AV on OSX?

Do any of you guys have a mac? i just received me first mac today (first time i've really ever used one). I was thinking through my AV strategy that i'm going to use. I don't want it to be like my windows pcs where i was loaded to the gills with security software. I was thinking on just getting an on-demand scanner and running it occasionally. What do you guys think? Any on-demand scanner that you would recommend for the Mac? I know there has been some trojans in the past that affected macs but it really has been limited comparably speaking. I'd prefer not to even run anything that id doing any live scanning at all.

 

Bitdefender Virus Scanner,
Norton iAntivirus,
Dr. Web Light Scanner,
ClamXav

The above can be found in the Mac App Store, all of them on-demand scanners.

I use Bitdefender Virus Scanner and Norton iAntivirus on my mac, both of them work great.

You really can't go wrong with any of them though

 

Sophos (free) from Sophos website

 

I wonder how effective the real time protection is on those AVs. I can imagine not anywhere as close as Windows where AV companies are much more scrutinized.

 

http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/mac-security-reviews

 

I have a Macbook Pro and though there really is not that much to worry about, there is still trojans out there that get OS X users.My suggestion would be dont install java and disable java in the browser if your using safari and you may still want to keep on demand scanner.

I run F-Secure Realtime as it has no performance slowdowns but then again I also have a new Late 2012 Mac with an i7 with 8 gigs of ram.I use the realtime scanner Because I do a lot of email contacts with windows users and want to be pretty sure any emails I pass back that I won't infect them if I get a windows virus in my email.

If your using MT lion gatekeeper also helps and by default allows downloads from digitally signed - developer ID and that helps block malware developers.You also can set to download from the app store only if you like.I Hope that helps you somewhat.

 

Avast & Sophos work well for me. Both are free and light on resources.
I also run Chrome and have Java uninstalled.

 

Sophos. Have it on my Dad's iMac. It found some trojan that was in the news a couple years ago. It wasn't active but still in the Downloads folder. I would switch them to Avast! but I worry switching may cause some problem.

 

I would install only Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac and "forget" about it.

 

Here is the best testing so far for Mac AV. Yes, better then the very quick and really non informing AV-Comparatives test.

Also, I have been going to this guys site for years, he changed the name of the site 17 days ago and when I went to the site to get the download link for the pdf my McAffe Site Advisor came up with a warning. I tested the site with VirusTotal and URLVoid and in VT WebSense gave it a warning, with no reason why.

I checked out the pdf in VirusTotal and it came back safe.

~VT link removed per policy~


Here is the pdf to the test and it still is at his old sites url address, but it is safe.


-http://www.reedcorner.net/downloads/malware_scan_results_2013.pdf-



As for Mac AV, I would chose one with a real-time scanner. Intego, Sophos, and Avast. Intego is paid, but seems to be one who finds a lot of new malware. Last new malware file that came out, Intego I think was the one who found it and Intego had the definitions on the 14th or 18th of that month. Sophos had it on the 19th and Avast had it late on the 21st. You decide.

.

 

If you use the Sophos uninstall program that is in your applications folder right below the Sophos app it does a clean uninstall. I have done this many times testing Mac Av and have not had any problems. AS LONG AS the developer has an uninstall program as Sophos and Avast has.(Avast has it in the program drop down bar, more less, built into the program)

 

Almost all vendors that has AV products for Windows will detect OS X malwares too. And if they also got a product for OS X such as ESET, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, they will not only detect OS X malware but also Windows, linux unix, since they use the same database for all products, and most of them will detect Win malware even if you would run Windows virtually on a Mac. Wich is good since Mac users won't spread Windows malware to their friends etc etc...

 

Avira Free Mac Security and nothing else

 

Well said.

 

i installed WSA on my mbp. it's not quite as good as the windows version, as far as being quiet and just doing its thing, but it's getting there

 

My question is why would choose the second worse AV for the Mac to protect your computer? I could see using one of the top 3 or 4, but not second to the worse.

 

I doubt he based his decision on AV comparatives.I know some do and they jump from one ship to the other based on test score.Even if it was possible for 100 percent detection in a AntiVirus,If I dislike it I wouldn't use it period.IMO its comes down to what one likes and feels comfortable with.

 

Quote taken from the main landing page of e.g. AVC: "If you plan to buy an Anti-Virus, please visit the vendor's site and evaluate their software by downloading a trial version, as there are also many other features and important things for an Anti-Virus that you should evaluate by yourself. Even if quite important, the data provided in the test reports on this site are just some aspects that you should consider when buying Anti-Virus software."

Furthermore, there was a poll asking how often the visitors of AVC changed their AV in the past 5 years. It is a myth that users change their AV every few months, maybe only some few Wilders users do that, but not "normal" users, which may change only 1-2 times at best (and when they already plan to do that, they might go on the web and search for information/data).

 

Well said quote IBK. There is not much I dont evaluate and its the only way to know for sure.Like test driving a car before you buy it.

 

I was using this test as my basis of comment. It was SO bad I think I am well placed to comment how bad it was. I doubt he has all those malware sample to test with like you (IBK) do at AV-Comparitives.


http://www.reedcorner.net/downloads/malware_scan_results_2013.pdf


While I have the utmost trust with AV Comparitives on PC AV, I thought their Mac test while informative, lacked substance, and was just a generality test. At the time it was posted it was the first test out there. The test I posted was part 2 of Thesafemacdotcoms test. He got a lot of comments on part 1 from AV vendors, so he did part 2 with taking some of thevendors comments into consideration will not letting their input alter as fair a test as can be done without bias.

.

 

Even Bitdefender highly regarded for it's engine - detection rates that just recently missed some nasties on my kids computer and became infected.I will take most of the blame here for giving him to much freedom to downloads.However,Hitman Pro cloud nailed a slew of malware that BD missed but Some False positives in the mix as well to take into account. Now Sandboxie is in place on all our windows with some restrictions in place to eliminate or mitigate further infections.Now thats real world as far as I am concerned in a no controlled enviroment.

 

Dualy noted Blueshoes.

 

because i'm a beta tester and couldn't care less about some random person's malware zoo folder scanning bonanza. furthermore, there's no context to the report, no stated methodology in it, etc.

if not for testing WSA for mac, i wouldn't use anything.

(edited because referencing the term "comparative" led me to believe it was an av-c report. so i care less about that than i did when i thought it was an actual av-c comparative.)

 

http://www.thesafemac.com/mac-anti-virus-testing-01-2013/

 

if you want to focus on mac malware only
use Intego VirusBarrier Express, its free and on demand only, available on app store.
and you can use IronFox for daily browsing, it gives you sandbox protection.