01-10-2007, 08:31 AM

Does my MacBook require a virus protection programme? Or is it ok just to leave it as it is?

This is my first Mac after jumping over from the dark side.

Cheers

01-10-2007, 08:57 AM

You can leave it as is if you will have no connection with windows users. I think its a good idea to have a virus scanner so that you can scan files for virues before you send them to your friends on windows. You will not be effected by the virus, but it can still infect their computer (you can have the virus on your computer, it just will not do any damage to you)

01-10-2007, 10:43 AM

If you're going to be using Limewire or Aquisition, you need to download a antivirus program that will can individual files. Macs can get infected with viruses. There just aren't a lot of viruses out there for Macs.

01-10-2007, 10:54 AM

Is it worth buying something like Norton Anti-Virus, McAfee or Sophos?
From what i hear Norton can slow machines down.

Could you suggest a possible programme that I could just leave running in the background that will aid against viruses without slowing down my machine?

What do you use? Is there a popular programme that everybody uses?

Cheers.

01-10-2007, 10:55 AM

Macs can not be infected by viruses as of now. That is not to say that there will not be a virus for macs in the future, but as of right now there are none that exist. So you don't have to worry about your computer getting viruses, just your windows systems you share files with.

The way the mac os is designed it is very hard for virus writers to create a virus for the system, and no virus writers has yet to do this.

01-10-2007, 11:00 AM

What about spyware, malware, trojans etc...?

01-10-2007, 11:04 AM

You will not have an issue with those either (yet, and i stress the word yet) People will find a way to do it if apples market share reaches a greater number but apple will always be there to prevent it from happening, so nobody knows what the future will hold

01-10-2007, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by PowerBookG4

Macs can not be infected by viruses as of now. That is not to say that there will not be a virus for macs in the future, but as of right now there are none that exist. So you don't have to worry about your computer getting viruses, just your windows systems you share files with.

The way the mac os is designed it is very hard for virus writers to create a virus for the system, and no virus writers has yet to do this.

There have been viruses for OS (i beleive 3 for OS X, but hard to find info on them),also there have been many exploits to OS X, not virus, but exploits in the software

"Even though malware like IM-Worm.OSX.Leap.a and Worm.OSX.Inqtana.A and exploits like Exploit.OSX.Safari.a and Exploit.OSX.Script-Ex were all proof of concept code, and had no obvious malicious payload, these proof of concept programs showed that Mac OS X does contain security flaws, and that these can be used to compromise the system"

So the above exploits that could of occurred show proof that OS X is not as rock hard as many want you to believe, yes, compared to windows, FAR FAR better, no questions there, but certainly not perfect as it gets praised to be.

For now all is well on the home front, so sleep well, but don't be naive in the future as who knows!

01-11-2007, 03:43 AM

What type of virus protection then should I get?
Is there a programme i can download that does the job for free?

01-11-2007, 07:11 AM

ive used macs for 5 years. Its not a pc. Dont bother installing virus protection. As for spyware, I didnt know that macs could get that.

01-11-2007, 07:58 AM

Market share has nothing to do with it. Apple could be the number one company with 99.9% of the market and it wouldn't matter. What keeps OS X virtually virus-free is the UNIX permissions based OS.
The only reason I would advise anyone to get an AV program is so they don't infect the Windows machine on their network. The virus won't affect the Mac but it could still be spread to a Windows machine on the network.

01-11-2007, 08:07 AM

I argree market share has nothing to do with viruses or spyware, in todays world a virus writer would be on talk shows and make tons of money . I have virus protection but that's because of my Windows friends and the places I surf to cough cough

01-11-2007, 01:44 PM

ClamXav or something like that is what I have on my MBP.