Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
Thanks for that heads up Randy. I'm not running Avast on my Mac but I think it's on a laptop we recently acquired. I was planning to remove it when I have time but this information pushed the timeline up a bit.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
It's too bad that Avast has so devolved. I can remember using it when I ran Windows for many years and it was always a great way to protect Windows from viruses.
 
OP
Randy B. Singer
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,098
Points
113
Location
Sacramento, California
Joined
Jan 1, 2014
Messages
629
Reaction score
52
Points
28
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookPro 13 v11.1, i5 2.4 GHz, 256 GBs SSD, 8 GBs DDRs
Pretty much every AV has this capability built-in, based on how the software works. All of them intercepts and evaluate connections; recording all of the activities and uploading the log to AV company's server is may or may not have been enabled. Even if it is enabled, most people wouldn't know without constantly monitoring the network connection. Avast did it semi-openly and have been caught, while others may just have a few partners with non-discloser agreement in place and have not been caught as of yet...

The "intercepts and evaluate connections" is applied to SSL/TLS connections as well. While it has its own security risk doing that, the AV could record all activities in plain text, including UID/PWD. This is why I don't enable AV monitoring SSL/TLS connection and remove the AV installed SSL/TLS certificate.

In my view, the government is even worse, when it comes to privacy. The case in point is the buycrash (bad link removed) website, owned by LexisNexis. With the exception of State of Florida, all states in the US file their police reports related to vehicles with BuyCrash. You can download the police report from the site that looks like this:

vehicle crash report.jpg

The actual report includes:
  1. Name
  2. Address
  3. Phone #
  4. Vehicle make, model, year, body style, VIN#, license plate number
  5. Name of insurance company, etc...

You'd think this is more private information, than the deindentified browser history, but that's not the case. As the domain name suggest, buycrash.com, sells this data, not just collecting it. That's quite evident by the "Business Account Login" link in the image above. The sad part in this is that you have no way opting out from this at all.

PS: I did not have any accident, just a stolen license plate from the front of the vehicle. This requires reporting it to the local police department, before requesting a license plate replacement at the MVD. This didn't seem like a big issue, until I've noticed in my EZ-Pass statement online that someone is using the stolen license plate for going through toll bridges. But that's another story...
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I have been never been a fan of AVAST and I never really used it. I used its free version for few months at the start but then I switched to more reliable Kaspersky and I have been using this for few years now. Those who can't afford this, they may use CleanMyMac X which is a relatively new antivirus but mentioned as the best Mac Antivirus by many blogs/websites so this should also be a very good option.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Well, Ethan, most of the members here don't use any Anti-Virus software on their Macs.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
And Kapersky is another to avoid. Follow Randy's suggestions, Ethan.
 
OP
Randy B. Singer
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,098
Points
113
Location
Sacramento, California
I have been never been a fan of AVAST and I never really used it. I used its free version for few months at the start but then I switched to more reliable Kaspersky and I have been using this for few years now. Those who can't afford this, they may use CleanMyMac X which is a relatively new antivirus but mentioned as the best Mac Antivirus by many blogs/websites so this should also be a very good option.

Sigh...you can't judge anti-virus programs by their advertising, and you really can't judge them based on the number of shill Web sites that they have created.

Kaspersky as a company is so shady that Apple itself once lobbied for their Web site to be taken down. The U.S. government has banned using their software:

US agencies ordered to stop using Russian company’s software
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/federal-agencies-ordered-to-stop-using-kaspersky-software/2017/09/13/c1594278-98bc-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html

Best Buy says it will no longer sell Kaspersky software
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/best-buy-says-it-will-no-longer-sell-kaspersky-software/2017/09/13/5529ffce-98d6-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2020
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Sigh...you can't judge anti-virus programs by their advertising, and you really can't judge them based on the number of shill Web sites that they have created.

Kaspersky as a company is so shady that Apple itself once lobbied for their Web site to be taken down. The U.S. government has banned using their software:

US agencies ordered to stop using Russian company’s software
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/federal-agencies-ordered-to-stop-using-kaspersky-software/2017/09/13/c1594278-98bc-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html

Best Buy says it will no longer sell Kaspersky software
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/best-buy-says-it-will-no-longer-sell-kaspersky-software/2017/09/13/5529ffce-98d6-11e7-af6a-6555caaeb8dc_story.html

US government have problem with Kaspersky because it is Russian based. They never said that it is not of good quality.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
5,053
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
Yesterday, I was reading the June issue of PC Magazine on my iPad and Neil Rubenking stated in a substantial AV article that macOS was vulnerable and needed AV protection (but NOT iOS/iPadOS) - my take-away was that macOS was susceptible to non-viral malware only (e.g. spyware, ransomware, adware, etc.). I have no AV software running actively on my 3 Macs, but have the apps DetectX Swift & VirusBarrier Scanner which I run occasionally.

