Do I need an Antivirus/Firewall

[MikeSh]

I'm considering moving over to a Mac from Win7 and have heard conflicting stories about whether I need an Antivirus  prog' or Firewall etc. Please can you Mac users tell me what you do for security, and if so what you use? Free is good if possible  .
Thanks.

[Steve]

I don't use any AV on Mac OS X as currently it's not required imo and the AV offerings are not great. I do run the firewall included in Mac OS X. This article is a little out of date http://blog.itsecurityexpert.co.uk/2010/04/does-apple-mac-need-anti-virus_19.html


I think coming from Windows going without any AV does feel a bit perhaps like walking out of your frontdoor naked.



I think the comment regarding business use is valid, in a mixed OS environment a Mac can act as a carrier for a Windows virus.


http://www.apple.com/uk/macosx/security/

[Gary]

I don't use an AV with my Mac, I do use the software firewall behind the routers firewall although I don't set the Macs to stealth as there is no need I also use Nortons DNS service to add a layer of protection in general.

Many AV's for OS X at this time look for windows stuff mainly, I am sure the time will change when we have to use an AV but the common consensus is right now is its not needed, if you go to a site like facebook and it suddenly wants your macs password then like any user, beware. If you want a scanner for on demand use Clamxv the rest are still to buggy with OS X. Sophos does a free one but there have been issues with Time machine I believe (hence buggy)

This link may be of help http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html

[lozcart]

I don't use any AV software but do use the built in firewall in OSX and the routers firewall.

[Tacitus]

Sophos does a free one but there have been issues with Time machine I believe (hence buggy)
This link may be of help http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html

In general I wouldn't bother with AV, unless you have a habit of visiting dodgy web sites or regularly use torrents to obtain software      I also use the Mac firewall and the router's firewall.  

I've been running the free Sophos AV because running AV is a condition of being allowed to use my work VPN.  So far at least it's been trouble free and doesn't noticeably slow the machine down, but YMMV.

The free ClamXAV is generally regarded as being OK but slow.

[EDIT]  FWIW I've just noticed that Intego are now doing a free version of Virus Barrier.  "Virus Barrier Express will only scan for Mac viruses" </quote>.  There aren't any Mac viruses but presumably it will scan for worms and rootkits; these are comparatively rare but they do exist.  Back in the day the Intego product had a good rep for being trouble free so I wouldn't have thought this version would cause major problems.  Might be worth a try, although AFAICT it's only available via the App store.  

[Gary]

In general I wouldn't bother with AV, unless you have a habit of visiting dodgy web sites or regularly use torrents to obtain software      I also use the Mac firewall and the router's firewall. 

I've been running the free Sophos AV because running AV is a condition of being allowed to use my work VPN.  So far at least it's been trouble free and doesn't noticeably slow the machine down, but YMMV.

The free ClamXAV is generally regarded as being OK but slow.

[EDIT]  FWIW I've just noticed that Intego are now doing a free version of Virus Barrier.  "Virus Barrier Express will only scan for Mac viruses" </quote>.  There aren't any Mac viruses but presumably it will scan for worms and rootkits; these are comparatively rare but they do exist.  Back in the day the Intego product had a good rep for being trouble free so I wouldn't have thought this version would cause major problems.  Might be worth a try, although AFAICT it's only available via the App store. 

Avoid the free Intego Virus barrier, its not free, they let you download the app, update the software once, then require you to pay for future updates.  Unless you use Windows on a Mac or are in a corporate environment where you need one, I would say you are fine for now without an AV.

[MikeSh]

Wow - thanks -that was a very fast and comprehensive set of replies.

Even on Windows I only use MS security essentials and never have any troubles so I'll be happy to run naked in the Mac world. I think i'll be OK because the most "Dodgy" site I ever visit is one called Idnetters   

[Tacitus]

Avoid the free Intego Virus barrier, its not free, they let you download the app, update the software once, then require you to pay for future updates. 

I did wonder    The original Virus Barrier was very good - you paid once and got the updates for a year unless you subscribed which is fair enough.   Then they incorporated a firewall; you subscribed for a year and then the whole thing stopped working, firewall included, unless you paid for the updates.  Shame as it was once a decent product.

Unless you use Windows on a Mac or are in a corporate environment where you need one, I would say you are fine for now without an AV.

I agree.  The only reason I have one is because it's a condition of using the work VPN.

@MikeSh:  I'm told the one to really avoid is Norton as it patches several low level things in the kernel which leads to all sorts of problems....

[net91]

I use Intego VirusBarrier X6 and MacScan 2. I've never had any problems with either product. I also have the inbuilt OS X firewall enabled, and sit behind my router's firewall.

The main reason I use these products is because I've needed to use torrents on some occasions, and I often share files with computers running Windows. Also, I will be connecting my machine to a university network soon, which will require AV software.

(I noticed this article in The Guardian which may be of some interest. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2010/feb/03/apple-data-computer-security )

[Gary]

I use Intego VirusBarrier X6 and MacScan 2. I've never had any problems with either product. I also have the inbuilt OS X firewall enabled, and sit behind my router's firewall.

The main reason I use these products is because I've needed to use torrents on some occasions, and I often share files with computers running Windows. Also, I will be connecting my machine to a university network soon, which will require AV software.

(I noticed this article in The Guardian which may be of some interest. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2010/feb/03/apple-data-computer-security )

I read that myself  At the moment most of the Mac forums and dedicated and magazines say if you are in an environment with windows on your machine or at a workplace use one.

Now If you are asked to download a codec, don't, if facebook says download  something don't. If you did not instigate a download don't give your system password. OS X detects about 4 Trojans itself, I think they could have used that feature more effectively but never mind common sense applies here.

I don't share with windows machines, and I never touch torrents. As to Virusbarrier X6 and using MacScan, maybe in my view a little paranoid but each to their own, this to me seems is a very 'windows centric' view of mac security (no offence meant) Virusbarrier X6 is a very good if somewhat bloated and costly AV which has it's own firewall and you are using MacScan as well... If you have X6 you don't need MacScan, also this means you are running two software firewalls behind a routers hardware firewall, that may be asking for trouble (software firewalls) X6's firewall is fine behind the routers, you don't need the Macs own firewall as well, that's asking for conflicts and using up CPU cycles for no reason. If you need to run an AV Sopho's free one should be all you need tops, or even the slow on demand Clamxv.

Also what Tacitus says is spot on Norton for Mac is evil.

[net91]

I must admit I decided on what security software to run on my Mac when I first switched, so it is a very Windows centric view of security. Just before I switched, I was running Windows Defender and AVG on Windows, so at the time I was trying to to find similar products for the Mac. If I was setting up my Mac today I wouldn't bother with Mac Scan, and just stick with Intego VirusBarrier. As for running Apple Firewall along side VirusBarrier, this was a bit of an afterthough for me, at the time I just Googled to see if would cause conflict and found this page on Intego's site indicating it wouldn't and didn't really think about it again. I've never had any conflict with both Intego's and Apple's firewall running, but it does seem to be a waste of resources running two, so I've decided to disbale the Apple firewall on my machine now. (People over on Apple's forum seem to agree with this too.)

[TheMonkey]

No AV required. See here.....

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=9400648&postcount=4

And you chaps running Sophos may want to read this.....

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=11570070&postcount=31
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=12029337&postcount=41