Do I need to buy any protection software?

[mearsj]

I have the new MacBook Pro 16" M1 running Monterey12..3.1. Do I need to buy any protection software?
I have had MalwareBytes for several years but I'm not convinced it is doing anything on my new MBP as it scans in under one second.
There seems to be so much disagreement over whether we need anything these days, so I don't want to add any potentially damaging software if it is really unnecessary.

Any qualified help would be appreciateed.

Thanks
John

 

[satcomer]

Don't worry!Sense when Rosetta is stoped most of these modern Trojans won't work! The cartels and governments behind many Trojans once the Silicon or die gallant dies these guys will just go back to Windows the exact money from! As a Mac user you better protected because I have seen the scammers are changing their tactics! So on Mac the bigger threat is Internet things devices that you never change the default password! remember the baby monitor hacking time! that is bigger threat to your network! So on Mac use the one time pay of Little Snitch as reverse firewall! This so you don't have pay a service!

 

[chrfr]

Don't worry!Swnse when Rosetta is stoped most of these modern Trojans won't work! The cartels and governments behind many Trojans once the Silicon or die gallant dies these guys will just go back to Windows the exact money from! As a Mac user you better protected because I have seen the scammers are changing their tactics! So on Mac the bigger threat is Internet things devices that you never change the default password! remember the baby monitor hacking time! that is bigger threat to your network! So on Mac use the one time pay of Little Snitch as reverse firewall! This so you don't have pay a service!

None of this is true.

 

[chrfr]

I have the new MacBook Pro 16" M1 running Monterey12..3.1. Do I need to buy any protection software?
I have had MalwareBytes for several years but I'm not convinced it is doing anything on my new MBP as it scans in under one second.
There seems to be so much disagreement over whether we need anything these days, so I don't want to add any potentially damaging software if it is really unnecessary.

Any qualified help would be appreciateed.

Thanks
John

In general, no, it's not necessary to buy anything. The operating system has malware protection built in, which isn't always as robust as it could be, but it's there.

 

[satcomer]

None of this is true.

Yes it is because the largest treat to person network is NOT locking down or changing default passwords on Internet connect device then the bad guys have a way into your Network! I bet you never lock down your own IP printer! Al IP printer have a Wiki on them that if you put that Ip in browser does unit still log right into your printer!

 

[TiggrToo]

Don't worry!Swnse when Rosetta is stoped most of these modern Trojans won't work! The cartels and governments behind many Trojans once the Silicon or die gallant dies these guys will just go back to Windows the exact money from! As a Mac user you better protected because I have seen the scammers are changing their tactics! So on Mac the bigger threat is Internet things devices that you never change the default password! remember the baby monitor hacking time! that is bigger threat to your network! So on Mac use the one time pay of Little Snitch as reverse firewall! This so you don't have pay a service!

Please please please stop perpetuating these dangerous myths.

Little Snitch is a great tool - IF you have time to configure it correctly. As such it becomes either a labor of love or a metaphorical albatross around the neck.

Malware has become popular on Macs simply because Macs have become popular. Malware authors strike where they can get the best bang for their buck.

And M1 is not stopping them. Period. Rosetta 2 be damned.

Malware Is Now Targeting Apple’s New M1 Processor

Two distinct strains of malware have already adjusted to the new silicon just months after its debut.

www.wired.com

Malware these days can be delivered simply via a bad advert. There’s a reason why Apple continuously update the Mac with Security fixes - because they are blocking previously known attack vectors.

Zero day exploits are becoming more and more common. Sadly it’s also getting harder for AV apps to keep up but at least they can help.

You seem to advocate the ”head in the sand” principle.

If you personally want to do this then have at it, but recommending that other users don’t is wrong on every level.

 

[Lihp8270]

Always use protection otherwise if you have 2 MBPs you could end up with a Mac Mini.

 

[Fishrrman]

MalwareBytes is almost certainly "all you need".
(and it does run VERY quickly on the new 14" and 16" MBPs...)

 

[chrfr]

Yes it is because the largest treat to person network is NOT locking down or changing default passwords on Internet connect device then the bad guys have a way into your Network! I bet you never lock down your own IP printer! Al IP printer have a Wiki on them that if you put that Ip in browser does unit still log right into your printer!

