Question for MAC users

[cboy4]

Do you use anti-virus software on your machine, and if so, which product do you use? (is it freeware?)

I'm curious because I always seem to get conflicting information about whether it's necessary versus a P.C.

I run Norton, but it's time to re-subscribe to the updates.

Thanks for your help! :)

[suzbaby]

1. I don't run any anti-virus software

It's not really necessary on a Mac.
:shrug:

[cboy4]

3. Right on. Thanks a lot!

:)

[begin_within]

2. I don't, and I have never gotten a virus on my current Mac.

Up until about 10 years ago I used a free program called Disinfectant, and occasionally I would get a mild virus from a disk someone gave me, but Disinfectant was able to clear any of those away. But the author of that program stopped making it so I just stopped worrying about viruses. I have been online for 12 years and to my knowlege have never gotten a virus. At least I have had no symptoms and have never lost any data.

[cboy4]

4. Yup....I'm hearing the same story from friends who own MACS.

Thanks Bob for your help. I appreciate it.

[Karenca]

5. Never. nt

[cboy4]

6. Wow.....this is eye opening.

Thanks!

[Nicole]

7. No

I've been using Macs since 1990 & have never used one. So far, so good. :)

[cboy4]

8. Thanks my friend!

It's looking unanimous.....unless I ask Diebold to tabulate the results! :pals:

[Omphaloskepsis]

9. No..

I do use Little Snitch..
http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

That is the only thing I use. Never had a problem.. I do read http://daringfireball.net/ everyday. That usually lets me know if what is going on in Apple land. Be aware that you can pass nasties onto Windows users, they just won't affect you.

And for the love of god, it is Mac. MAC stands for Media Access Control..

[cboy4]

11. Do you use it because you've read you should have anti-virus

software or are you just being extra safe?

[Omphaloskepsis]

15. Little Snitch...

just tells me if something is trying to send info over the internet. It is not a anti-virus/anti-spyware program. I just want to know if any applications are "phoning home."

But really, you don't need to do anything more than run Software Update when it tells you to. And Apple's method of updating is a hell of a lot slicker than Windows Update.

[cboy4]

18. Oh cool about Little Snitch.....excellent information.

Thank you so much for helping Omphaloskepsis!

[REP]

23. Better than Activity Monitor?

That's what I use to check to make sure just what I want running is running....

[Omphaloskepsis]

28. Little Snitch only tells if a application is trying to send data over a network.

But Activity Monitor works for seeing what apps/processes are running. Or you can run 'ps -aux' (without the quotes) from Terminal.app for a more detailed look at what is going on. Also, running 'lsof' will tell you what programs are using what files.

But really, none of that is necessary. I only really use 'ps -aux' or 'top -a' if I need to get a PID to do a 'sudo kill PID'.

[REP]

10. On-Line Since 1992 and Virus-Free...

I don't use an anti-virus, protections built in to OS X are good enough.

The only thing to look out for is downloaded MP3s from, erm, unauthorized sites, but as long as those are opened in iTunes, there's no danger.

[cboy4]

12. Thank you much REP!

:)

[REP]

13. A Note On MP3s...

In my experience, once they've been imported into your iTunes library, you can open them with GarageBand (of course) or Audacity without the wrath of virus falling upon the computer. It could be that I've just never encountered an infected MP3, but I do know for sure that opening MP3s with iTunes prevents mischief (I own my own Apple software engineer).

[cboy4]

20. Awesome, awesome. Thanks again.

:)

[EFerrari]

14. I'm on a G3 right now while my Windows machine is being repaired.

No nothing and no problem. :hi:

[cboy4]

17. Awesome to hear that!! Thanks ;)

:hi:

[pinniped]

16. No.

.

[Kutjara]

19. It is good practice to have a virus scanner on your Mac.

Even though Macs (so far) don't have a virus problem, they can still receive and transmit viruses. For example, if you receive an email from a PC-using colleague that contains a virus, and then forward that email to a PC-using client, the client would end up with the virus. They probably wouldn't care too much about your explanation that, since your Mac can't be hurt by the virus, you didn't feel it was necessary to make sure your machine isn't a carrier. That's a great way to lose business.

Typhoid Mary wasn't ok just because she was immune to the typhus bug.

I use ClamXav. It scans for and cleans Mac and Windows viruses. It's also free.

