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Antivirus on a M1 Mac - Is Norton Antivirus any good?

I've just installed Malwarebytes free. Thanks for the info.

With all this dislike for Norton here, how do you all feel about McAfee? My ISP (Spectrum) offers a "free" security suite from them.
 
Marty_Macfly said:
Hiya All,


Many thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated :)


hhhhmmmm.... some more research needed then. Shame Norton isn't a instant "Yup install it, its ok" - Seeing as I am already paying for the package for my windows laptop already :)



Best wishes
Martin
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You don't really need an antivirus for the Mac. As others have said, just run Malwarebytes periodically.
 
MtLoin2020 said:
I knew a person who was a developer for acertianpeornsite in 2009 and he stated that the sites had to be clean, virus free and fast, or they would not succeed and be shut down in a week. He explained how these site are based on competition and reputation on these sites are incredibly strong, safe and probably the best streaming on the the planet because there is too much money a site can lose in minutes if something goes wrong.
this was at the Jacob Javits Center at a web expo.
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Hahahaha the myth that the free market competition will make everyone honest and there will be no bad players.

Those sites are full of malware, theft and abuses. If this free market theory was true then all those sites would never have all these horror stories of ransomware, piracy funding mafias and human trafficking wouldn’t exist. If the visitors are dumb, tempted or deranged then these sites will always be like that.

Use your HEAD to think AHEAD.
 
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Coheebuzz said:
I'd do nothing, MacOS has a built-in antivirus called XProtect which receives virus definition updates frequently, it has received 5 updates so far in 2021.
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You must not have any relatives with Macs because they manage to invest theirs with all kinds of malware. Viruses may not be a thing on Macs, but they still get malware.

At the very least OP, install the free version of Makwarebytes and let scan your Mac once a week or month. It only takes about 30 seconds to scan the computer.

Norton, McAfee, and Webroot are steaming piles of crap.
 
Bandaman said:
You must not have any relatives with Macs because they manage to invest theirs with all kinds of malware. Viruses may not be a thing on Macs, but they still get malware.

At the very least OP, install the free version of Makwarebytes and let scan your Mac once a week or month. It only takes about 30 seconds to scan the computer.

Norton, McAfee, and Webroot are steaming piles of crap.
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The built-in program protects against adware as well, and contrary to Malwarebytes we can see what it protects against as there's a .plist file in the system folder with all the definitions, if you find that it's not cutting it for you then by all means take any necessary steps to safe-proof as needed.
 
srbNYC said:
This debate—whether or not Macs need virus/malware protection—is always interesting, although folks say "I've never used one and never got a virus" doesn't hold water. Concurrence is not causality, and some anecdotal experiences don't really add up to evidence. "I text while crossing the street, and I've never gotten hit by a car" doesn't comprise a compelling argument for texting while you cross the street.
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That is an analogy based on specious reasoning though, rather than probability.
The probability of never getting a virus today because I have never had one in 20 years of having used OS X can be gauged, based on a time period of 20 years. You haven't dodged a virus up until today simply by good fortune and beating the odds
- in the same way it's theoretically possible to toss a million heads in a row.
 
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Coheebuzz said:
The built-in program protects against adware as well, and contrary to Malwarebytes we can see what it protects against as there's a .plist file in the system folder with all the definitions, if you find that it's not cutting it for you then by all means take any necessary steps to safe-proof as needed.
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Again, I've had many situations in which family members and clients with Macs were absolutely in no way whatsoever protected by Apple's built-in defense measures. Yes, it's helpful, much like Windows Defender baked into Windows is "helpful" ... but it's not the end all be all of protection and doesn't safeguard against everything.
 
Malwarebytes or not you are taking action post-infection and thus being prudential about it achieves absolutely nothing if they like clicking on everything clickable, other than maybe saving a few seconds by having the software pre-installed.
 
ljg500 said:
The Malwarebytes 2020/2021 State of Malware Report makes a strong case for Mac malware protection.
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You wouldn't expect a report that is put out by an antivirus company to say that you don't need their products, would you? On the other hand, I also have to question how the guys claiming they've never had a virus would really know it, if they've never scanned for one.

I'm wary of the fact that Malwarebytes has a free tier at all, but I'd consider downloading it to run periodic scans. I run LittleSnitch to be aware of unusual internet-based activity from my computer, which would theoretically clue me in to virus activity (and also allow me to prevent it from communicating with the internet at all).
 
