The Lone Wolf† 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 Hey guys. I just was curious as to if anybody knew any good virus scanning software for a Mac. So far, I've been running without it, and I think it would be good to just have something in case of problems. Preferably something that can handle all sorts of issues. Any suggestions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fahn† 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 I'm sure it's not compatible, but I use Microsoft Security Essentials. It's 100% free, updates frequently, and IMO works better than Norton. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddle kat† 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 I'm not sure if this one will work but removing crap like malware and adware cant be too hard They all come with a giant code and I think that if you mess up the code the virus won't do anything and than you could prolly just remove it's files :S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ryland† 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 Lol I thought macs "never got virus's" Personally I dont use any antivirus for my alienware running Windows 7. Just play smart and you wont get virus's. Really if you ask me Anti-Virus programs are Virus's themselves, well in theory. Plus if you get a good virus on your computer it can be next to impossible to remove because it will spread copies of itself in all sorts of hidden directories in your computer. The best thing to do once you have a virus is reformatt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddle kat† 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 Theres some new viruses for macs taht came out not too lnog ago Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flechmen 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2011 Most Mac owners don't run anything. On a proper Unix system, it's not really required. And, yeah, for Windows at least, just browsing known websites like Google and Yahoo will result in malware on your computer. It mostly comes from the advertisements. Mostly small things like little trojans and tracking cookies that report your browsing habits to the ad companies. On a Unix system, like OSX, these things can't even run without user interaction like they can on Windows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wolfin Report post Posted October 28, 2011 To echo what flech said, a virus on a PC is much more likely to gain system-level access. From there it can install a root kit or other nasty in your boot sector. That's rare to unheard of in Unix-based computing. Even the recent Mac virus was just a user-level script that installed in the users home directory and was easy to remove. Most commercial Mac virus scanners use the same definitions as their Windows counterparts making them very slow and more or less pointless. You can find a few Mac specific scanners out there, all of these are free and I order them by how nice their user interface is IMHO: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx http://www.clamxav.com/ http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=78646.0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flechmen 0 Report post Posted October 28, 2011 Yeah, for the most part Unix AV software is more to protect the neighboring Windows machines than they are to protect the Unix machine they run on. For example your Unix mail server will scan your emails with Windows virus definitions so your Windows computer doesn't receive an infected email. Or your Unix file server will scan your files stored on it with Windows definitions so when you go to access those files your computer or other computers don't get infected. Windows has just recently adopted Unix-like security with Vista's "Do you want to allow..." stuff that every PC user hates. Unix has always been that way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JuliaWolf† 0 Report post Posted October 30, 2011 There's a really nice software called Avira AntiVir Personal. I totally recommend it to people who can't afford to pay for virus protection. It's completely free, installs good, easy to use, and works super well for me. I'm not too sure if it's compatible to Mac though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DasPurpleSegway† 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Norton Security Suite is my hero. It saved me from the nefarious virus known as "Conficker.exe". Conficker sent me a message pretending to be a virus protecting software ITSELF, displaying a list of fake virus names. Norton promptly stepped in and kicked the crap out of it. Duh, winning! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wolfin Report post Posted November 16, 2011 Norton actually really sucks Even if it didn't, you can get better software for free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flechmen 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 yeah, Norton is probably the worst you can do. Close second is McAffee. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hybrilynx† 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 how can you tell if norton sucks anyway? or does everybody means it sucks becuz its more expensive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flechmen 0 Report post Posted November 16, 2011 When Norton declares a computer clean that AVG Free Edition finds 100+ infections on... Over the years, it's just proven its detection to be near worthless. There's a study floating around somehwere, I need to find it again. Norton was at the bottom, something obscure was right above it, then McAffee.. at the far other end was Microsoft Security Essentials in the top 5 or so. Of course, that was in 2009.. I found this years, Norton has improved little bit its far from the top http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2011.pdf Almost the highest number of false positives.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
