The Official Mac AntiVirus and Firewall FAQ

schweb said:

I suppose if you want to break it down to the definition of specific wording, then yes I could change it . However since this is just a general FAQ for newbies, I don't really know if it's necessary to break it down into a linguistic battle of semantics .

As for your other comment, you are correct, that may also be an issue for some users although certainly not widespread. Thanks for adding to the FAQ.

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lol, so eloquently put forward ;D

i am new to the world of macs well to owning my own computer at all actually. At home we've always had PC's but i decided to make the leap and go Apple even though ALL of my friends said " no, they're rubbish and incompatible." lol it still makes me smile when i think of them shouting at their computers to respond, and Vista wow what a nightmare. At the moment i have no regrets and am very pleased to be part of the apple community In regards to antivirus i have norton antivirus but i am an ex-p.c. user so i still felt like i had to have that extra 'safety net' i havnt noticed a performance lag yet but then again i only just got it... I do have a question though, if there are NO viruses for mac os x then what is norton antivirus designed to do and wen i dowload security updates what is it downloading?

Mac_OS said:

if there are NO viruses for mac os x then what is norton antivirus designed to do and wen i dowload security updates what is it downloading?

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Norton is trading on your FEAR of viruses, etc. and you are just wasting your money. I also run a PC and have at long last taken the advice of many, many people: Norton is a big, fat, slow pig which takes up too much space and slows down your machine. I have now put Zone Alarm and AVG Free on and they work a treat, and also use Adaware, Spybot and CCleaner on a regular basis. I have also moved from IE to Firefox. All this is free, gratis, for nothing and works better than the commercial packages.

Colin

Mac_OS said:

. . . if there are NO viruses for mac os x then what is norton antivirus designed to do and wen i dowload security updates what is it downloading?

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It's downloading updates to Windows anti-virus stuff, all that it can run on your Mac, supposedly to protect any Windows machines that might be on a network with your Mac.

If a Windows virus is found, it's dealt with. But any such virus could sit there for a million years and do nothing except take up disk space.

ClamX does the same thing as Norton, but better, and it's free.

Colin Key is right; Norton is cashing in on fear.

i will deinstall now.....

You what???? No need for virus software on a mac?? Really??

Sorry but I come from a 10 year background of PCs so I say again, Really?????


Is this a joke?????

Kola said:

You what???? No need for virus software on a mac?? Really??

Sorry but I come from a 10 year background of PCs so I say again, Really?????


Is this a joke?????

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No...

Id never have thought in a million years this was possible. Im absolutely amazed there are no viruses for the Mac and you dont NEED anti software

On a PC no anti virus software means no PC in a few days time

schweb said:

No...

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Poised to make the switch myself and had been relieved by the lack of virus situation for mac. Then I noticed this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7079777.stm

Has anyone heard of this? Is this a real problem?

tonrob said:

Poised to make the switch myself and had been relieved by the lack of virus situation for mac. Then I noticed this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7079777.stm

Has anyone heard of this? Is this a real problem?

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People like to throw around "buzzwords" like that to grab your attention and sensationalize the story. This situation is neither a virus nor a "trojan" as the article implies.

The article even states that it:

relies on social engineering to spread, and it does not mark a breakdown in Mac OS security or anything like that.

...claims to help users watch pornographic video clips

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So, if you don't habitually visit pornographic websites and have a basic understanding of common sense with respect to online activity... there is nothing to worry about

tonrob said:

Poised to make the switch myself and had been relieved by the lack of virus situation for mac. Then I noticed this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7079777.stm

Has anyone heard of this? Is this a real problem?

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That BBC Microsoft propaganda piece generated a three-page thread here. Give the entire thread a read, and you'll know the real story: The BBC's partnership with Microsoft is not for nothing.

I have a firewall on my router, the OS X Firewall, and I use Clam Xav with Folder Sentry enabled on my 'Downloads' folder and Desktop - if I download anything, either from Safari, Firefox or an email it goes there and it gets automatically scanned.

Of course there are still no actual OS X viruses but as I take my memory stick to work I prefer to know that if I take something in there at least its been scanned.

I think the sad fact is that for most Windows users the threat of getting a virus is something they are very familiar with, yet for some reason many people are happy to blindly forward on any 'funnies' they get in their email to everyone they know. There is no reason to think that mac users won't do the same. At least if you have Clam or something similar scanning your files you will be less likely to pass on anything nasty.

Of course the best protection is not to get involved in forwarding on 'funny' emails, and only to visit sites you are confident are genuine.

Finally, if you are prompted for your admin password always think 'Why?' - if you are at all suspicious don't do it.

** Edit - I'd also recommend using Safariblock or Adblock when browsing to filter out online ads that *could* try and donwload something you don't want.
And get Little Snitch installed. It will tell you when a program is trying to send information to a third party - if you don't recognise it, then choose 'deny'.

hi all first post, ive been reading for a few days, i cant find a verison of clam x for leopard

whats that?

ClamXav for leopard?

fozthedevil said:

ClamXav for leopard?

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It seems to work with a few minor issues - check out their forums

I downloaded ClamXav and it seemed to mess up the mac so i just deleted it

there has been i think 1 or 2 virus for OS X, but most exploits com from the software installed on it, so don't believe %100 that "mac's have never been infected / exploited / hacked" they have, but it is not as bashed as when MS has it happen to them.

PC or MAC - smart habits is what keeps you from infection most of the time, but OSX being based *nix (BSD largely) gives it a considerable upper hand in not getting infected so easily, or having large scale viruses / trojans written for it.

Why i love using my macbook / leopard for most of my web browsing and such.

Brand new switcher! Questions

Hello, I am a brand new switcher. In fact, I don't even have my new computer yet. I just ordered it (iMac) last night. But as a Systems Analyst and long, long time PC user, this was my first stop.

As damainman pointed out in a previous post, the first topic of this thread is pretty old, and considering the new release of Leopard, I feel as though some of this information might be outdated? Maybe?

I have one main question. Once I get my new iMac my home setup will include the iMac and my old PC. The old PC will act mainly as a shared hard drive that I will use for back ups of important data (pics, movies, music). So how should I best setup Firewall on the Mac to accommodate this? I will be accessing the PC via a wireless router (Linksys WRT54GS) if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

P.S. - I also agree that since this thread is intended for 'switchers' who would most likely have the latest release of OSX, maybe it should be updated to include information about security for just Leopard and Tiger. Just a thought. Thanks again!

mannyotr said:

As damainman pointed out in a previous post, the first topic of this thread is pretty old, and considering the new release of Leopard, I feel as though some of this information might be outdated? Maybe?

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The lack of any virus threat is unchanged. From what I've read, the built-in firewall check boxes or radio buttons may have been revised in Leopard (I haven't used it), but that's about it.

I can't answer your networking questions, but it's likely a board search would turn up the info.