iMac, do I need antivirus?

[360interactive]

That age old question, do I need antivirus on my new mac?

So many different viewpoints with this, but i can't seem to find a general consensus. Do I need it?

 

[Subbynet]

Yes you do.

 

[cjd]

Not really - just be careful.

 

[cjd]

There you go - there's both answers; pick one.

 

[That Guy]

I have just switched to Mac and installed: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac

Just for piece of mind, worth doing in my opinion. Its also FREE

 

[cmcp]

not sure about mac, but iirc with linux there used to be equivalents you could install that would pick it up to save you passing it on to windows users.

 

[360interactive]

There you go - there's both answers; pick one.

See what I mean!

I'm wary of slowing the MAC down, it's already slower than i was expecting, really don't want to slow it down even more.

 

[Posilan]

There are already a number of viruses around for Macs and the amount is likely to only increase, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

Steve

 

[mit74]

Also you could pick up a Windows virus say in a zip or attachment and pass it on or forward it to a potential customer without realising. Their computer could flag the virus and they probably won't be too happy you've almost infected their computer.... client lost.

 

[seanheather]

I haven't used anti virus on my iMac and Mac Book Pro ever. Just know what sites you're going on and you'll be fine, in theory. =p

I suppose getting anti virus software won't actually do any harm, so if you're worried, get one.

 

[Posilan]

ninja edited

I was going to comment on the advice you originally gave in your post until you "ninja edited" it

Steve

 

[Nala]

A true Mac OS X virus/trojan needs the user password to install itself within the OS. You just need to be careful about what you are doing.

If you use Safari as a browser, make sure you disable the auto download and install within the Safari preferences ( lets face it auto installs are usually a dumb idea ). Make sure you are confident in any program when you install it. There were dodgy copies of iWork floating around ( and I'm sure other programs ) so that people picked them up as they wanted to avoid paying for it and then installed a virus from them - just dumb.
Last years great Mac virus scare was a similar scam, preying on everyones fear of a virus and needing an anti-virus so they did a google search, came across Mac defender ( I think ) at the top of the search results and downloaded and installed it with their password - and installed the very thing they wanted to avoid!!!! Mac defender was a clever little thing that got to the top of google very quickly and looked genuine when it was anything but.

You will not get Windows viruses, but they can lie dormant on the OS, and as pointed out before you can pass them on to windows users. So a scan of incoming/outgoing files is a good thing, for that I have ClamXav, you can get it from their website and it will run in realtime, or you can get it from the app store and you have to actually run the scan yourself with that version. Just scan any files you want to check as they come in and maybe do a once a week scan of the whole computer ( it takes sometime to do this however ). It's also free.



ps, Are you still looking for copy/paste in OS X? Have you tried highlighting what you want, mouse click and ctrl at the same time?

 

[Deleted member 127702]

I suppose getting anti virus software won't actually do any harm, so if you're worried, get one.

I beg to differ, the one and only time I tried Anti Virus Software (Norton) on one of our Macs it had a very negative effect on performance, and even caused crashes IIRC (it was many years ago).

If you use your brain regarding forwarding attachments in emails to Windows users I can't see why you would want anti-virus software on a Mac.

Viruses proliferated in the Windows XP era when it didn't even require an admin password to write or delete files on your system; Mac OSX has never had that vulnerability.

 

[Posilan]

I beg to differ, the one and only time I tried Anti Virus Software (►►Norton◄◄) on one of our Macs it had a very negative effect on performance, and even caused crashes IIRC (it was many years ago).

Enough said - I've found the problem

Steve

 

[360interactive]

ps, Are you still looking for copy/paste in OS X? Have you tried highlighting what you want, mouse click and ctrl at the same time?

It's actually cut and paste I can't seem to work out, a few people have said try cmd and click, ctrl and click, still just gives me the same 'copy' commands and 'alias' commands, but no 'cut'.

I feel like an old man using my mac, having to ask the rest of the world how to use it! (i'm only 28!)

 

[RemoteTechs]

Hi,

We did a blog about this last year http://blog.remotetechs.co.uk/2011/06/is-it-true-that-macs-don%E2%80%99t-get-computer-viruses/

 

[RevaxMedia]

Yes you do.

I have been using an iMac for 6-8 months and never needed an antivirus, there are like 300 mac viruses out there tops and they are not the traditional viruses you will find on windows.

I would not bother, it will just slow your machine down if anything.

 

[Deleted member 127702]

I bought the book Windows Vista: The Missing Manual a few years ago when I got a new Laptop with Vista.

