Does macOS Big Sur require additional Anti Virus protection? I used Sophos Home addition on Catalina but would prefer not to use if not required. Your advice would be appreciated.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Anti Virus
- Thread starter Sabre52
- Start date
-
- Tags
- anti virus
- Sort by reaction score
I’ve never used antivirus on Mac. It’s really not necessary. Use common sense and stay away from shady sites.
i have never used one. i dont think you need any. Besides you can use antimalware if you really want to
Adware/ Something like AdGuard Pro or another. It keeps getting harder for such 3rd party tools to work, and now with our BS even more so. Backups (plural) still make sense, and install Mac to another drive to be bootable, and keep it safe off-line.
Hi 🙂
You will note a post here regarding Canimaan Software Ltd. https://www.facebook.com/Canimaan-Software-Ltd-172437953114369/community/?ref=page_internal
Has anyone reading here had any success in exploring the product on Facebook?
Thanks for your thoughts!
You will note a post here regarding Canimaan Software Ltd. https://www.facebook.com/Canimaan-Software-Ltd-172437953114369/community/?ref=page_internal
Has anyone reading here had any success in exploring the product on Facebook?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Here's an interesting thread I found on-line!
discussions.apple.com
Is this product too good to be true? - Apple Community
Even Apple says to use anti-virus. I use Bitdefender because it has a small footprint. Not so sure about the Firewall. My modem has it but the carrier said to get one and not rely on theirs. What confidence they bring. BUT yes, Apple can get nasties
I think it depends on what you do with your computer. Some things that would lead me to install an anti-virus package include:
If you're dead set against installing anti-virus software, you can at least run downloads you think are risky through VirusTotal, assuming you have good upstream bandwidth.
www.virustotal.com
- Sending or receiving files with Windows users
- Regular downloading of file types that often are virus vectors, such as .pdf, .jpg, .doc, and .xls .
- Any business use of your machine
- Frequent use of public Wi-Fi networks
If you're dead set against installing anti-virus software, you can at least run downloads you think are risky through VirusTotal, assuming you have good upstream bandwidth.
www.virustotal.com
Last edited:
I think I had a couple of items blocked as trojans with Bitdefender but they are generally rare. Still... I will look at Sophos and see how it goes. I have a few people I worked with who have had their machine crash after loading something .
Two recommendations to use ClamXav can be found here:-
discussions.apple.com
Short and sweet! 🤔
Would YOU install the ClamXav product on YOUR Apple computer?
got a warning i had viruses - Apple Community
Short and sweet! 🤔
Would YOU install the ClamXav product on YOUR Apple computer?
I download student papers from my wife's college, mostly docs or pdf. Now that is through Centurylink into the college's servers. They are in turn changing all their staff PCs over to something more secure as well as the OS, so they are cautious reminding people to log off when done. We also print directly from Blackboard to our printer. That is a risk. Other than that, Facebook and media sites. so although I am not a big player, there is risk. I also do online banking, both on my computer as well as my iPhone.
I have the firewall turned on and I see by default all the boxes are checked. I haven't tinkered with that. I tested my system with GRC's Shieldsup and did fine all but one port is blocked GRC's ShieldsUP!
On the downside of all this, Apple has been around awhile and the security software quality has been toward the PC, with many tantalizing things including antivirus and a firewall , but for the Apple, not so much. Part due to the lack of people giving a rats rear about Apple, but now the exposure is great. Look at any of the TV shows, they are using imacs, laptops, phone, and they are all or mostly all apple products. The nasties of the world are out there looking.
When I had my own weather website, I put in a user tracker , I had bots mostly from the Russian Federation , China and Korea looking about and alot of them opposed to anyone interested in the local weather, so eventually I took the site down. If there are bots running into my stuff, what are the odds that one of these beasties might be trying to see into my computer. Even Centurylink with their rented Xyzel C1100z modem say they have a firewall built in but also recommend getting a firewall and antivirus too. So here I am with mine . I just wish there was a low resource antivirus with firewall software that has a good track record for the Mac OSX. I am using bitdefender and it has improved from being a resource hog.
Maybe some day Apple will get into the software game and produce their own package.
Sorry for the rant, I had my first cup of morning brew.
I have the firewall turned on and I see by default all the boxes are checked. I haven't tinkered with that. I tested my system with GRC's Shieldsup and did fine all but one port is blocked GRC's ShieldsUP!
On the downside of all this, Apple has been around awhile and the security software quality has been toward the PC, with many tantalizing things including antivirus and a firewall , but for the Apple, not so much. Part due to the lack of people giving a rats rear about Apple, but now the exposure is great. Look at any of the TV shows, they are using imacs, laptops, phone, and they are all or mostly all apple products. The nasties of the world are out there looking.
