# Mac Security Poll: Which anti-virus? What should I be doing about spyware? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116 "2006-02-12T15:59:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/1 "2006-02-12T15:59:36Z")
Mac users, what are your security recommendations? I’ve googled some and done searches here. Found [this helpful thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=353132). Based on other reading, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really should have anti-virus protection. Seems like there are three choices: Norton, Virex (McAfee) and maybe Intego. I’ve also seen mention of spyware residing on Macs (not doing harm, but implying that I might be able to pass it on to PC users). ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/2 "2006-02-12T16:01:25Z")
Finger slipped…didn’t get to ask my closing questions: Which anti-virus? Is there something I should be doing about spyware? Thanks! GT ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/3 "2006-02-12T16:07:55Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > Finger slipped…didn’t get to ask my closing questions: Which anti-virus? Is there something I should be doing about spyware? > > Thanks! > > GT I tried to fix it for you, but the title was a bit too long. Hope you don’t mind the slight modification. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/4 "2006-02-13T21:14:12Z")
I’ve got the included firewall turned on, but that’s about it. Never lost any sleep over the matter. IMO, the only time you’ll need a virus scanner on your Mac is if you’re going to be passing a lot of files to Windows users, just so you don’t inadvertently pass along a MS Word virus to them. Or you might feel inclined to do it anyway out of spite… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/5 "2006-02-14T01:56:37Z")
A Mac virus isn’t impossible, but there really isn’t anything to worry about yet. Save your $50. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/6 "2006-02-14T02:22:24Z")
Putting antivirus software on your Mac is like George Bush proposing a defense initiative to protect us against invasion from hostile space aliens. Hostile space aliens could certainly exist (Carl Sagan said so, didn’t he?) — and just because as far as we can tell we have never, in the history of our planet, been visited by any of them, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen tomorrow, right? But since we don’t know what they would be like, we can’t really prepare and defend ourselves except in very very general terms. The MacOS already defends against hostile exploits in very general terms, and does so in ways that have earned it a fair measure of applause. Root account is off by default. Sharing and ports are also closed by default. You _will_ find people who say “Oh, but you should put antivirus software on your Mac to protect PC users from PC viruses that might get on your computer and then onto theirs!!!” Which, I suppose, is possible if you’re in the habit of forwarding attachment-laden emails to your PC-using friends, or setting up emal rules to do so automatically. But short of that? It’s not like the virus can send itself without your help, the way they do on Windows PCs!~ I suppose if you’re the kind of person who would run antivirus on your Linux PC or your Sun Solaris workstation, you might want to put antivirus on your Mac as well. The folks who do such things recommend a free product called ClamAV and they recommend _against_ Norton antivirus which has been known to cause serious problems on the Mac. Me, I think it’s silly. There are no viruses that can execute under MacOS X, and no spyware. Your computer doesn’t need antivirus protection. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/7 "2006-02-14T02:53:33Z")
I thought there were two viruses out there for OSX, and one of them was harmless that was made just to prove that it could be done. I’ve never seen either of them though. I have seen several of the more than 80,000 MSFT viruses though. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/8 "2006-02-14T05:48:05Z")
That wasn’t a virus. It was an application that, if executed, would trash your files. It wasn’t a virus: it could not spread on its own. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/9 "2006-02-14T12:13:19Z")
Thanks for the replies, everyone (and thanks for fixing my title, **Czarcasm** , it’s exactly what I was going for.) I’m not at all concerned about my own machine. As others have mentioned here and in the other current Mac threads, there are all kinds of things that make Macs less vulnerable to viruses, spyware, etc. What I **am** concerned about is other people I send stuff to. I’m a member of several organizations and sometimes have to exchange documents with other people who are not terribly comfortable with computers. I’m generally sending documents created in NeoOfficeJ through my gmail account, if that helps. I just want to make sure that I don’t have to rename my machine Typhoid Mary… 🙂 Thanks for any tips, links, encouragement… GT ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/10 "2006-02-14T16:29:59Z")
Sounds like you’ll be more likely to receive harmless (to you) creepy-crawlies from your associates than give them anything. Between OS X and NeoOffice, you’re about as safe from viruses as a computer user could ever dream about. It’s been said over and over, but it bears repeating: OS X is secure out of the box as everything that’s not explicitly permitted is denied. Windows is just the opposite - everything is permitted by default and you need to set up specific denials. FWIW, I’m not running any sort of antivirus or antispyware apps on our Macs. The Windows boxes, though, are wrapped in layers of defensive applications. If your associates are AOL users, you can at least hope they’re using AOL’s “Security Edition” software that bundles in protection against viruses and spyware for free. I don’t use AOL at all, so I can’t say how good it is, but it looks like it should go a long way to protecting people, one PC at a time. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/11 "2006-02-14T18:59:14Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > I’m not at all concerned about my own machine. As others have mentioned here and in the other current Mac threads, there are all kinds of things that make Macs less vulnerable to viruses, spyware, etc. > > What I **am** concerned about is other people I send stuff to. I’m a member of several organizations and sometimes have to exchange documents with other people who are not terribly comfortable with computers. > > I’m generally sending documents created in NeoOfficeJ through my gmail account, if that helps. It helps them and you. Office for OSX is vulnerable to “macro viruses”, not in the sense that they can wreak any mischief on your system but in the sense that they can infest your other Word documents. (And maybe Excel documents, although the only macro viruses I ever hear about are written as Word macros). It’s one of the very few legitimate concerns re: passing along PC viruses to PC users. But by using NeoOffice/J instead, you cut yourself out of any possible loops that involve spreading macro viruses that PC users are at risk from: > [@](#): > > Since Office v.X can run VBA, it can be infecte by these macro viruses. > > Neither [OpenOffice.org](http://OpenOffice.org) nor NeoJ can execute VBA code, so Word (or other Microsoft Office based “viruses”) macros can’t execute. [(source)](http://trinity.neooffice.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1133) ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/12 "2006-02-15T00:09:59Z")
Thanks to both of you, **gotti** and **AHunter3**. That’s exactly the kind of information I was looking for. GT ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/13 "2006-02-16T22:34:10Z")
An update of sorts. Make that three viruses for the mac. > **['First' Mac OS X Trojan sighted](https://www.theregister.com/2006/02/16/mac_os-x_virus/)** > > Look before you Leap ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-security-poll-which-anti-virus-what-should-i-be-doing-about-spyware/344116/14 "2006-02-17T01:31:51Z")
Firstly, it’s more “trojan” than “virus.” Secondly, you can avoid this problem by turning off iChat’s “automatically receive files” option, as that’s apparently the only way it can currently jump from one computer to another. Thirdly, if a user clicks on an image file and it opens the Terminal and prompts for an administrator password and _the user doesn’t think there’s anything suspicious about this,_ he’s got bigger problems than malware involved. [More assorted musings here.](http://www.electric-escape.net/node/1181)