This is from Page 2 of the Introduction:

User Account Control may look to you like a completely unnecessary annoyance: a dialog box that pops up whenever you try to install a program or adjust a PC-wide setting, requesting that you type your password [....] In fact, UAC is one of Vista's most important new protection features, modelled on something similar in Mac OS X and Unix.

 

[stewe]

As a user of Mac, you don't need AV protection. However if you are working in business environment, dealing with clients, suppliers etc... you should have some AV protection due to one reason: Cross Platform infiltration.

Meaning: even if your Mac OS can't get infiltration, you can get e-mail or file which is infected with Windows threat. If you send it further - via e-mail or USB, you will infiltrate PC with Windows OS. So you will be pretty much carrier of the malware.

 

[mit74]

Mac users should not be telling users they do not need AV protection. That's just bad advice. Mac virus do exist and will get worse as they become more popular.

'I've never used AV and never had a virus' is not a vaild argument. How would you know exactly?

 

[Subbynet]

I have been using an iMac for 6-8 months and never needed an antivirus, there are like 300 mac viruses out there tops and they are not the traditional viruses you will find on windows.

I would not bother, it will just slow your machine down if anything.

How do you know it's secure?

The "traditional viruses" don't really work on Windows any more ever. Windows Vista/7 brought many improvements to security. Many of the viruses these days come from Web Browsing. (aka IE, Safari, Firefox)..

In this area, Safari is one of the worse performers really, and last year, on the Pwn2Own content, Firefox and Chrome came out top.

 

[360interactive]

My mind has been made up, just downloaded Kaspersky (been using on PC's for past 5 years) just to be safe.

Seems to be running well so far, no apparent loss of speed or slowness.

 

[giffgore]

All anti-virus apps for Macs are scams. iAntiVirus makes threats up, Sophos makes your Mac less secure, and Norton just slows your Mac down while doing very little to protect from anything.

There are still NO VIRUSES FOR OS X. There are only trojans, and to get those you need to install them yourself, so just don't be an idiot and you're fine.

 

[Subbynet]

There are still NO VIRUSES FOR OS X. There are only trojans, and to get those you need to install them yourself, so just don't be an idiot and you're fine.

They're far from scams, although, fake Anti-Virus adverts are widely used to fool people into installing malware. (tricking the user has always been the easiest "hacking" method)

Social Networking and Ad Agencies are massive vectors for security issues - and the person themselves don't have to do a thing as they're installing using browser vulnerabilities. (not by the user being so stupid as to install it themselves.)

 

[giffgore]

They're far from scams, although, fake Anti-Virus adverts are widely used to fool people into installing malware. (tricking the user has always been the easiest "hacking" method)

Social Networking and Ad Agencies are massive vectors for security issues - and the person themselves don't have to do a thing as they're installing using browser vulnerabilities. (not by the user being so stupid as to install it themselves.)

People who install malware themselves are always gonna be susceptible to security issues. Even a hypothetically 100% secure OS (such a thing doesn't exist in reality, of course) would get infected if it was used by someone who downloaded everything they saw on some dodgy site.

Yes, social networking and ad agencies have a lot of security issues, but OS X does not get affected by anything which installs itself without the users' knowledge through browser exploits. This is because you also need to obtain at least admin access on the target machine.

Now, if a smart hacker who knew what s/he was doing was targeting you directly, then odds are, on a standard OS X set up, they'd eventually get in, but that's very rare for normal home users and has never, in the history of OS X, happened through a browser exploit. Fact.

Basically, your standard user will be fine, because, as any real geek will tell you, the most secure OS is OpenBSD, and OS X is based on BSD, giving it a secure core. The famous security researcher, Charlie Miller, even said that OS X Lion is the most secure consumer OS today.

 

[Posilan]

People who install malware themselves are always gonna be susceptible to security issues. Even a hypothetically 100% secure OS (such a thing doesn't exist in reality, of course) would get infected if it was used by someone who downloaded everything they saw on some dodgy site.

Yes, social networking and ad agencies have a lot of security issues, but OS X does not get affected by anything which installs itself without the users' knowledge through browser exploits. This is because you also need to obtain at least admin access on the target machine.

Now, if a smart hacker who knew what s/he was doing was targeting you directly, then odds are, on a standard OS X set up, they'd eventually get in, but that's very rare for normal home users and has never, in the history of OS X, happened through a browser exploit. Fact.

Basically, your standard user will be fine, because, as any real geek will tell you, the most secure OS is OpenBSD, and OS X is based on BSD, giving it a secure core. The famous security researcher, Charlie Miller, even said that OS X Lion is the most secure consumer OS today.

