Do I Need ANY Kind Of Anti-this or Anti-that?

billwill · Sep 15, 2013

I'm running Mountain Lion on a 13" MacBookPro. I've been running the free version of AVG for Mac but I think it slows me down a bit.

Do I really need it or any other "Anti-" program? Thank you in advance for your help.

osxx · Sep 15, 2013

No and I would uninstall it.

billwill · Sep 15, 2013

Avg

Thank you. I'll uninstall it.

dtravis7 · Sep 15, 2013

I have been using Windows 7 here for my gaming rig. I am so used to OSX and just doing what I want I forgot I was on Windows as W7 does work very nice. Well I have been hit 4x now with Malware and one true self installing virus. One came straight from a known Disk Utility application right off their server and installed so many nasties it took me 45 min to get rid of them all! Oh well, makes me appreciate OSX more I guess!

A note to the OP, I am not careful on OSX, not at all and do what I want. Only care I take is putting in my password when asked for a download until I am sure what it is. Otherwise I go all out. Am sort of a Hacker type. Never once in around 10 years now have I ever been hit. I had to go find that DNS re-director Trojan and force it to install just to see it work. It took me 30 seconds in the terminal to remove it. So do not worry too much about AV. Just use your head and do not give access to anything you don't for sure know what it is and you should be fine.

Let the flames come. Facts are facts.

osxx · Sep 15, 2013

dtravis7 said:
I have been using Windows 7 here for my gaming rig. I am so used to OSX and just doing what I want I forgot I was on Windows as W7 does work very nice. Well I have been hit 4x now with Malware and one true self installing virus. One came straight from a known Disk Utility application right off their server and installed so many nasties it took me 45 min to get rid of them all! Oh well, makes me appreciate OSX more I guess!

A note to the OP, I am not careful on OSX, not at all and do what I want. Only care I take is putting in my password when asked for a download until I am sure what it is. Otherwise I go all out. Am sort of a Hacker type. Never once in around 10 years now have I ever been hit. I had to go find that DNS re-director Trojan and force it to install just to see it work. It took me 30 seconds in the terminal to remove it. So do not worry too much about AV. Just use your head and do not give access to anything you don't for sure know what it is and you should be fine.

Let the flames come. Facts are facts.

Same here Dennis been surfing the net with a Mac since 2006 with no fear and no AV.
Got the nasty FBI bug on a Win 7 laptop that required a reformat it was hammered so bad.

RadDave · Sep 15, 2013

Well, I think that the issue for the OP is whether to run AV on a Mac (not a Windows machine) - I'm not running an AV program on my MBPro nor on my wife's Mac - we're behind a router (Apple AirPort Extreme) - the only issue that would concern me is passing on Windows malware, e.g. via email, to a friend or colleague who is using a PC - i.e. malware that will not affect the Mac OS may still be destructive to a Windows machine - this is not a major issue for us, but if I were concerned then the free ClamXav would probably be my choice. BUT, just my 2 cents - Dave

macgeek22 · Sep 16, 2013

I was thinking for awhile about putting Kaspersky on my Mac, but an engineer I know who works for Apple doesn't run anything on his Mac's. If He's that sure about not getting any malware than I'm pretty sure I won't either.

mesut · Sep 16, 2013

Doesn't that depend a little on how we use our computers?

We all know that building a Mac virus is not impossible. And it is also very possible that a user gets distracted and allows something he didn't have any idea about.

So, if one doesn't play dirty, he seems to be okay. I'm a newbie on Mac too, but that is my impression.

But if you are downloading pirated software, or downloading a legit software from a third party website and not from the vendor's site, I think you are exposed to any threat. I mean, where is the better place than a "cracked mac apps site" to spread a mac virus? Same thing goes for third party websites. Okay, you think you download a legit app (or any other content), but what if the site was compromised?

bobtomay · Sep 16, 2013

Anyone downloading pirated software/music/video/etc. takes their chances no matter what platform they may be on.
And having an AV in place will not protect you from any new variants just released into the wild.

Practically speaking, you will find among long time Mac users, those that use some type of AV with any regularity is likely under 5% (and perhaps much less than that).

If you want the best scoop on Mac malware, have a read here and here.

(My wife under Windows, I was unable to install enough security to keep her machine free of malware which typically caused a reinstall at least once every 9-12 months to get rid of it all. She has been malware free on a Mac (a single machine) for over 6 years now which has also gone through 3 in place upgrades to the OS.)

harryb2448 · Sep 16, 2013

Still no Mac OS X viruses. The news will be trumpeted around the world should it occur.

osxx · Sep 17, 2013

harryb2448 said:
Still no Mac OS X viruses. The news will be trumpeted around the world should it occur.

It will definitely make the cover of Time.

dtravis7 · Sep 17, 2013

osxx said:
It will definitely make the cover of Time.

Also Maximum PC!