I could not find Rubenking's June article for a link, but his/PC Mag's discussion on Mac AV sofware from April 2020 is HERE - the first two pics below are from that link; the last is from the Malwarebytes link given in the text comments. Now, I've respected Rubenking for decades (going way back to my PC days) but still am not convinced on running AV software actively since viruses, worms, Trojans are not the main macOS malware issues. Just put out there for comments. Dave :)
.
Screen Shot 2020-06-14 at 10.30.06 AM.png
.
Screen Shot 2020-06-14 at 10.30.24 AM.png
.
Screen Shot 2020-06-14 at 10.28.09 AM.png
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
I gave up years ago from reading PC Magazine because of its slanted articles based on their sponsors. What Neil wrote is bogus and to steal a saying from someone else is... "Fake News".

Macs are susceptible to Malware but not viruses. And credit goes to Apple for staying ahead of the malware game with built in security measures. Just continue to do whatever it is that you're currently doing and don't worry about what some PC pundit wrote to keep his job. ;)
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
5,053
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
I gave up years ago from reading PC Magazine because of its slanted articles based on their sponsors. What Neil wrote is bogus and to steal a saying from someone else is... "Fake News".

Macs are susceptible to Malware but not viruses. And credit goes to Apple for staying ahead of the malware game with built in security measures. Just continue to do whatever it is that you're currently doing and don't worry about what some PC pundit wrote to keep his job. ;)

Thanks Charlie for the comments above - as from my previous post, I'm pretty much inline w/ most here, i.e. nothing running constantly looking for macOS 'viruses' - ;D

For myself, I subscribe to 3 Mac/iOS mags on Zinio + PC Mag (old habit dating to the mid-80s) - mainly looking for reviews that pertain to potential Apple use, but could easily D/C the magazine. Dave
 
OP
Randy B. Singer
Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
4,407
Reaction score
2,098
Points
113
Location
Sacramento, California
Yesterday, I was reading the June issue of PC Magazine on my iPad and Neil Rubenking stated in a substantial AV article that macOS was vulnerable and needed AV protection...

This has been a big pet peeve of mine.

I've told the folks on my discussion lists and in my user groups over and over:

"ONLY get your Macintosh information from, at the minimum, other knowledgeable Mac users, and preferably from Macintosh experts."

The mainstream media doesn't have a clue about the Mac. But they do want to sensationalize things if they can, even if they have to lie.

Windows experts, even if they mean well, don't understand the Mac because they think that it's just another brand of Windows PC. It isn't.
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
That headline about Mac threats being up 400% touches on one of my pet peeves and happens quite often when discussing articles which summarize any kind of data. Using percentages this way can be very misleading. It can give a very misleading picture.

If I tell you, for example, that the number of hours I slept today is up 400% you get the impression that I slept an exceptionally long time. If I then explain that I slept less than two hours yesterday, your perception of how much I slept today might change radically. Statements like that aren't factually inaccurate but they are misleading without the additional context which is often buried. As a side note they seem to occur more often when the author seems to have reached a conclusion and wants to push readers one way or the other.

×
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
9,962
Reaction score
1,235
Points
113
Location
The Republic of Neptune
Your Mac's Specs
2019 iMac 27"; 2020 M1 MacBook Air; macOS up-to-date... always.
I gave up years ago from reading PC Magazine because of its slanted articles based on their sponsors.

I've been beating this drum for decades now (two, but it's still a plural!). They literally look for excuses to give out their "coveted" Editor's Choice Award to products they review. Seriously now, they'll review, say, a dozen products in a category, and half or more will get one of those awards for some reason or another. I've mentioned this before, but one time they were reviewing AV software and they gave an award to Norton AV because they liked the user interface, even though it performed poorly compared to many of the others in actually detecting malware! But hey, Symantec got an Editor's Choice Award, which they truly covet because they can throw that around in their advertising.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
But hey, Symantec got an Editor's Choice Award, which they truly covet because they can throw that around in their advertising.

Symantec is really the virus. This company is into everything, they even bought out LifeLock some time ago. So you can well imagine the influence they have over publishers like Ziff Davis.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top