And if a well known trusted site gets hacked and download files are compromised? The end user is tricked into installing a trojan/malware regardless of how careful they are...

Advising someone to not bother installing AV because it's rare that they will get infected is dangerous advice IMO and as Macs become more popular, they will get targeted more.

Steve

 

[giffgore]

And if a well known trusted site gets hacked and download files are compromised? The end user is tricked into installing a trojan/malware regardless of how careful they are...

Advising someone to not bother installing AV because it's rare that they will get infected is dangerous advice IMO and as Macs become more popular, they will get targeted more.

Steve

If a well known trusted site gets hacked, nothing will happen unless the user accepts a download, runs an installer, then gives that installer his or her admin password. A browser exploit alone is not enough to compromise a UNIX system.

There is no threat from viruses on OS X. Period.

If you want to be sure nothing on your Mac is doing anything dodgy, install Little Snitch and set up NoobProof. That's far better security than any of the bogus anti-virus apps going around.

 

[Subbynet]

People who install malware themselves are always gonna be susceptible to security issues. Even a hypothetically 100% secure OS (such a thing doesn't exist in reality, of course) would get infected if it was used by someone who downloaded everything they saw on some dodgy site.

Most people I know, if they were told it's malware, would steer clear.. The fact is, they don't know.

Yes, social networking and ad agencies have a lot of security issues, but OS X does not get affected by anything which installs itself without the users' knowledge through browser exploits.

Social Networking an Ad Agencies don't really... What they're suspectible too, is someone taking out an Ad Campaign but instead the attackers gives a link to malware. (Which is then installed by a browser exploit - Safari has plenty of these)

Then these companies without knowing have distributed it to thousands of websites - and infect many users.

This is because you also need to obtain at least admin access on the target machine.

No you don't really... Actually most of the malware/trojans found on Macs live in userland - under the user account.

 

[giffgore]

Most people I know, if they were told it's malware, would steer clear.. The fact is, they don't know.

Well then they can enjoy being scammed on bogus AV apps.

Social Networking an Ad Agencies don't really... What they're suspectible too, is someone taking out an Ad Campaign but instead the attackers gives a link to malware. (Which is then installed by a browser exploit - Safari has plenty of these)

Then these companies without knowing have distributed it to thousands of websites - and infect many users.

If it was that easy it'd have been done already. You need privilege escalation as well as a simple browser exploit.

No you don't really... Actually most of the malware/trojans found on Macs live in userland - under the user account.

To actually install they need your admin password.

 

[360interactive]

Installed Kaspersky, the mac wouldn't shut down, had to hard-shutdown using the button all the time. Un-installed it, now works fine. £35 down the drain.

 

[giffgore]

Installed Kaspersky, the mac wouldn't shut down, had to hard-shutdown using the button all the time. Un-installed it, now works fine. £35 down the drain.

As I said, AV for OS X is bogus.

Honestly mate, install Little Snitch and NoobProof, that'll give you proper security. Anti-virus is ineffective.

 

[That Guy]

Sophos makes your Mac less secure.

How does that work? Just wondered as I am currently running it

 

[giffgore]

How does that work? Just wondered as I am currently running it

Clickidy click.

A combination of NoobProof and Little Snitch provides much greater security than any anti-virus anyway. I can give a detailed explanation as to why if anyone's interested.

 

[Jamie.80]

i worked for apple in store, have had macs for years, no antivirus app needed. enjoy

 

[Davek0974]

Been running macs in the studio at work and office, all on the net, have been for ten plus years now, never had a problem until we tried AV on one machine that was used for general messing about, then next day we were reinstalling the OS to get rid of the AV as it slowed it to a halt and stopped it shutting down.

Never had AV on any other mac at home or work. Would never touch a norton product ever. Can't run av on the iPad or iPhone either.

I'm not advising anyone not to get it but I would never get it on my macs.

We have it on all the pc's at work and it really brings them to their knees, but on a pc it's a must-have unfortunately.

 

[giffgore]

The best security you can get on a PC is a decent firewall (NOD32 is meant to be excellent) and the NoScript extension for Firefox. NoScript lets you create a whitelist of sites allowed to run scripts, nothing outside that will do so. This makes you very secure against dodgy sites or ads or anything that tries to install viruses on your computer.

 

[jacksena]

I will suggest you Malware Removal complete virus protection which can detect all type of viruses from you Mac system and give you best virus safety.

 

[Davek0974]

I will suggest you Malware Removal complete virus protection which can detect all type of viruses from you Mac system and give you best virus safety.

May I suggest you get a better grasp of correct grammar?:|:|

 

[jacksena]

Ok dear sorry for mistake i will remember next time..