Forums
New posts
Articles
Product Reviews
Policies
FAQ
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Apps and Programs
Intego Virrusbarrier problems 10.6.2
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="cwa107" data-source="post: 1010214" data-attributes="member: 24098"><p>No you haven't. It's not that Macs "don't get viruses", it's that no viruses currently exist for Mac OS X. That's not to say there won't ever be one, but there aren't any today. The fact that you are on a network with other PCs has no bearing on that whatsoever. Although you could theoretically forward an infected file that would have no effect on your Mac, but could be a threat on the PC, in my opinion, the onus is on the vulnerable user to protect their own system.</p><p></p><p>Anti Virus programs work in two ways. Firstly, they scan for traces of malware by comparing against a database of all known malware. Since there are no viruses for Mac OS X, programs like VirusBarrier are really scanning for Windows viruses (which your Mac is immune from since it won't run Windows software of any kind). If you happen to have had a file that has a known Windows malware associated with it, Virusbarrier could have given you a hit, leaving you with the impression that you had a virus - the reality is that the file is innocuous (but of course could be harmful if run on a Windows machine).</p><p></p><p>The second way these programs work is by employing heuristics. Heuristic analysis uses artificial intelligence to monitor system behavior and examine processes for virus-like behavior. Unfortunately, heuristics are rarely effective and mostly result in massive slowdowns and resource hogging. That's exactly what you're running into here.</p><p></p><p>The long and the short of it is that as of right now, there is no good reason to have an anti-virus program hogging up resources. If you feel paranoid, do an occasional scan with something like <a href="http://www.clamxav.com/index.php?page=v2beta" target="_blank">ClamXAV (free)</a>.</p><p></p><p>Another wonderful article that illustrates my point is here:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10331147-263.html" target="_blank">Mac OS X anti-virus software: More trouble than it's worth? | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cwa107, post: 1010214, member: 24098"] No you haven't. It's not that Macs "don't get viruses", it's that no viruses currently exist for Mac OS X. That's not to say there won't ever be one, but there aren't any today. The fact that you are on a network with other PCs has no bearing on that whatsoever. Although you could theoretically forward an infected file that would have no effect on your Mac, but could be a threat on the PC, in my opinion, the onus is on the vulnerable user to protect their own system. Anti Virus programs work in two ways. Firstly, they scan for traces of malware by comparing against a database of all known malware. Since there are no viruses for Mac OS X, programs like VirusBarrier are really scanning for Windows viruses (which your Mac is immune from since it won't run Windows software of any kind). If you happen to have had a file that has a known Windows malware associated with it, Virusbarrier could have given you a hit, leaving you with the impression that you had a virus - the reality is that the file is innocuous (but of course could be harmful if run on a Windows machine). The second way these programs work is by employing heuristics. Heuristic analysis uses artificial intelligence to monitor system behavior and examine processes for virus-like behavior. Unfortunately, heuristics are rarely effective and mostly result in massive slowdowns and resource hogging. That's exactly what you're running into here. The long and the short of it is that as of right now, there is no good reason to have an anti-virus program hogging up resources. If you feel paranoid, do an occasional scan with something like [URL="http://www.clamxav.com/index.php?page=v2beta"]ClamXAV (free)[/URL]. Another wonderful article that illustrates my point is here: [url=http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10331147-263.html]Mac OS X anti-virus software: More trouble than it's worth? | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews[/url] [/QUOTE]
Verification
Name this item. 🍎
Post reply
Forums
Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Apps and Programs
Intego Virrusbarrier problems 10.6.2
Top