When I had my own weather website, I put in a user tracker , I had bots mostly from the Russian Federation , China and Korea looking about and alot of them opposed to anyone interested in the local weather, so eventually I took the site down. If there are bots running into my stuff, what are the odds that one of these beasties might be trying to see into my computer. Even Centurylink with their rented Xyzel C1100z modem say they have a firewall built in but also recommend getting a firewall and antivirus too. So here I am with mine . I just wish there was a low resource antivirus with firewall software that has a good track record for the Mac OSX. I am using bitdefender and it has improved from being a resource hog.
Maybe some day Apple will get into the software game and produce their own package.
Sorry for the rant, I had my first cup of morning brew.
I've been using Eset's Cyber Security product since they released their Mac product - it's pretty lightweight in terms of resources and footprint, and like car or home insurance, it's there in the small chance you might need it
Antivirus for Mac with Firewall | ESET
Get essential protection with award-winning antivirus. Fast, powerful anti-malware protection for your Mac, whether you are browsing, working or gaming online.
MalwareBytes is "all you need":
www.malwarebytes.com
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.
www.malwarebytes.com
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
I love Malwarebytes and have used the free version for years (never found anything). That said I recently saw a SERIOUS slowdown on my iMac and found a background process (RTP) taking up a lot of CPU cycles. I’m going to remove and reinstall MWB but wanted to warn folks in case they were also experiencing a slowdown...
I only use the free version of MalwareBytes, and to my knowledge, it only "runs" when one chooses to run it.
There is a "pay for" version that offers real-time scanning, but I don't use it. I don't know what additional software that version may install...
There is a "pay for" version that offers real-time scanning, but I don't use it. I don't know what additional software that version may install...
Early on, I used Norton. If you like drama, and sitting watching beach balls, and spiky urchins, and things taking (a lot) longer to happen, get antivirus. If you don't troll political, sexual, 'art' sites, and setup filtering on email, and don't open possible phishing emails, you really should be fine. Honest.
Case in point: I got an email from a family member that I hadn't heard from in literal decades. The title of the email seemed 'chatty'. Um, yeah, I tossed it in junk, and opened it there, and, they had been hacked, and I imagine everyone was getting an email too. (Which led me to wonder why they even had my email address. *shrug* (My families aren't close, and all the interesting people, tragically, have already died (I was told I was 'The Most Interesting Family Member (alive), and wondered what I did to get that, but they leave me alone. (So grateful))))
Oh, got an email from my old accountant. (The one that said he was glad I wasn't using him anymore (nice), and was 'Mr Trolling ALL the bad places in the 'net') It was a BIG TIME PHISHING EXPEDITION! He was hacked bad apparently.
If it doesn't seem right, it's probably not... Be safe... Use Time Machine, JIC... ;-)
Case in point: I got an email from a family member that I hadn't heard from in literal decades. The title of the email seemed 'chatty'. Um, yeah, I tossed it in junk, and opened it there, and, they had been hacked, and I imagine everyone was getting an email too. (Which led me to wonder why they even had my email address. *shrug* (My families aren't close, and all the interesting people, tragically, have already died (I was told I was 'The Most Interesting Family Member (alive), and wondered what I did to get that, but they leave me alone. (So grateful))))
Oh, got an email from my old accountant. (The one that said he was glad I wasn't using him anymore (nice), and was 'Mr Trolling ALL the bad places in the 'net') It was a BIG TIME PHISHING EXPEDITION! He was hacked bad apparently.
If it doesn't seem right, it's probably not... Be safe... Use Time Machine, JIC... ;-)
MalwareBytes is "all you need":
Official Site | Malwarebytes: Antivirus, Anti-Malware & Privacy
Malwarebytes offers real-time antivirus, advanced anti-malware and privacy protection for all your devices. Launched in 2004 as a free virus scan, we still offer a free basic version 20 years later. Learn more.
IMPORTANT:
Select the "home" option.
It's a FREE download
IMPORTANT:
You DO NOT NEED TO BUY A SUBSCRIPTION to run MalwareBytes.
It will run FOREVER IN FREE MODE.
When you open it, IGNORE the button to "Upgrade Now" or "Activate License".
Just click "Scan".
Again, you DO NOT have to buy the pay-for version!
'So far...'
This doesn't seem very practical.
Like putting your seatbelt on just before your about to crash.
Your only relying on user intervention to manually scan, at which point your mac could have been infected weeks before. If your using anti-virus you need real-time scanning.
