Alternative to ClamXAV?

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I am perfectly willing to buy ClamXAV, but their credit card system keeps rejecting my card for no reason. It is frustrating. Is there another software that does what CamXAV does for my Macbook Pro?
 

Rod


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You have saved yourself some unnecessary costs then. There are no viruses for Mac OS therefore no need for an anti virus app.
If on the other hand you're concerned about adware and malware which do pose a threat you need go no further than malwarebytes for Mac OS which is free.


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While I understand that there are no viruses for Mac, I have to work with a Windows network on campus, and I do not want to pass one something. Also, ClamXAV once found something on my Macbook which Malwarebytes did not.
 

bobtomay

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If you're not forwarding email with questionable attachments you've received, it's highly unlikely you could pass any malware to a Windows machine.

Read here - then make a decision.

Of course, if it is the campus "policy' that every computer must have an A/V software, that's another matter - and sorry, I am unable to make a suggestion since I've never run any of them on a Mac. I would stay away from Norton, McAfee and Avast (since they have had this habit of installing 3rd party junk with their app) and might look at Sophos, Eset, BitDefender & Kaspersky. But then, since your concern is passing on a Windows nasty (for which every Windows machine should have it's own A/V and not your responsibility to protect them) you'll need to see if the software scans only for OS X nasties or includes scanning for Windows nasties. If you get any of the apps that include scanning for Windows, would be willing to wager that you're going to see a negative impact on your computer.
 
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While I understand that there are no viruses for Mac, I have to work with a Windows network on campus, and I do not want to pass one something. Also, ClamXAV once found something on my Macbook which Malwarebytes did not.

If you're not forwarding email with questionable attachments you've received, it's highly unlikely you could pass any malware to a Windows machine.

Read here - then make a decision.

Of course, if it is the campus "policy' that every computer must have an A/V software, that's another matter - and sorry, I am unable to make a suggestion since I've never run any of them on a Mac. I would stay away from Norton, McAfee and Avast (since they have had this habit of installing 3rd party junk with their app) and might look at Sophos, Eset, BitDefender & Kaspersky. But then, since your concern is passing on a Windows nasty (for which every Windows machine should have it's own A/V and not your responsibility to protect them) you'll need to see if the software scans only for OS X nasties or includes scanning for Windows nasties. If you get any of the apps that include scanning for Windows, would be willing to wager that you're going to see a negative impact on your computer.

@ Mattymac - I do not run AV software on my MBPro (and have read the link above several times, so the reasons are clear) - now in the third item in that discussion, the following is quoted below regarding exchanging files w/ Windows users (i.e. your concern) - my wife does this constantly on our iMac (all sorts of files), so I periodically will run ClamXav about every 6 months - I don't keep the app 'active' (not so much this one but others can be 'resource hogs' and slow down or potentially disable your computer) - just updated her computer to 10.11.2 and also updated the AV, ran the program - nothing found. Not sure what the issue is w/ the credit card but I'm sure that it can be resolved - if you REALLY want the app, then give them a call or leave an email message to their support.

NOW - in PC Magazine HERE, ClamXav received a rather POOR rating (in July 2015) - maybe the app has improved (since the developers now want your $$) - I don't know, but if I considered putting another AV app on my wife's computer, I would not want to run the program actively, i.e. just scan periodically; however, in your situation, you may need it always ON - a tough decision unless this is a requirement of the network used, and you have no choice but to pick 'something.' Dave :)

However, there are some cases where AV software can be a good idea, or even a requirement. For example:

- If you need to use older software containing known vulnerabilities, such as older versions of Java or Flash, or old versions of Mac OS X (such as Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard).
- If you are using a Mac in an environment where AV software is required inflexibly
- If you frequently trade files with Windows users and don’t want to be accused of passing on a Windows virus
- If there is a major change in the malware affecting Mac users (in which case I will note it here)
 
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Rod


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Ditto to the above, I do have ClamXAV on my MBP but seldome if ever use it. However my version was free. I did note though several cautionary notes in the app regarding suspect emails. In short it advised against wholesale quarentine of these files. So as that was my primary purpose for using the app it became a little redundant.
 
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I am perfectly willing to buy ClamXAV, but their credit card system keeps rejecting my card for no reason. It is frustrating. Is there another software that does what CamXAV does for my Macbook Pro?

Now that ClamXav is a commercial product, I don't recommend it anymore. ClamXav was a worthwhile product when it was free, but as a commercial product if falls quite a bit short of the features of the better Anti-Virus (AV) products. If you feel that you need an anti-virus product, and you are willing to pay for one, you might as well get the best one on the market. Going by all of the reviews that one can respect, and my personal experience, that's Intego's VirusBarrier. You can get it for only $40.
http://www.intego.com/antivirus-internet-security-x8

Note that VirusBarrier, to my knowledge, like just about all of the other anti-virus products for the Macintosh, does not look for adware. For that you should use the free product:

Malware Bytes/Mac (free)
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/
which does an excellent job with adware, but I have my doubts about for any other sort of malware.

And to answer the inevitable question: "Do we need anti-virus software for our Macs?" At this time, no, you probably don't.
 
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While I understand that there are no viruses for Mac, I have to work with a Windows network on campus, and I do not want to pass one something.


Since Windows malware is inactive on a Mac, and it tends to be easy to spot (usually it shows up as a spammy e-mail attachment) it is very difficult for a Mac user to pass malware on to a Windows user. You practically would have to do so on purpose.

Even if you have a Macintosh anti-virus (AV) program installed, Macintosh AV programs only look for a small sub-set of Windows malware, so it is a foolhardy endeavor to try and protect Windows users from malware using a Mac AV program. Windows users need to protect themselves with meticulously updated AV software for Windows. There is no good reason why Mac users need to be using AV software to protect Windows users.
 
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Since Windows malware is inactive on a Mac, and it tends to be easy to spot (usually it shows up as a spammy e-mail attachment) it is very difficult for a Mac user to pass malware on to a Windows user. You practically would have to do so on purpose.

Even if you have a Macintosh anti-virus (AV) program installed, Macintosh AV programs only look for a small sub-set of Windows malware, so it is a foolhardy endeavor to try and protect Windows users from malware using a Mac AV program. Windows users need to protect themselves with meticulously updated AV software for Windows. There is no good reason why Mac users need to be using AV software to protect Windows users.

Thanks Randy for your comments - I've ran ClamXav 3-4 times on my wife's iMac over nearly 2 years and found nothing, and the app has received rather poor reviews (one in the link I provided); now, if indeed the Mac AV programs do not search for ALL Windows viruses, then little need for me to continue that practice - there are more important maintenance chores to do on my Mac computers. Dave :)
 
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