Good AntiVirus Software

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Does anyone have a recommendation for anti-virus software for the Mac? I don't care if it's free or not, but I would like it to ping me for updates. (Maybe I should look on the Mac App Store?) I am now tending to download more apps and I'm starting to wonder if that is exposing me to more stuff. (An example of something I intend to download is GetUnzipPro to deliver an online bible reading plan.) In addition, last month I had chanced upon/ downloaded that silly flash player adware, which someone here at Mac Forums then told me about Malwarebytes which was extremely successful to remove. Yet, I thought Malwarebytes only does its thing once you have adware already on your computer. ...Anyway, any advice is appreciated! Thx, mpdcleve
 
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MacInWin

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The absolute best all time Mac antivirus is "None." There are no viruses for Macs in the wild, so none of the Antivirus suites do anything. They do scan for Windows viruses that cannot run on Macs, which slows down the Mac and accomplishes nothing.

Malwarebytes is all you need to remove the crapware that comes from browsing or file downloading at untrustworthy sites. Ghostery (ghostery.com) will block just about everything. The only other suite that you might look at is Onyx (www.titanium.free.fr) for the occasional maintenance cleaning.

Don't need much else. The beauty of Mac is that you get to USE the machine instead of CARING FOR it.

EDIT: And for downloads, avoid SOFTONIC, Downloads.com, CNET or Macupdate.com. All of them "Bundle" other things that you don't want with what you do. Try to stick to the Apple app store, or the developer website like Titanium and Ghostery.
 

chscag

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Unless there is some requirment from your employer or school (if you're a student) to install AV for your Mac, we do not recommend installing an AV program. However, we leave that choice up to you as the owner and user of your machine. Our reason for this is that there are currently no viruses in the wild that can infect your Mac and AV programs in general use resouces and will only find Windows viruses (that can't infect your Mac).

The Malwarebytes Anti-Malware app that you have should be run at least often enough to assure there is no malware on your Mac. It's not designed to be run just once.

Back to AV software: If you must have an AV product for your Mac, I recommend Bitdefender for the Mac as it is not resource intensive.
 

pigoo3

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+1 for none.:)

- Nick
 

Rod


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There are none, you don't need one!
 
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To make it unanimous, none!

Windows viruses cannot execute on the Unix base system. All antivirus software are real resource hogs, slowing down your Mac as they churn through all files looking for Windows viruses which can't exist on Unix. And think of this. Virus definition updates are for Windows viruses. As there are no Mac OS X viruses, no definitions.

Suggest you also install Ghostery to help keep nasties well and truly away. And do not download anything from Softonic, CNET r MacUpdate. They include free of charge nasty little 'free packages' with their software. Because it is in the App Store does not make it good, or necessary. Symantec have for some nyears advised OS X users not to use Notons AV, yet it was for sale in the App Store. This followed the old Latin proverb 'a buck is a buck is a buck!'

And as after thought, mpdcleve, keep your operating system up to date with Apple Security and Operating System Updates. When a threat does emerge Apple are great at closing it out.
 
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Symantec have for some nyears advised OS X users not to use Notons AV, yet it was for sale in the App Store. This followed the old Latin proverb 'a buck is a buck is a buck!'
Isn't that the truth. Take a good look at the Norton Forum under "Norton for Mac" and see all the problems they are having. Many questions unanswered there also.
 
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Sorry truckie I wouldn't even risk nthat lol!
 
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Because I was required to have AV software for work, I used Avast. It's free, and runs lightly. Probably not needed, but since it was required, it's still hanging out on my MBA and iMac. Absolutely stay away from Norton & MacAfee, even if they are listed for Mac.
 
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Because I was required to have AV software for work, I used Avast. It's free, and runs lightly. Probably not needed, but since it was required, it's still hanging out on my MBA and iMac. Absolutely stay away from Norton & MacAfee, even if they are listed for Mac.

It's not a bad idea to stay away from Norton and McAfee for Windows too. I wouldn't touch either with a 10 foot pole, having been burned by their crap in the past. You can get better, cheaper.

Gotta love Macs and the absolute truth that you DO NOT NEED antivirus bloatware.
 
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Because I was required to have AV software for work, I used Avast. It's free, and runs lightly. Probably not needed, but since it was required, it's still hanging out on my MBA and iMac. Absolutely stay away from Norton & MacAfee, even if they are listed for Mac.

BOY, I suspect your IT people have 'Windows Only Blinders' on and have little if any knowledge of mac OS - to require you to run AV software on your Mac is pure ignorance - the only rationale which may be legit is that if the Mac picks up a Windows virus which will do absolutely no harm to macOS, that malware can be easily passed along to other Windows users; so maybe a reason, but I agree if needed get the most 'benign' app - I bought ClamXav a while back - has received mixed reviews but has been around on Macs for a long time - rarely run the scans these days. Dave :)
 

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