I used that software too. If you use it every so often, it just checks that things are good. It's terrific for Windows.
The overhead of sifting files on a mac seems to be higher than on a pc for some reason. Probably because there are so many integral components for each file. I was curious how antivirus would run on a Unix box, but have never heard of antivirus for a Unix, or derivative box.
If you are concerned about security I am not sure that virus/malware software alone is sufficient. QNAP just had a very bad ransomeware attack the last few weeks due to security vulnerabilities in multimedia console, media streaming add-on and hybrid backup sync. If the exploit is totally new virus/malware definitions may not yet have been updated.
Although the Mac is much more secure there is always the possibility of some vulnerability being discovered and exploited. So in addition to software to catch problems with websites and downloads, locking up your network so that no incoming connections are allowed would be a good idea if you can.
Although the Mac is much more secure there is always the possibility of some vulnerability being discovered and exploited. So in addition to software to catch problems with websites and downloads, locking up your network so that no incoming connections are allowed would be a good idea if you can.
I used to use ESET, but it interferes with Time Machine backups to the point of them not working even when you exclude the Time Machine drive (ESET recommends this). This is a problem that most antivirus programs show, Bitdefender has the same issue.
I'm currently using ClamXAV since it works well and it fared very well in the testing of AV-Test, I can't really tell it's there and everything works without slowdowns. They also have good customer service that responds fast.
www.av-test.org
I'm currently using ClamXAV since it works well and it fared very well in the testing of AV-Test, I can't really tell it's there and everything works without slowdowns. They also have good customer service that responds fast.
Test Canimaan Software ClamXAV 3.0 for MacOS Catalina (202006)
The current test Canimaan Software ClamXAV 3.0 for MacOS Catalina (202006) from June 2020 of AV-TEST, the leading international and independent service provider for antivirus software and malware.
I've been using Macs since 1984, the original. Never had virus protection for I guess 37 years now. No viruses.
I have had phishing e-mails and browser pop-ups vamping for stuff. I trashed the e-mails and purged the browser cache which solved them. I do have Malware Bytes (free), but scans never found anything significant.
I've also used Windows since Win3.1. I also programmed in Visual C and .NET over the years. To not have a Windows Virus protector is suicidal. The Windows architecture using Dynamic Linked Libraries (DLLs) and the Registry is akin to infect me please, please.
I'm retired now and only keep a Parallels VM of Windows for the rare app I cannot find native to MacOS. So, get a Mac Virus Protector for comfort, but far more important is a Carbon Copy Cloner, or similar, bootable image for that day when the system disk goes belly up. Combined with Time Machine it's possible to get a near up to the minute restore.
I have had phishing e-mails and browser pop-ups vamping for stuff. I trashed the e-mails and purged the browser cache which solved them. I do have Malware Bytes (free), but scans never found anything significant.
I've also used Windows since Win3.1. I also programmed in Visual C and .NET over the years. To not have a Windows Virus protector is suicidal. The Windows architecture using Dynamic Linked Libraries (DLLs) and the Registry is akin to infect me please, please.
I'm retired now and only keep a Parallels VM of Windows for the rare app I cannot find native to MacOS. So, get a Mac Virus Protector for comfort, but far more important is a Carbon Copy Cloner, or similar, bootable image for that day when the system disk goes belly up. Combined with Time Machine it's possible to get a near up to the minute restore.
Please point me in the direction of where Apple "says to use anti-virus".
I think you are mistaken, but I'm willing to learn! 😎. Can you provide a link?
I was using a utility that the producers said would 'Always be free to use'. Until it wasn't. Oh, they had a 'free mode', but it had quite a few features excised from it. I gradually stopped using it over time, and, oddly, can't even remember the name. *HAH!!!* Kinda like Adobe software. Yeah, after they crapped all over mac users, I'm really going to pay BY THE MONTH to use their software? Nope... (Although they weren't free, but I figured they needed a mention)
I used a flight tracking and planning website for decades, and they also said they were going to have a 'free mode' forever. Then they went 'freemium'. Their 'free mode' was as useful as brain cancer, and the low priced 'freemium mode' was just slightly less useless. To get back to where I was, they wanted $30.00 a month!!! WHAT??? I dropped them too, although I do remember their name, and don't want to be sued for mentioning it. (I've heard they are a little touchy over that whole 'screwing their users' thing)
I DID see, years ago at the local Apple office, that folks WERE using antivirus. As I remember it, it was Norton. Since then, I have noticed a few Apple droids using one of the 'off brand' ones, but most seem to be like us, they go without.
I'll bet serious business critical stuff uses it, JIC...