Printers don't have a "wiki" on them. Many do run a web interface for configuration, but none of this is relevant to the topic here.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Easiest way to get infected with malware is....



.... installing antivirus SW.

True, regardless of the OS or CPU used.

 

[3Rock]

Easiest way to get infected with malware is....



.... installing antivirus SW.

True, regardless of the OS or CPU used.

Please substantiate that with some links and facts please

 

[dogface1956]

Please please please stop perpetuating these dangerous myths.

Little Snitch is a great tool - IF you have time to configure it correctly. As such it becomes either a labor of love or a metaphorical albatross around the neck.

Malware has become popular on Macs simply because Macs have become popular. Malware authors strike where they can get the best bang for their buck.

And M1 is not stopping them. Period. Rosetta 2 be damned.

Malware Is Now Targeting Apple’s New M1 Processor

Two distinct strains of malware have already adjusted to the new silicon just months after its debut.

www.wired.com

Malware these days can be delivered simply via a bad advert. There’s a reason why Apple continuously update the Mac with Security fixes - because they are blocking previously known attack vectors.

Zero day exploits are becoming more and more common. Sadly it’s also getting harder for AV apps to keep up but at least they can help.

You seem to advocate the ”head in the sand” principle.

If you personally want to do this then have at it, but recommending that other users don’t is wrong on every level.

You're a better man than me, I can't even figure out what he is trying to say.

 

[DJLC]

I'm not convinced any AV company can do this better than Apple can with their built-in malware protection feature. If it's a zero day attack vector, that means all those companies had zero days. The built-in feature is entirely invisible, but signatures are updated constantly to automatically disable any identifiable malware.

Do what you wish, but in my experience, AV on a Mac is just a duplicative performance hog with no benefit. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[spiderman0616]

I haven't used any malware software on my Macs pretty much ever. My work machines have always had some kind of monitoring on them, but nothing has ever come up as far as I'm aware.

Don't click on weird websites. Don't open weird emails. You'll be fine.

 

[bobcomer]

Easiest way to get infected with malware is....



.... installing antivirus SW.

True, regardless of the OS or CPU used.

No way that's true, regardless of the OS or CPU.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Head over to these guys - they know the score and all is open source and darn lovely stuff. You can donate too.

The Objective-See Foundation

A non-profit foundation, focusing on macOS security.

objective-see.com

 

[LinkRS]

By far the best protection against malware is good internet/computing habits. Be wary where you get your software from, only install things from trusted sources. Don't defeat "annoying" security features for convenience. macOS has some built-in features to help with malware, but unlike in Windows, there is no built-in tool that does active scanning. If this is something that would make you feel safer on the Internet, by all means get one from a reputable source. MalwareBytes is popular, but does anyone know if they have a version that runs natively on Apple Silicon? Personally, I don't run anything on my Mac, and I use the Microsoft tools on my Windows machines. Thanks!

 

[spiderman0616]

By far the best protection against malware is good internet/computing habits. Be wary where you get your software from, only install things from trusted sources. Don't defeat "annoying" security features for convenience. macOS has some built-in features to help with malware, but unlike in Windows, there is no built-in tool that does active scanning. If this is something that would make you feel safer on the Internet, by all means get one from a reputable source. MalwareBytes is popular, but does anyone know if they have a version that runs natively on Apple Silicon? Personally, I don't run anything on my Mac, and I use the Microsoft tools on my Windows machines. Thanks!

In my Windows days I always found Windows Defender to be quite good at catching things, and it seemed to update with new infection risks at least weekly if not daily. Is that still the case? I never used anything but built in stuff either--Windows Firewall was my firewall too.

 

[LinkRS]

In my Windows days I always found Windows Defender to be quite good at catching things, and it seemed to update with new infection risks at least weekly if not daily. Is that still the case? I never used anything but built in stuff either--Windows Firewall was my firewall too.

