Antivirus software on a Mac?

[marc weber]

A recently modified Apple support article "encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities."

The article suggests 3 options: Intego, Norton, and McAfee. I do not currently use antivirus software on my Macs, but I suppose the day will come. There is no way I'm installing a Norton product, and I haven't been impressed with McAfee on Windows.

Does anyone have experience with Intego?

[Pauline McNamara]

Nope, but I'm also interested to hear about others' experiences.

I guess this is the down side to using a system that has gained a little bit in popularity.

Cheers,
Pauline

[Ulf Dittmer]

Only tangentially related, but it should be noted that Apple Didn't Issue a New Antivirus Advisory. For some reason a lot of publications are getting this wrong, causing a lot of unwarranted excitement.
[ December 03, 2008: Message edited by: Ulf Dittmer ]

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
Only tangentially related, but it should be noted that Apple Didn't Issue a New Antivirus Advisory. For some reason a lot of publications are getting this wrong, causing a lot of unwarranted excitement...

Good point! Thanks for clarifying.

I still hoping to avoid antivirus software in the near future, but it's something I'm anticipating, so I'm trying to keep abreast of what's out there.

The Intego software also scans the iPhone for malware. Is that just good marketing? Or should I be concerned?

(BTW, they also make a "dual protection" version, for users running Windows on their Macs.)

[marc weber]

Originally posted by marc weber:
A recently modified Apple support article...

...is now gone.

Apple Insider: Apple pulls support note recommending antivirus software.

[Ulf Dittmer]

As an aside, I keep my copy of ClamXav up to date, and occasionally run it (once a month or so), but more out of a sense of "well, you really ought to be doing it", not because I feel it's actually necessary. (Of course, I practice safe data intercourse; people who habitually double-click email attachments are more at risk.)

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
...a sense of "well, you really ought to be doing it"...

That's what's nagging me. I don't want to wait for a virus to hit before deciding it's time to take reasonable steps. But for now, I'm still thinking that risk is extremely low.
[ December 03, 2008: Message edited by: marc weber ]

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
As an aside, I keep my copy of ClamXav up to date...

Likewise, although I must admit that I almost never see it give me any warnings at all. The only times I see a warning is when I deliberately test it (using one of the many "copy this line of text into a plain text document and see if your AV complains" type of tests) - ClamXav has always caught them.

Regards, Andrew

[Ravikanth kolli]

i have been using mine for over 2 years and havent got an antivirus for it??
Do you guys think that we really need one these days?

[Bear Bibeault]

I don't. But if it makes you feel better...

[Lei Zhang]

It will be interesting to see how many people are actually using anti-virus software on Mac if we can post survey here:)

[Gregg Bolinger]

I'm not running it on my mac and I don't run it on windows. First, I don't visit questionable websites and even if I did, I use Firefox, no IE. I also don't download WAREZ or other illegal software from the random places on the web. And lastly, I don't use Outlook and I don't open attachments that I am not expecting to get from people I know. And even then, I'll usually verify they sent me something before opening them.

I haven't ran antivirus software on my XP machine for 3 years. I've never had a problem with viruses or adware/malware.

[Andrew Monkhouse]

My concern with that is that even though I only open attachments from people I know, I don't know where they got it from. To put it in sex-ed terms - sure you trust your current boyfriend/girlfriend but do you trust their previous boyfriends/girlfriends and their previous boyfriends/girlfriends. In the computer world we do not even have the limitation on numbers of potential partners that we have in the real world. I would not consider it unreasonable that a man who is 100% committed to his real world relationship and therefore has only the one partner, might still have upwards of 20 people who he considers "trustable" when it comes to email attachments. And each of them probably has another 20. And so on.

If you've not run antivirus software for 3 years, how do you know that you don't have a problem with viruses?

Regards, Andrew

[Bear Bibeault]

Not on OS X; always on Windows.

[Gregg Bolinger]

Andrew Monkhouse wrote:If you've not run antivirus software for 3 years, how do you know that you don't have a problem with viruses?

Regards, Andrew

Well, I suppose I don't. But I also don't have any problems (well, non inherent Windows problems anyway) and I have to rebuild the thing every couple of months because, well, it is Windows. ;) The only reason I have a Windows machine now is because of my .NET job. Otherwise, truth be told, I'd just have my mac.