The Official Mac AntiVirus and Firewall FAQ

[moi]

hi,i ve been exactly one week with my macbook pro and i like it a lot its what computers were suppossed to be,windows is quite frustrating,in fact i have parallels instaled and windows vista already screwed up,ill make a post about it later to see if anyone can help me,anyways i came into this page precisely because i downloaded a video but after i downloaded it it sayed that it wasnt a file but a application,that made me worried and ive spent the better part of the afternoon testing antiviruses,i even missed the simpsons,im still worried but reading this has given me a bit of peace of mind

 

[louishen]

The firewall in mac os x is very good, and the mac by default only opens up a network or internet port. You can put your mac in to stealth mode for extra security

On the virus front, I know I am not going to get a virus (not in the near future anyhow), but that doesn't stop me using the free ClamX from scanning my download folder.

After all, the term Trojan comes from the Iliiad, the Trojans let their guard down and towed that gift horse into the city gates, letting the Greeks destroy the city

 

[bgsl1ck]

Thanks SCHWEB new to Mac's and this was the first question I asked myself, This post helped out a lot.

 

[moi]

but i have a question,can someone still hack your computer?

 

[sosys]

virus in mac

Im using sophos antivirus..

there were about 2 or 3 virus i found with the antivirus..

i think the new viruses are coming up to eat the apple mac...

protect ur mac...

 

[silvine]

If I am using Bootcamp can a virus infect my shared folder and makes its way onto the Mac when I boot up in OS?

 

[rich6490]

No, Boot Camp is on a completely separate Partition. Wait are you saying you have a Folder that links Windows and OS X operating systems to exchange files? If so could you PM me how you did this haha. One more thing, Viruses are specifically written for the intended OS so PC virus is unlikely to affect a Mac at all, and vice versa.

 

[IMissMyPC]

Just wanted to add that both Norton and McAfee are 90% worthless. Coming from many years of pc use and fixing them on the side for friends and family, I know that both of those are worthless they don't pick up on both Trojans and Worms that well.

If you want the best or one of the best you have to go with NOD32 from ESET. It's not uncommon to find 10-50 different viruses once I scan a McAfee and Norton protected pc (if you can call it protected) to make things worse they both eat up alot of resources. Don't know if NOD32 is made for macs but this is the best you can get.

 

[o8strider8o]

Um I think you activate firewall in security not sharing but I could be wrong... If I am, where in sharing is it?

 

[Soupe]

I just made an account and already this is helping. I debated all day with my father about not needing Norton.

But question, if I want to use something like LimeWire would it still be advisable for me to skip out on Virus protection?

 

[Simnol]

im a total mac newbie so im ignorant here.

if i am doing online banking, is the built-in firewall enough to protect me?

"Bugs fly in through open Windows."

I always assumed that the only reason Apple computers were less prone to attack from viruses was the fact they wern't as mainstream as PC's, With the ever growing popularity of the Mac Machine I think that additional software is essential (Especially for Banking).
Norton has always been good on Macs.

 

[Djoncarlo]

Thanks! I am a total newbie as well~! Glad that I've found this forum!!

 

[taichi]

Also complete novice to Mac (mackbook & iMac) and am very pleased to hear about the stability (reason for switching). Is it still good practice to run a virus checker/removal utility from time to time and if so are the are freeware utilities that you would reccomend.

 

[Hit]

I believe only the windows partition can get affected

 

[Phoenix Scanner]

Antivirus on a Mac? Why waste the money and memory resources? As the OP stated there ARE NO OSX viruses. Zero. When I see JUST ONE, maybe I'll think twice, but until then...

Most infections in the windows world come from email attachments, and from surfing "naughty" sites. Due to certain surfing habits nasty malware of some sort always found it's way onto my windows machines. EVIL things like winfixer that are self healing and generate self-repair files under random names in weird places then run as part of explorer or IE so you can't get rid of them (at least without a MAJOR effort).

I got used to regular reformats / reinstalls, and just accepted it.

After over a year of HEAVY internet use on my macbook, I have had not ONE single issue, ever.

Bottom line, there is no OSX virus. It doesn't exist.

Some will say, "that's because macs aren't that popular", but that is an illogical argument. Let's say that windows machines outnumber macs 6 to 1. With thousands of known windows viruses, there should still be well over a thousand mac viruses, just looking at probability. But yet there are ZERO. You are telling me that nobody has ever tried? I don't buy it.

Yeah, macs are a less appealing target due to market share, but by the same token being the first hacker to devastate the mac community would be a big feather in any hackers cap right?

Straight up, if you like to spend hours surfing every corner of the net you just can't beat a mac. Mac = internet the way it was meant to be.

 

[mellitia]

MAC Virus

I just got off the phone with Apple...my Imac's hard drive unexpectedly crashed and burned ( I have had it for 13 months ie; 1 month past my warranty ;( Anyhow - because it was one of the first off the line, I call Mac to see if they had been a recall ( if anyone knows about problems with IMAC Intel Core Duo 2.4MHZ 24" made in July 07 in China, please let me know ) but Mac said they had no reports as of yet. The customer service did tell me though that there is a Mac targeted virus going around. Any body?

 

[Phoenix Scanner]

A quick search shows no OSX virus out there, still. Hard drives are mechanical devices, and sometimes mechanical devices fail. A certain percentage of them are defective. One's made on Mondays are the worst.

Now, being the kind of guy that sees the glass of water as half full instead of half empty...

This sounds like a perfect excuse to go out and buy either a faster / bigger drive, or maybe even a solid state drive...

 

[joelw135]

I am new to the Mac world and have this question! I use Comcast as my service provider, and they provide me with the complete McAfee suite. Do I have to install it in both my iMac and my Windows XP partition? Or is it fine just on Windows?

 

[Jaygray]

I am new to the Mac world and have this question! I use Comcast as my service provider, and they provide me with the complete McAfee suite. Do I have to install it in both my iMac and my Windows XP partition? Or is it fine just on Windows?

It gets installed on Windows only.

 

[joelw135]

It gets installed on Windows only.

OK I guess my hardware Router protects the iMac? Or am I off base?