Mac Antivirus

A common topic amongst new and old Mac users, do i really need antivirus software on my Mac? Well the answer will depend on who you ask, but lets take a look at all the scenarios and weigh our options. First, what is a virus, how do you get one, and what will they really do.

A virus is any kind of malicious code written to benefit another third party, or sometimes even disrupt your computing experience. Most people assume that a virus can damage their computer physically and permanently, but this is not the case. Even in a worst case scenario a computer infected with a virus can be returned to its original state one way or another. What a virus is most likely to do, is run in the background, so that you can’t detect it, and benefit some other 3rd party in some way. Sometimes this is financial. Imagine a virus that pops up an advertisement every hour on your computer, you can’t stop it, you don’t know why it’s happening, and every once in a while you accidentally click it. This means the person who wrote the virus to show those ads, is making money off of you. An even worst virus could secretly connect you to a chat room with the creator of the virus and anything you type will be sent to them. Meaning any credit card conversations, chats, or documents you may have had open could be vulnerable.

Now a lot of people will be surprised as to how one actually gets a virus. Thanks to movies a common interpretation of a virus is a digital worm flying through cyber space that magically infects your computer. This is wrong. Most often people infect themselves. Whether by downloading another application from an illegitimate source such as p2p networks that has been turned into a virus, or sharing files with friends that are infected or have downloaded such files. Also installing various toolbars, and games that may have such functionality built in. More often then not you will not even know you have a virus.

Now Mac’s are inherently more secure than Windows machines do to the way they are designed, but this does not leave you 100% protected. You are still vulnerable to downloading an infected file or receiving one from someone you know.

Below is a list of the top options to protect yourself while on your Mac:

1. Norton Internet Security MAC Edition – The most trusted brand in online protection. Symantec’s Norton Antivirus is an all in one solution to keeping yourself and your information safe online.

2. Norton Antivirus MAC Edition. A more light weight and affordable version of the above, perfectly acceptable slightly slimmer version of the above. My personal choice in protection for my Mac.

3. ClamXav. A free and open source antivirus. Doesn’t have the advanced protection features of Norton, nor the active monitoring. But decent enough to use if it’s the only option you have.

4. iAntiVirus. A new shareware antivirus program for Mac which offers competitive protection compared to ClamXav.

Though some would say you could get away without using an Antivirus program on your Mac, it is often better to be safe then sorry. If anyone has any other recommendations feel free to leave them in the comments and i will add them to this list.