I am told by my providers security team actually isn't but made to look like it was, it was ransom scam asking for money of send all my address book contacts porn pictures unless I paid £300 odd, they mentioned they infiltrated my account 18 October.

Got email also to my hotmail address ( which I access on same machine) that £250 was spent on amazon from another computer and needed to click to resolve which i didn't... another scam, nothing was spent at amazon but by coincidence the date was 18 October

End of December got a run of purchases on my visa card via phone ordering food which I didn't and bank are now dealing with.

I don't download any programs or anything I don't know what it is as this is my work computer so don't take any risks.
I access all my accounts and email by pre filled passwords but have cleared cache and history sometimes which may cause me to manually type the passwords.

These recent occurrences is why I am asking, these may be coincidence and I have no real violation but want to do what i can to be secure. Email password has been reset and I am copy pasting all passwords from now on so no keystrokes.

Of the visa scam the ONLY purchase I made from April 2018 to current where I needed to give card number and three digit code was over the phone, this is the only purchase that was made on the card where these details would be present

Scam email to my own webmail came from Saudi address

Visa phone payments from iPhone in Ilford London.... not too far from the company where the only time I gave out bank info via phone !!

Anyway thats the story, thanks for all your responses, great help !

Sam

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Don't worry Sam we all (well most of us) get these scams on a regular basis. All our emails addresses float around the 'net and they sewnd thousands of these demands out hoping for the old 1% success rule.