The built-in tools for Windows tend to get decent ratings these days. But really, your best defense is just good computing habits. I switched to the MS tools because all of the 3rd party ones tended to slow my system down and would like to "brag" about what it id did: "Hey I just blocked a pop-up!" or "Hey I blocked an unsolicited cookie" whcih was very annoying. The MS tools are much less disruptive. Back in the "old" days I pretty much exclusively used Norton products, but they tended to be more lightweight back then too. A funny aside, is that when I was still running my Computer Service/Repair business, I literally had what I called a McAfee tax. If I was doing a virus cleanup/removal and you were running McAfee software, I charged an extra $10 (if memory serves), as that product slowed the system down so much, it took longer to do anything on it LOL. You can see remnants of this at my old website, which is still up if interested: https://www.wombatcs.com .

 

[macsound1]

Please substantiate that with some links and facts please

No links - but personal knowledge. All the work supplied macs have had some sort of anti-something. Malware, virus, whatever. All they do is suck up resources, burn through your battery and never catch anything.

Apple pushes out security updates when there's an issue. Leave those auto updates on, as they are by default.
There's not going to be a 3rd party anti-whatever that catches it faster than apple.

Antivirus and malware software was super common and necessary on PCs because Microsoft was so bad at issuing security updates. Apple is much better at it.

 

[spiderman0616]

The built-in tools for Windows tend to get decent ratings these days. But really, your best defense is just good computing habits. I switched to the MS tools because all of the 3rd party ones tended to slow my system down and would like to "brag" about what it id did: "Hey I just blocked a pop-up!" or "Hey I blocked an unsolicited cookie" whcih was very annoying. The MS tools are much less disruptive. Back in the "old" days I pretty much exclusively used Norton products, but they tended to be more lightweight back then too. A funny aside, is that when I was still running my Computer Service/Repair business, I literally had what I called a McAfee tax. If I was doing a virus cleanup/removal and you were running McAfee software, I charged an extra $10 (if memory serves), as that product slowed the system down so much, it took longer to do anything on it LOL. You can see remnants of this at my old website, which is still up if interested: https://www.wombatcs.com .

I will look at that! Thanks!

I ran Norton stuff for a while back in the early 00's. It got to the point where it was so hard to fully remove Norton without destroying the file system irreparably somehow, so I stopped using any/all third parties for that need.

 

[spiderman0616]

No links - but personal knowledge. All the work supplied macs have had some sort of anti-something. Malware, virus, whatever. All they do is suck up resources, burn through your battery and never catch anything.

Apple pushes out security updates when there's an issue. Leave those auto updates on, as they are by default.
There's not going to be a 3rd party anti-whatever that catches it faster than apple.

Antivirus and malware software was super common and necessary on PCs because Microsoft was so bad at issuing security updates. Apple is much better at it.

At my last job, the anti-virus/anti-malware stuff they were using on our Macs was DESTROYING the battery life. I couldn't make it to lunch on a full charge. I finally took the bull by the horns and insisted that IT fix it, and it turned out to be an archaic, unused piece of the security suite that was burning through battery and internet bandwidth like crazy. That's literally the only virus related issue I've had on a Mac in my life, and it was the protection software's fault. That company was 3/4 Mac users, and IT was trying to tell us we must have gotten faulty batteries or something.

 

[MarkC426]

Head over to these guys - they know the score and all is open source and darn lovely stuff. You can donate too.

The Objective-See Foundation

A non-profit foundation, focusing on macOS security.

objective-see.com

This avenue is one of the worst culprits.
Why is it free......what's the catch?

These sites advertising 'free' tools sucker people in to downloading.

 

[clevins]

No.

1) Apple builds in some level of protection (https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/web)
2) Get and use an ad blocker.
3) Be smart, don't download random crap or click random, sketchy links.
4) backup daily.

COULD you still be hit? Sure, nothing is perfect. But in 22 years, I've not been. The easiest vector for most people are ads. See #2 above.

I'm ignoring attacks that require physical access to your machine here.

 

[satcomer]

Printers don't have a "wiki" on them. Many do run a web interface for configuration, but none of this is relevant to the topic here.

What I am show if any printer made after 1996 will have Wiki (Internal Web Interface) if it's gets an IP! Heck I even had back in'98 show that fact when I locked the security team out of the printer because they didn't know this fact!