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Antivirus recommendation?

joshuawhite929

joshuawhite929

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 2, 2017
7
5
For those that think that the mac doesn't need antivirus, you can stop reading now. ;)

For everyone else, I am using Catalina and I am growing tired of kernel panics from Norton which still uses kernel extensions. There has got to be a better way. Malwarebytes seems to work, but I am not clear that it is a replacement for traditional AV software. Can anyone please recommend a solution that works?
 
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Universities tend to recommend sophos but honestly, malwarebytes is all you need. The traditional virus isnt as common these days. Most rather do nasty stuff like keylog, show affiliate advertising, and crypto mine

Above all, backups are king. If something nasty does happen, you're better off restoring than running some antivirus and hoping it's gotten rid of it completely.
 
joshuawhite929 said:
For those that think that the mac doesn't need antivirus, you can stop reading now. ;)

For everyone else, I am using Catalina and I am growing tired of kernel panics from Norton which still uses kernel extensions. There has got to be a better way. Malwarebytes seems to work, but I am not clear that it is a replacement for traditional AV software. Can anyone please recommend a solution that works?
Click to expand...
Free, scans when you remember to tell it to:
Malware bytes free
Bitdefender free

Free, scans on file access:
Avira
Sophos

Paid, scans on file access:
Bitdefender
Kaspersky
Malware bytes premium

Wouldn't allow McAfee or Norton anywhere near my computers.

Personally, I'm using Bitdefender paid, and very happy with it.
 
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Its probably worth checking out both the AV-Comparatives and AV-test websites for their independent test results and reviews. They've both updated their tests in the last month or so. Bear in mind they list products alphabetically, not by quality of their service.

For the longest time, I used the free Avira product and was pretty happy with it (though neither site has tested it in awhile), but a recent opportunity to get the well-rated Bitdefender on sale has me trying it out. Seems to be working well.
And, once a month or so, I run Malwarebytes Free, too. Belt and suspenders, I guess.
 
pldelisle said:
None. Any user paying attention to what he does on its computer, especially a Mac, doesn't need an antivirus. Been 8 years I'm on Mac without AV and got absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...
Using AV is often required by client contracts and business insurance. If a claim was made against you, "someone on the Macrumours forum told me I don't need one" wouldn't get you far.

If you use your mac for personal use only, fair enough if you choose not to believe in AV.
 
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I only use Malwarebytes Premium, after years of using Sophos. Being able to detect dangerous behavior is more important now that typical malware is too predictable, and easily eradicated.

Some of the others handle Windows malware on Macs, but if you don't exchange a lot, you shouldn't have to worry.
 
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Occasionally scan with Malwarebytes, but only once found anything that was even close to be a virus. It was more like a weirdly permissioned script, but I could be remembering that incorrectly.

What I DO do is keep various free or 30-day demo versions of AV software installed on my Windows VMs in Fusion. They are for test purposes in case Windows users call me, asking for operational advice.

I am really only worried about accidentally passing something along in a folder full of files that I'm moving around for coworkers or friends.
 
joshuawhite929 said:
For those that think that the mac doesn't need antivirus, you can stop reading now. ;)

For everyone else, I am using Catalina and I am growing tired of kernel panics from Norton which still uses kernel extensions. There has got to be a better way. Malwarebytes seems to work, but I am not clear that it is a replacement for traditional AV software. Can anyone please recommend a solution that works?
Click to expand...
I use MalwarteByts Premium but not even sure its needed any more macOS has its own antivirus/anti malware built into it and I wish remember what its called,My Conclusion ; Old habits are hard to break
 
Employer switched about 2500 macs from Symantec to Sophos. While not perfect, if you must run AV, Sophos is pretty good. Is is less of a resource hog overall, and is likely more useful than Symantec ever was for Macs. Even the free Home use is pretty good, although lacking the most important defense: malware.

I just read today that the current version can cause issues with soon-to-be-released MacOS 11...but that is because of changes Apple made, and should get sorted soon.
 
joshuawhite929 said:
For those that think that the mac doesn't need antivirus, you can stop reading now. ;)

For everyone else, I am using Catalina and I am growing tired of kernel panics from Norton which still uses kernel extensions. There has got to be a better way. Malwarebytes seems to work, but I am not clear that it is a replacement for traditional AV software. Can anyone please recommend a solution that works?
Click to expand...

Ideally, if you stick to reliable sites & downloads, you shouldn't have any problem.
 
Safety is the first order, but things happen. When I got my new desktop MAC in early 2016 I wound up with Mackeeper and I have no idea how. I swear I did not download it. It took Malwarebytes to locate and remove all of the attending junk files from my system.

More than once I have gone to a site I use on a regular basis and all of the sudden a bunch of files will start downloading into my download file. These are not junk sites, but they were infected by hackers. Point - an ounce of prevention is a good thing.
 
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