Mac users: Do you use antivirus software?

[Harley Goldman]

I just took delivery of a new Mac and I was wondering if Mac users feel it necessary to have anti-virus software. I have heard from two schools: one says not necessary as there are no successful Mac viruses; and the other that says the probabilities of infection are low, but there are viruses out there and it worth being protected. As a Mac newbie, I have no idea which one to embrace. Opinions?

If you do use one, which one would your recommend?

[Robert Skeoch]

We don't use them at work at the newspaper.... no issues.
-rob

[Walter Calahan]

No


I added this so the message would be longer, but it doesn't include anymore information.:D

[jb7]

No.

I don't know how necessary it is,
but I don't use any-

j

[Ken Lee]

No.

Not too long ago, I pointed my browser to the Norton Anti Virus site, and took their free diagnostic security test. My 3-year old PowerBook passed with a score of 100%.

I have never spent a penny, nor have I spent even a moment, dealing with security issues on this machine.

How much is that worth ?

[Eduardo Aigner]

No,never.

[Bob Salomon]

Add another no on two Macbook Pros and a Powerbook.

[Maretzo]

I have one because I sometimes use Windows with Parallels Desktop Virtual Machine.:o

[Scott Knowles]

No. I just run the firewall and use Apple's automatic security updates.

[bsimison]

Depends...are you asking in earnest, or are you a virus-writer doing market research? ;)

For the most part, no. Only 1 Mac out of the 6 we run has AV software. If you're interested, that one runs ClamXAV.

[Marc Akemann]

Nope. Since '05 my G5 has only had to keep up with Apple's auto security updates. My router has a firewall, too.

[Richard Wall]

Yes,
I have been a Mac user since 1986 when I got my first Mac+ (No hard drive and every thing ran off a 400k floppy drive). While most of the time Macs do not need anti-virus software there have been rare occasions when viruses were written for the Mac. I have worked for several Mac only firms over the years. I remember in the late 90's some viruses made it to the Mac. The computers that didn't have an anti-virus program running got hit. You don't want to be the person who loses your work because of no anti-virus software. IMO - the peace of mind is worth the price of the software. I have run Sophos in the past and currently use ClamXav (Mac OS 10.5.2 - MBPro).

I also have several PC's running Win-XP Pro with AVG anti-virus.

r.

[vinny]

What's a virus?


vinny, mac user

[jotloob]

I am running two MAC SYSTEMS .
The one is a G5 MAC OS X 10.5.2 with two big screens . This system is only run for my PSCS3 work and printing work . I do not use an internet connection here . So there is no virus protection installed .
My MACBOOK is mainly used for E-mail and internet activities . Here I have virus barrier V 5.0 installed and feel quite safe with it .

[butterfly]

I've had an Imac for 2 years, never had a virus checker or had any problems. One of the reasons I went over to Mac. My son has had an apple powerbook for much longer and he's not had any problems either!

Regards

Steve

[Capocheny]

Hi Harley,

No on the anti-virus.

Yes on the firewall.

Yes on the Apple security updates.

Cheers

[tim atherton]

No and yes...

In the past I would have said no - but I have found recently that Macs do get viruses - if you have to use things such as MS Office for Mac etc....

At our museum (all mac) one mac got a really annoying ancient MS Word "virus" from the late 90's...

It didn't actually do anything except replicate itself in other MS Word docs. And it was so old, non of the current AV software had removal tools for it - tried them all - (they would find it but not remove it...).

The only way to remove it was to reset Mac Word security settings and then find every single Word document on an infected Mac (via ClamXAV), and, by hand, cut and paste the contents to a non infected doc - this varied from 6 files on computer to 1600 on another...

BUT - even though it didn't actually do any harm itself, it caused problems. The Museum runs through our City Hall's IT system - their ingoing and outgoing AV/Firewalls would tag emails with infected Word docs and strip them out - but it would email you and let you know it had done so. But our Foundation head office runs through a large local commercial Internet Provider. After the first 20 or 30 emails (and then continuing) their AV setup must have eventually tagged them as a source of infection and it just deleted every infected email - so, many of their emails just disappeared en route without them knowing.

I guess the lesson is never use MS for Mac software.... but in this case that wasn't our choice.

Running the free ClamXAV every now and then can be worth it just to double check if you have caught anything..

[Ken Lee]

If you need to interoperate with Office files, but you prefer to not purchase and install Microsoft software, you can use the Mac version of Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org), called NeoOffice (http://www.neooffice.org). Both are very good, open source, and free.

[Nate Battles]

No antivirus. I agree with Tim on the ClamXAV program though. It seems like a great tool to have on your mac.

Another great app is TechTool Pro from Micromat. It's a great utility for diagnosing problems with your machine. If you have Applecare on your mac, you can download a version of TechTool on your machine at no cost. It's not the full pro version, but it includes some nice utilities. I just found this out recently.

From everything I've read and heard about people installing anti-virus software such as Symantec or McAfee on their macs leads to nothing but trouble. Such as a drastic decrease in system performance.

~Nate

[Ken Lee]

With my Windows machines, I have learned, through bitter experience, to avoid Symantec like the plague. On a positive note, they have wonderful packaging.

[domenico Foschi]

No antivirus

[paulr]

The only reason to use antivirus software on a mac is to stop you from passing email-born viruses to windows machines. There aren't any mac viruses out there at the moment, so all the virus definitions that the software scams for are for windows viruses.

So anti-virus software is a great idea in a corporate environment where you have both platforms. Or for people who like to mindlessly forward emails that come with mysterious attachments (but who are a good samaritans at heart).

[ZoeWiseman]

buying anti-virus software for a Mac is superfluous. you don't need it. i have used macs since 1995. currently on 17" MacBook Pro. I have NEVER EVER gotten a virus. That's a windoze mentality.

[Rory_5244]

I used Intego's antivirus suite for the Mac many years ago, until I realised I was wasting my money. Nowadays, no antivirus software for me and my Mac (except for ClamXAV once in a while).

Yes, Symantec's Norton Antivirus is a plague on unsuspecting PC users.

[jnantz]

Yes,
I have been a Mac user since 1986 when I got my first Mac+ (No hard drive and every thing ran off a 400k floppy drive).

r.

hey, me too ..
boy having 8 MB of ram was KING, wasn't it ?

wish i still had mine .. would have made one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macquarium) ...

[trunion]

I just took delivery of a new Mac and I was wondering if Mac users feel it necessary to have anti-virus software. I have heard from two schools: one says not necessary as there are no successful Mac viruses; and the other that says the probabilities of infection are low, but there are viruses out there and it worth being protected. As a Mac newbie, I have no idea which one to embrace. Opinions?

If you do use one, which one would your recommend?


Just be careful when an application wants you to enter your system password, if it did not come from Apple, or is not a software package you were intending to install don't enter your password. There is a trojan virus out there for the MAC , so be careful.

Terry Runion
http://www.kachoozie.net
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