what's a good antivirus program?
- Thread starter pk698
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zappaDPJ
Well-known member
One of our admins once installed ZoneAlarm to our forum host. By default it installs with all ports shut down...
We let him contact the host company to explain why everyone was locked out
Dragapult
Well-known member
No, I use MSE on most of my virtual machines and personal computers. I only run NOD32 on the shared family PC. I feel it's very reasonable priced and works quietly in the background.
Erik
Well-known member
NOD32. I use ESET Smart Security 4, which is NOD32 with a firewall, and both the firewall and NOD32 portions are configured perfectly for my needs, never bother me when not necessary (updates silently in the background, almost never get any pop-ups except from the firewall to approve new applications, which I've explicitly told it to do), and catch almost everything. Wouldn't recommend anything else.
NOD32 + www.virustotal.com for any suspicious files, and you're set.
NOD32 + www.virustotal.com for any suspicious files, and you're set.
Anthony Parsons
Well-known member
I have to say that I am looking forward to getting fully mac converted, then no more antivirus needed.
Erik
Well-known member
I hate this myth. Mac "doesn't have any viruses" simply because relative to Windows, it's not that popular, and virus writers would rather spend their time writing viruses for the much larger Windows userbase than write them for OS X or Linux.
You also have to think about how one acquires a virus: usually it's by downloading free software. There are thousands, if not millions of pieces of Windows software out there, and that makes weeding through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff harder. The Mac software base is usually of very good quality, so it's much harder to disguise a virus (although it has been done - disguised as a codec, perhaps).
However, there's nothing that makes the Mac OS any less vulnerable to malware than Windows. As Mac is getting more popular, I think you'll start to see more and more malware targeted at Macs.
Forsaken
Well-known member
This will probably get all the mac/Linux users angry at me, but: Mac nor Linux are no more secure than Windows, but actually less secure.
Just because there are currently very few viruses (There are some, no matter what anyone thinks), that will not stop someone skilled from creating one that works on any system; the only reason they do not do so is Windows is far more common, therefore making it the likely target.
Because Windows is the mostly highly used, and most commonly targeted OS, in recent years Microsoft has become more proactive in their stance against Viruses. There are also many many more security groups and companies that work at supplying products and services to secure and clean Windows; there isn't much available for Mac or Linux.
All it'll really take is someone who realizes how cocksure Linux and Mac users are of their safety, and how they assume they have no need for AV/Firewalls.
Another thing you should be aware of is: Apple isn't always completely honest when there is an exploit with their systems. Trusting them to be honest and transparent in the face of the threat of a mainstream virus targetting their consumers is not logical; one of their key selling points is how there are -currently- less threats to Mac than there are when compared to Windows.
This is something many security experts have agreed on, many of which -use- Mac and Linux. The thought that something is secure just because its less likely to be targeted due to its smaller userbase is an illogical claim; the truth is that its less likely to targeted because there aren't as many people using the platform.
Theres probably parts of my post that don't make sense, because I finally slept, and I'm still exhausted so I had to stumble for a while to write this.
Forsaken
Well-known member
I hate you. I just spent like 20 minutes writing my post, and you say about the same thing as me.I hate this myth. Mac "doesn't have any viruses" simply because relative to Windows, it's not that popular, and virus writers would rather spend their time writing viruses for the much larger Windows userbase than write them for OS X or Linux.
You also have to think about how one acquires a virus: usually it's by downloading free software. There are thousands, if not millions of pieces of Windows software out there, and that makes weeding through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff harder. The Mac software base is usually of very good quality, so it's much harder to disguise a virus (although it has been done - disguised as a codec, perhaps).
However, there's nothing that makes the Mac OS any less vulnerable to malware than Windows. As Mac is getting more popular, I think you'll start to see more and more malware targeted at Macs.
I can find many articles to backup both mine and Eriksrocks post if needed, or you can do so yourself.
Erik
Well-known member
Lol.
ijeffers
Active member
You shouldn't run more then one AV program on your computer at a time, it can cause more problems then it solves and if nothing else will slow the computer down.
Erik
Well-known member
How do you know you have it if nothing can see it? This is place where I would just reformat.
Anthony Parsons
Well-known member
It was actually even what the apple store themselves mentioned to us, that its not a requirement with the mac operating system due to the way programs are installed onto a mac. So you're now saying that one should use antivirus with the mac operating system?
Forsaken
Well-known member
In all honesty, people who work at the retail stores usually have little more experience then the average user.
No system is completely secure however, and believing that you'll never need any protection (Mac viruses do exist, they're just much rarer then Windows ones) is a mistake.
Erik
Well-known member
That's really up to you, and it depends on what you do with your computer or whether you would traditionally be at risk. It's probably not necessary right now. However, their explanation of why you wouldn't need anti-virus is kind of deceptive. Macs require the user to enter administrator credentials to install software (same as Linux in most cases), so viruses usually can't just install themselves. However, one can be easily fooled into providing those credentials (by disguising the virus as a legitimate, useful application, for example), so really you're not any safer than on Windows (especially with more recent versions of Windows with UAC). There's nothing about the Mac operating system's design that makes it safer than recent versions of Windows.
In fact, despite what the Apple store employees told you, in the past, Apple has actually recommended that Mac users run an anti-virus application. I don't know what the current official statement is.
You probably don't need anti-virus software on Mac at this point in time simply because it isn't popular enough to have a legitimate threat from viruses right now. As I explained above, most viruses are targeted at Windows. The people who write the viruses don't think Mac has enough users to make it worthwhile writing and distributing viruses for the platform. They can get a much better "return" writing those same viruses for Windows.
If tomorrow Mac became way more popular than Windows, I think you would suddenly find a whole lot of new viruses/malware for Mac and a whole lot less (new) viruses/malware for Windows.
If you're concerned about whether or not you should have anti-virus software for your Mac (it does exist), you should read up on some articles online. Here are a few I've found quickly:
Should Mac Users Run Anti-Virus Software?
Antivirus Software On Your Mac: Yes or No?
Do You Need Anti-Virus Software?
Hope that helps.
