Best FREE Vpn and Anti-virus for MacBook Pro?

Hello, I new to the forums and I am getting a new MacBook Pro Retina 13" i5 2.4GHz base model this week, and I was wondering to know everyone's opinions on the best FREE Vpn and Antivirus programs. I have heard that Macs can be hacked into, or even given viruses easier than everyone defends.. I am new to Mac OS so the more information, the better
I am going to use this MacBook for my college courses and the internet is free there but not secure. A vpn will hopefully mask my connection from people available to access my files? Please shoot as much information my way as possible that you know. Thank you for your time and help!
-Dylan

Not sure about VPN but have a look at this sticky about Antivirus.

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

Don't know what you've heard or read but in addition to the helpful responses you've already received, check this out:

7 completely free VPN services

Thank you docx, bobtomay, and chscag for your helpful and friendly responses. I really appreciate the great links and I have read all the articles/posts and determined that for an antivirus i will probably stick with Avast! or ClamXav. If anyone has any negative or positive experience with any of the two i would love to hear about it. I am looking into the free vpn link and so far I am liking what I see with CyberGhost. Any personal experiences would be great to hear from anything listed, thanks to everyone again!
-Dylan

Given that there aren't any viruses for the Mac, what exactly (other than wasted cycles) are you expecting to "catch" with your "anti-virus?"

+1 for what chas_m said. I run ClamXav about once a year, all it detects are infected emails in my Windows images for Parallels. Never found anything native to Mac.

Well after reviewing everything in the articles and links provided, I assume an anti virus program is just going to take up space and resources on my mac and result in being useless. I guess I am only looking for a great, free vpn for my college's unsecured wifi, but still that seems to always have it's downsides being "free."
-Dylan

Dylqn said:

...for my college's unsecured wifi...

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If this is the case…turn on the "firewall" in the "Security & Privacy" System Preference.

- Nick

Hello Nick,
Thank you for replying so fast, is it bad to keep the firewall on 24/7 when using the Macbook? Will it "slow down" performance or anything worth noting? And as the unsecured wifi is, I just don't want anyone having the ability of snooping through my files, or anything accessible from the wifi being unsecured. If the firewall takes care of that, then I have no further worries. I just want to be as protected as possible.
-Dylan

Dylqn said:

...is it bad to keep the firewall on 24/7 when using the Macbook? Will it "slow down" performance or anything worth noting?

And as the unsecured wifi is, I just don't want anyone having the ability of snooping through my files, or anything accessible from the wifi being unsecured. If the firewall takes care of that, then I have no further worries. I just want to be as protected as possible.

Click to expand...

Two thoughts:

1. Even if turning on the firewall did have a performance hit…wouldn't this be better than folks having possible access to your computer on an unsecured network??
2. I have my firewall on all the time. I've not noticed any performance issues.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Two thoughts:

1. Even if turning on the firewall did have a performance hit…wouldn't this be better than folks having possible access to your computer on an unsecured network??

- Nick

Click to expand...

I agree with you fully on it being worth it still if there were a performance drop. I was just curious to know if it was dramatically notable, but your second answer solved that
I guess that I will only keep my firewall on when I am away from my home, and encrypt many of my important files. Thanks again Nick and everyone who replied with the helpful info/links! If you have any recommendations on what a newbie Macbook user should have on their MB Nick I would love to hear them. If not, then have a great day!
-Dylan

Dylqn said:

If you have any recommendations on what a newbie Macbook user should have on their MB Nick I would love to hear them.

Click to expand...

If you're talking Anti-Virus apps...I don't use them. The virus threat on Macintosh computers is very very low (has been this way for a long long time). And some AV programs do use system resources...which will slow a computer down...so not worth it given the threat level.

The threat level of someone trying to access your computer on an unsecured network is MUCH MUCH higher than virus threats. So to me...the firewall is MUCH more important than an AV app on a Mac.

And as far as virus's. If someone practices "safe-computing"...this greatly reduces problems.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

If you're talking Anti-Virus apps...I don't use them. The virus threat on Macintosh computers is very very low (has been this way for a long long time). And some AV programs do use system resources...which will slow a computer down...so not worth it given the threat level.

The threat level of someone trying to access your computer on an unsecured network is MUCH MUCH higher than virus threats. So to me...the firewall is MUCH more important than an AV app on a Mac.

And as far as virus's. If someone practices "safe-computing"...this greatly reduces problems.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Thanks Nick, but I meant just apps or anything in general

-Dylan

Onyx is one utility you should not be without and it is free and highly recommended.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnyX

harryb2448 said:

Onyx is one utility you should not be without and it is free and highly recommended.

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Does anyone agree? Thank you for your post Harry! I would love to hear others as well

Dylqn said:

Does anyone agree? Thank you for your post Harry! I would love to hear others as well

Click to expand...

Have no doubts...Harry's right on the money. We recommend Onyx all the time.

- Nick

Dylqn said:

Does anyone agree? Thank you for your post Harry! I would love to hear others as well

Click to expand...

Hi Dylan - heed Harry & Nick's advice - I'm rather new here but Onyx is usually the maintenance program recommended for OS X - NOW, just a warning, do not use another program on your computer until you have checked the forum first -

I transitioned over to Macs in the spring of last year (iMac & MBPro) - just using these computers @ home and behind an Apple AirPort Extreme router - I use no malware software nor do I have the OS firewall activated, BUT if I took my MBP to a public Wi-Fi network I would definitely activate it - another option in that situation is to obtain a portable Wi-Fi router which can connect to a public network (either wired or wireless) and then setup a more protected network - I own a Zuni device (below) which will accomplish that goal - SO, plenty of ways to protect yourself while away from your 'home' router and its firewall. Dave
.

There is free VPN software which can be used in that situation instead of carrying around an extra device.

Macintosh anti-malware/virus, etc...

Hi Dylan, Actually, you are being smart to think of this. Do turn on your firewall.

Contrary to many comments about Apple's not getting problems, there are now new malware/spyware problems cropping up. Even the iOS is getting stuff.

One of the best sources for anti-malware/spyware/virus programs is from Sophos. This company covers both PC and Mac. Their Mac program is FREE.

Mac Antivirus | Free Antivirus for Mac Tool Download | Sophos

Sophos also has a news section that you can sign up for to receive news on security threats. It includes all platforms including the mac.

bobtomay source The Safe Mac » Mac Malware Guide is a great resource.

Do NOT buy the cheapo - norton/macfee