Newbie - Myths surrounding antivirus etc

Hi, just purchased imac 21.5, as a previous windows user for around 10years i was wanting to know if the whole not needing an antivirus with mac is true.
I will say sorry in advance if this is an over talked about topic but coming from windows where i had kaspersky pure internet security running constant i find it hard to just switch on imac and surf net, log on to my digital banking etc without the added backup..makes me really nervous
i have switched firewall to stealth mode and my wireless router is fire-walled as well.
Plus any advice for downloading etc, i was using winmx on my pc but i take it this will not work on imac.
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry if this sounds totally dumb!!!!

Read this:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/sw...-official-antivirus-malware-firewall-faq.html

Thanks, will read it asap

I run sophos on my mac, and I also have iantivirus on the other. Sophos is for mac and pc threats, and Iantivirus is for mac threats only.

If you feel you must run AV software, look at ClamXAV which is freeware. That company also released ClamWin for Windows, and if you are going to run Windows on your Mac, make sure you use AV software on that partition.

Having said that you will find most long term Mac users do not run any AV as it tends to bloat and slow your computer.

Also, you should keep your software firewall off. The router firewall is enough.
The reason the software firewall is off by default is because any modern modem/router has a firewall.
Having the software firewall on can interfere with the functioning of the other firewall.
You can go to https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 to test your firewall.

Having the software firewall on can interfere with the functioning of the other firewall.

Couldn't have said it better myself, and this bit bears repeating.

Congrats to the OP for finally getting out of the fear and paranoia trap that is Windows.

rabbitjetta said:

I run sophos on my mac...

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I switched in September. I run Sophos as well. I see no significant changes in how the computer runs. Having something is better than nothing and you won't notice its there.

Booch_21 said:

I switched in September. I run Sophos as well. I see no significant changes in how the computer runs. Having something is better than nothing and you won't notice its there.

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Yeah, a lot of switchers seem to like continuing to give their money to those AV companies.

6string said:

Also, you should keep your software firewall off. The router firewall is enough.
The reason the software firewall is off by default is because any modern modem/router has a firewall.
Having the software firewall on can interfere with the functioning of the other firewall.
You can go to https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 to test your firewall.

Click to expand...

Okay, I ran the tests and it showed that ports 139, 445 and 548 were open. Everything else looked good.
What, if anything, should I do next?

Need to check your router's firewall settings to start with.

Then if still not fixed the port forwarding sections.

There are other places where you can manually punch a hole in the firewall to enable certain functions also.
But I'd say port 139 at least should not be open at all.

If you're running any of the modern D-Link it would be under the Advanced tab.
If you're as unsure about most router settings as I am, I'd probably just do a reset to factory on the router and then reset up my wifi network again.

And of course, how old is the router and it does have a firewall?
Default settings on any modern router firewall should come back in complete stealth on those tests.

bobtomay said:

Need to check your router's firewall settings to start with.

Then if still not fixed the port forwarding sections.

There are other places where you can punch a hole in the firewall to enable certain functions also.
But I'd say port 139 at least should not be open at all.

If you're running any of the modern D-Link it would be under the Advanced tab.
If you're as unsure about most router settings as I am, I'd probably just do a reset to factory on the router and then reset up my wifi network again.

And of course, how old is the router and it does have a firewall?

Click to expand...

Running a Time Capsule about 3 years old.

Same age as my TC.
Have never used the firewall in my TC, nor have I ever allowed it as the DHCP server here.


After looking - Don't even see any firewall settings at all in the Airport Utility.

bobtomay said:

Same age as my TC.
Have never used the firewall in my TC, nor have I ever allowed it as the DHCP server here.


After looking - Don't even see any firewall settings at all in the Airport Utility.

Click to expand...

Same thing for me. Went looking for settings and have no idea how to close the ports I listed.

Razor: You may want to have a read of this thread at Apple's support forums. There is a link there to an alternative opinion. They can say what they want, but if it were me and I didn't already have one, I'd be getting a router with a real firewall.

And yes I know, as one that is still pretty vehemently against installing AV software on my own personal Macs, this may sound like just the opposite. And although the average home user is probably pretty safe as they say, I'll take a NAT firewall tyvm. I think this is the main reason dtravis does not like the AEs.

We do have several members here with a whale of a lot more knowledge about this stuff than I have. Perhaps one of them will pop in on this.

Thanks for all advice, well appreciated. After reading other threads i'm sure i am just suffering from windows paranoia..but loving my imac..so quite i never know if it is on..lol

bobtomay said:

Razor: You may want to have a read of this thread at Apple's support forums. There is a link there to an alternative opinion. They can say what they want, but if it were me and I didn't already have one, I'd be getting a router with a real firewall.

And yes I know, as one that is still pretty vehemently against installing AV software on my own personal Macs, this may sound like just the opposite. And although the average home user is probably pretty safe as they say, I'll take a NAT firewall tyvm. I think this is the main reason dtravis does not like the AEs.

We do have several members here with a whale of a lot more knowledge about this stuff than I have. Perhaps one of them will pop in on this.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, Bob. I'll read it.
I did find our that the open ports I have are associated with Bonjour and Windows file sharing. Since I am a Mac only household (other than the DNS-323 NAS, I turned that off and the ports are now closed. Just finished checking and Network is good to go as well. Printer works and I still have access to the NAS.

bobtomay said:

Razor: You may want to have a read of this thread at Apple's support forums. There is a link there to an alternative opinion. They can say what they want, but if it were me and I didn't already have one, I'd be getting a router with a real firewall.

Click to expand...

Agreed totally with you Bob.

bobtomay said:

And yes I know, as one that is still pretty vehemently against installing AV software on my own personal Macs, this may sound like just the opposite. And although the average home user is probably pretty safe as they say, I'll take a NAT firewall tyvm. I think this is the main reason dtravis does not like the AEs.

Click to expand...

Agreed again and yes, that is the reason I don't use an AE as my main router. I love the AE but for $170, that is a serious omission. And Yes, I have done extensive tests over the years and even gotten into friends systems with only NAT as a test. TOld them their computers names in fact which shocked a few of them!

I use an AE like you do Bob. Excellent router otherwise.

I swapped over not all that long ago after many years on Windows computers. I thing my first was a Compaq 286 running Windows 3.0.
I read all the stuff about running AV software on a Mac at the time and I have to say that it confused me a little. The upshot was that I installed ClamXav. Not so much to keep me safe from any viruses but more to keep any of the Windows computers on our Home Network safe from any nasties that I downloaded accidentally.
I also have to admit that I now have a rule about downloading stuff. I have a folder on the desktop that all downloads are sent to. Before anything else is done with the download, I check it with ClamXav.
Overkill?? ... Maybe. Pointless?? .... Probably.
But it gives me a feeling of safety and you can't put a price on that.

I agree with bobtomay. However, if you happen to be a FIOS user (Verizon fiber optic broadband) you really have no choice in which router to use. Verizon supplies a proprietary router which does not lend itself to making changes. Things like the firewall and DNS are locked in.

To their credit Verizon is replacing those routers with an updated version which can be optimized through the setup menu.