General Question

xxporkxsodaxx's avatar

What's the best antivirus for Mac?

Asked by xxporkxsodaxx (1396points) September 25th, 2008

Any ideas? I can’t really find any that I remember looking at a while back, the one I’m thinking of has a symbol that is like a syringe but has a cross on one end, or something like that. I’m in a hotel and the internet isn’t free so I am working off a slower network and it’s a pain to search through 3 pages in 10 minutes.

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11 Answers

queenzboulevard's avatar

I have heard that you really don’t need antivirus for Mac, but I come from Windows so I have a hard time believing it. That said, I use something called Yasu, which cleans up the system and hopefully prevents viruses on my Macbook lol

kevbo's avatar

There’s a top 10 security tips page somewhere out there on the internets. One of the better suggestions, though, is to create a new user account and then transfer admin privileges to that account instead of your current account. By not running your system under an admin account, you lower the risk of getting something malevalent on your system. The trade off is having to enter the admin username and password anytime you want to modify/install software.

jrpowell's avatar

The only real reason I can see for using a antivirus program on a Mac is that you could pass an infected file on to someone else using Windows. I have ran OS X since it came out and have never had any problems and I have never used a antivirus program.

I would just suggest reading Daring Fireball everyday. He usually post about anything you would need to know about potential security problems. And it only takes a few minutes to read everyday.

tWrex's avatar

@johnpowell That’s why I run my AV though. My own home is a mixed OS environment so I’d rather be part of the solution than the problem. Just MHO.

xxporkxsodaxx's avatar

Well I think I have something only because if I search something on google, and it’s in that orangish-tan highlight at the top it always redirects me to something else that is of no value and nothing related to what I searched.

aanuszek1's avatar

You don’t need one. Macs are pretty much immune to viruses (viri?). 99% of viruses are coded to windows

robmandu's avatar

I don’t run anti-virus on my Mac in a mixed environment. What came with [dot]mac was a resource hog… and never did it do a bit of good the first 18 months I used it. I’ve since run Macs without anti-virus the last 4+ years with nary a problem.

I do try to follow best practices for maintaining a secure Leopard OS. (For example, for everyday use, your user account should not have Administrative privileges. Setup a separate account for that.)

I do employ anti-virus on my PCs.

And I utilize Open DNS.

PIXEL's avatar

If Macs needed Anti-Virus pigs would fly.

xxporkxsodaxx's avatar

Pigs can fly, haven’t you heard of this new hybrid? It’s still a prototype but it looks promising.

robmandu's avatar

Here’s an interesting interview from Daring Fireball where a security expert—who successfully hacked his way into a Mac for prize money—explained that he does not run anti-virus on his own Mac machines and provides some tips for the reader.

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