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Bandaman said:
You must not have any relatives with Macs because they manage to invest theirs with all kinds of malware. Viruses may not be a thing on Macs, but they still get malware.

At the very least OP, install the free version of Makwarebytes and let scan your Mac once a week or month. It only takes about 30 seconds to scan the computer.

Norton, McAfee, and Webroot are steaming piles of crap.
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Agree. I think, antivirus companies keep trying (so hard) to make Mac users believe there are virus threat around them, which fortunately (for us) hard to find. They won’t stop it as it is part of the marketing anyway.
 
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I have never used any antivirus on any of my mac's. even from the ppc days. before I got back into being an owner operator for trucking I was working at a company who required antivirus on Mac and would not install it. I let then fire me over it, because I will not comply with unconstitutional and unlawful demands by anyone. never had any issue with any malware on my Mac laptops or tablets, only on windows junk. have a new m1 MacBook Air and it will never see any antivirus crap.
 
Ledgem said:
You wouldn't expect a report that is put out by an antivirus company to say that you don't need their products, would you? On the other hand, I also have to question how the guys claiming they've never had a virus would really know it, if they've never scanned for one.

I'm wary of the fact that Malwarebytes has a free tier at all, but I'd consider downloading it to run periodic scans. I run LittleSnitch to be aware of unusual internet-based activity from my computer, which would theoretically clue me in to virus activity (and also allow me to prevent it from communicating with the internet at all).
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Malwarebytes is a leader in corporate endpoint detection. Silver Sparrow, XCSSET malware, etc all target the M1. In fact, these malware developers are ahead of anti-malware companies in optimizing performance for the M1 chip!

However, there are differences in effectiveness and performance impact for different apps. Companies like Norton are almost predatory in their marketing (be careful if you give them your credit card- and expect an attempt at automatic renewal- at an inflated renewal price). There incessant reminders on renewal are slightly akin to adware.

Finally- Apple itself is rather silent on whether they believe their builtin security features are sufficient for the average Mac user. This is disappointing and creates understandable confusion for the average user. Why buy it if the hardware/software vendor doesn't recommend it.

Littlesnitch appears to be a software/client focused approach to uncovering your devices internet communications. I prefer a router/firewall based approach that will keep tabs on all devices- especially IOTs.
 
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For me, no need to use anti-virus on Mac. If you insist, Malwarebytes is a great free option to scan time to time.
 
Been using Macs since 2004 personally and was sys admin and support for a Computer Science department at a university. Never, ever had a need for any anti-malware software, not even on the 50 or so lab machines being used by CS students. And trust me, they weren't particularly careful as I was always dealing with issues on our Windows inventory. The native security protections under the hood of OS X work extremely well with no user intervention.
 
Norton/Symantec products are not all that useful. Even in 1999 at their peak, I wouldn't buy their products.

Malwarebytes is the best for Mac, Windows, or Android and I use it on all three.

I'd like to believe that Apple is proactively heading off security issues, but every year, we see plenty more.
 
This I’d all a bunch of nonsense this day and age! Any Mac user should be worried about are Trojans targeting Macs! Agree to install software from a web site and You deserve to get hacked!
 
satcomer said:
This I’d all a bunch of nonsense this day and age! Any Mac user should be worried about are Trojans targeting Macs! Agree to install software from a web site and You deserve to get hacked!
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Antivirus isn't going to stop a user from doing something dumb.
But I wouldn't run Norton on my PC, let alone on my Mac. If you feel the need to run something, like said many times above, there's better options.
However, a lot of Mac users only install software from the Mac App Store. In those situations, I'm not sure anything but a good ad blocker is necessary.
 
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Hi All,

A good You tube video on this :)



Good time for me to move to a Mac! :)
Good to hear another huge benefit of apple using their own A/M chips! :)


Best wishes
Martin
 
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Marty_Macfly said:
Hi All,

A good You tube video on this :)



Good time for me to move to a Mac! :)
Good to hear another huge benefit of apple using their own A/M chips! :)


Best wishes
Martin
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Yeah, that sums it all up nicely and entirely echoes my experiences using and supporting large numbers of Macs over the years.
 
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I've had a Mac since 2014 and I now also have a M1 MBP, but it's only recently that I have fully learned about the built in virus and malware protection that come with MacOS.
Just ensure that you only download apps from the App Store and trusted developers.
Also go to Software Update - Advanced and then ensure that every box is ticked. This will ensure that you receive and install the latest anti-virus, malware and security updates for the operating system and apps.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec35dd877d0/1/web/1
 
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