After my last anti-virus failed to protect me from a very nasty virus, I’ve been on the search for another one. Do you have any suggestions?
What did you use last? Did you also update the defintion daily?
I use three
Spybot, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware for anti-malware and Microsoft Security Essentials for Anti-virus.
I used to use AVG Free but the latest version kept turning off my Microsoft Security Center. AVG said that is impossible, but when I remove it, it comes on, when I put AVG on it won’t work. So who knows…
I just use one, OS X. It’s effortless and according to published reports has no vulnerabilities.
Mistakenly attributed to Willie Sutton-“Why do I rob banks? Because that’s where the money is.” Hackers aim for the greatest numbers, and OS X just ain’t it.
Speaking as an enterprise IT professional, that is a flat out lie. Would you be interested in some real estate by any chance? I have some good deals. There is no downside and it is a cash cow. I just need to get rid of it for tax purposes…or something like that. http://macscan.securemac.com/spyware-list/
You would be amazed at the number of people that claim they never had any viruses simply because they never ran any type of anti-virus software and don’t know it is there. Most virus, trojans, and worms don’t do anything that the casual user would notice like causing a blue screen of death or wiping out your hard drive or sending federal agents to your door. They just do their own little thing in the background stealing data or whatever they choose until something trips a system crash or everything gets really slow.
I like the free version of Avast! for anti-virus software myself. It isn’t a system hog and it gets updated with the latest threats at least daily. You still need protection against Malware and Spyware which aren’t true viruses and that requires a few different software to keep everything clean not to mention just general user hygiene and common sense.
I’ve been having the best luck with just Security Essentials and AdBlockerPlus on the latest version of Firefox. I find it amazing how much of a difference it’s made to have a good ad blocker.
The problem with viruses today is that they’re making them faster than the antivirus makers can react. No antivirus can protect you from all viruses, but those mentioned (do a good job).
In addition to antivirus, you do need antispyware like Malwarebytes or Super Antispyware.
But the big thing is to be smart. Know what a legitimate virus warning looks like (you can find out by downloading the EICAR test file. It’s harmless, but all antivirus will alert you to it.
That’s what a legitimate antivirus warning looks like for your computer. Now, if you see any other warning, it’s a fake. Shut down your web browser (press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the task manager, and under “Applications,” shut down everything. Pulling the plug will also do. Then run Malwarebytes to be sure.
I found one big problem is people don’t update them daily. It’s just a matter of each morning when you go into your computer, simply update the programs. That would go a long way to helping keep viruses off your computer
There are no viruses on that list. It’s all keyloggers and such that someone would have to have access to your computer to install, or trojans that you have to install yourself. It isn’t like Windows where you can catch a virus by visiting a website.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but last I heard there wasn’t a single OSX virus in the wild.
Where’s the profit and/or fame in it?
Microsoft Security Essentials is free, scores very highly in tests, is easy on resources and isn’t nagware. I used to use AVG on one machine and a Norton Internet Security on a laptop, but dumped both when I found MSE was much easier to deal with.
The several articles I’ve read in the last 6 months say that there are no Mac OS X viruses. There are plenty of Windows viruses that a Mac will not notice, and a Mac user may make a copy of an infected file and give it to a PC user without knowing it, but the virus isn’t replicating - saying it’s an OS X virus is like saying it’s a CDROM virus if the copy gets transferred on a CDROM. There are certainly antivirus programs for the Mac, but their job is to flag viruses that attack PCs to protect the PCs. It is a particular problem in mixed networks because PCs on the network may assume all the machines inside the network run antivirus software and can be trusted not to copy infected files.
There are other kinds of dangers, including Trojan Horses, that can damage OS X. Czarcasm, most of the things listed at your citation say “Trojan Horse” and I didn’t spot any OS X viruses per se. Is there one in that long list you can point to?
Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a good package.
I think it’s beside the point to argue whether or not Macs have viruses. They may not be infected, but they can be a carrier as files and email are exchanged with other systems. Computers are rarely standalone any longer and everyone uses email and the like. You need to protect as many avenues as you can and that includes scanning files on Macs.
This is exactly why OS X viruses and malware are on the rise. OS X viruses and malware are admittedly rare, but they are not nonexistent. However, because OS X users believe that their systems are immune, they are unable to deal effectively with threats.
Here’s your OS X virus and malware list. It includes exploits, viruses, and other types of malware (most lists group them all together these days):
http://www.iantivirus.com/threats/
I personally suspect there are a lot more out there in the wild that aren’t reported due to the fact that OS X users deal with these things so ineffectively.
My Commodore 64 is pretty much virus safe.
Can you guess why?
Interesting that no one mentioned the big 2, McAfee and Norton.
We have a site license for McAfee at work. I prefer Norton.
One big issue with Norton. They’ve started including a crappy Spyware module. It conflicts with practically all the real time spyware programs. I’ve been using Spyware Doctor for 4 years. now, Norton 2011 won’t install with Spyware Doctor on the pc.
I recently installed MSE protection on my Windows 7 XP Mode. I needed anti virus in the XP mode. So far MSE has surprised me. Who would have thought Microsoft could make something small that doesn’t nag and get in the way? Big surprise for me. Usually Microsoft = bloatware.
I have had problems in the past with both of these. I don’t know if the newer versions are any better, but the older versions caused me enough grief by not stopping viruses that I haven’t been willing to try the newer versions out at all.
I switched to AVG at first, then it became too bloated and annoying so I switched to Avast which I haven’t had a problem with yet.
At work we used to use Trend Micro, which seemed to work quite well, though work was paying for it so I don’t know how much it costs. We have very recently switched to Microsoft, which I am not very happy about, but we’re saving money. I’ll hold off on really bitching about it though until I actually have a problem with it, which we haven’t, so far.
Wow, I was just reading the system requirements for MSE, and was shocked to see this:
I’m stunned that Microsoft is supporting Firefox in any way.