I also recommend the Little Snitch firewall. Apple's built-in firewall only screens incoming connections. Little Snitch scans for outgoing ones, so you'll know if some piece of spyware on your machine is trying to connect to an external server.

[cboy4]

21. Yea, that's what I was basically trying to figure out....whether

anti-virus software is a complete waste of money or not.

Does the OS do a pretty good job of blocking Spyware, or is it a good idea to scan with something?

[Kutjara]

22. I don't know of any Mac-specific spyware.

It all seems to be written for Windows, and must therefore be installed on a Windows machine to function. Of course, that doesn't mean that someone won't write a nasty app one of these days, so Little Snitch is a good idea to have installed, just in case. It's also good because it let's you know which of your applications regularly phones home for updates. Apple itself got caught a few months back, because the widget Dashboard was discovered to regularly connect to an update server. Apple's documentation didn't mention this, but someone's Little Snitch caught and reported it.

I don't know of any spyware scanners for the Mac, but I haven't looked for any either, so there may be some around. I certainly wouldn't pay for a commercial product, and that goes for antivirus scanners as well. The Symantec stuff is no better than ClamXav, but it costs a lot more than free.

[cboy4]

25. You're awesome. Thank bud.

A lot!

[Kutjara]

27. My pleasure!

:hi:

[Awsi Dooger]

24. A few times years ago but it was a waste of time

I bought a used Mac and it came with anti-virus software on it. I guess it was Norton. Anyway, I ran it a few times and it never found a damn thing. It kept prompting me to update the virus list, annoying as hell, so I trashed it.

As someone else posted, there was a freeware extension called Disinfectant for the old Mac OS, 9.2.2 and earlier. I still have a Mac that can boot into 9 and Disinfectant is recognizable as the first extension that shows up in the icon parade.

[cboy4]

26. Koo. Thanks dude

:)

[Downtown Hound]

29. I never did until...

I installed Windows on my Intel Mac. However, it the Windows anti-virus software that I'm using, not the Mac version. No, I don't think it's necessary to install anti-virus software at this point in time on your Mac if all you're using is OS X. Somewhere down the line, who knows? But I can say that I've heard Windows users for years tell me that any day now viruses were going to appear on the Mac. So far, not a one. It is of course, possible to create a virus for a Mac. But it is much more difficult than creating a virus for Windows, and the smaller market share of Apple tend to steer would-be virus writers to the PC platform.

So at this point in time, I'd say don't bother. But who knows what the future holds?

[cboy4]

30. I sure appreciate you taking the time to write and help me out.

Thank you Downtown Hound! :)

[Omphaloskepsis]

31. I disagree with the theory of "Security through Obscurity."

Really, Mac fanboys and Apple commercials are enough to get people fired up and willing to try and find a big hole in Mac OS X. And honestly, With 600$ you can buy a Mac Mini. Anyone that can install a root-kit on OS X probably makes enough at their day job to pay for one. The security model is so different from Windows, maybe if OS X ran as root as default. And damn near all network services are shut off by default.


With Vista you only have to click OK to affect internal components of the OS. With OS X you have to type in your password. I click ok to everything in my browser. I'm lazy. But, I definitely think twice before entering my password.

That was sloppy... I'm drunk.

[cboy4]

33. Did you give me drunken advice earlier?!?!

:grr:

;)

[Poiuyt]

40. There had been a $10,000 offer to anyone who could hack into a Mac or

create a virus (I forgot the details). This was sent out to all the hacker groups like Cult of the Dead Cow, etc. No one was able to collect the money.

You did raise a good point about the new Intel machines that can run Windows. Apple has said that Windows on an Intel Mac is just as vulnerable to viruses and other malware as a PC, but it would only affect the Windows side of the computer. The Mac OS would be unaffected.

[Auggie]

32. No. Not in years.

[cboy4]

36. Thanks! n/t

[NC_Nurse]

34. Never have.

Never had a virus either. :)

[cboy4]

35. Thank you NC-Nurse for your report!

:)

[meegbear]

37. There are a few out there ...

and with the conversion to the Intel-based machines, there will be more. But if you just show basic online intelligence, rogue links, etc, you'll be fine.

While viruses are few are far between and the risk is low, you can still get one.

[cboy4]

38. Thank you meegbear for your help!

:)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. No.