Best anti-virus program for OSX

Perhaps it's just my paranoia from living in Windows for the last 14 years, and I know that almost everyone I've spoken to has scoffed at the thought of a Mac even needing any form of protection, but knowing that NO computer is completely free from the danger of a virus attack, what is the best anti-virus program out there for the Mac?
Norton (for me) was too invasive on my Windows machine and slowed things down horribly, so I went to Avast! and did fine. Is it the same for OSX, or is there a better one? Or is it an actual fact that I don't need to worry about it?
Thanks

 

You really don't need antivirus for Mac right now, just enable the Firewall and download Apple's security patches and you'll be fine. And most important, browse the net safely .

 

It's hard to say what the "best" is, as there isn't any really practical way to even compare them (with no real OS X viruses or trojans out in the wild, there's no way to say which antivirus program really does the "best" job).

I think at least some Mac antivirus programs are designed more around removing any viruses that you might happen to get in any files or e-mails, so that you don't spread a Windows virus on to a PC user by sending them an infected file, etc.

McAfee VirusScan seems to be one of the better regarded OS X antivirus programs, so you may give that a try. Honestly haven't heard as much about the OS X version of Norton AntiVirus. I think Sophos also makes an antivirus program that is supposed to be fairly well regarded.

In all honesty though, you really don't need to install or run one right now. You should still follow standard safety procedures (don't run executables you don't trust, etc.), but at this point in time at least, actual antivirus software wouldn't really be necessary.

This could of course change if more OS X viruses do actually get out into the wild, but to date the stuff that even has shown up has been proof-of-concept stuff, etc.

-Zadillo

 

Actually, just looked at the versiontracker comments on McAfee VirusScan, and it looks like some people at least might be having problems with it. Might not be worth it.

Sophos might be an option worth looking at.

Again, it sounds like the biggest benefit to running antivirus software on a Mac right now has more to do with detecting and eradicating PC viruses from files that you get, so you don't continue to spread them.

-Zadillo

 

Bingo! You said it all. You are quite right that no platform is immune to malware, but there is no need to worry with antivirus for Macs now (and I highly doubt there will be one in the future). Keep your OS up to date, have a hardware firewall on, keep safe habits of browsing and that's it.

 

stay away from sophos. it will crash your mac.

if you really want a virus scanner, i would recommend clamxav. its not one that runs all the time like, say norton, it just scans what you tell it too.

my friends and i have found that av on mac slows them down unnecessarily.

 

I would say Sophos...

 

you can try clamav, its free, although it has failed to pick up serveral virus's that avg did on my PC.
a

 

Do yourself a favor and just stay away from an AV. It is gonna give you more problems than it is worth right now. Wait until something is actually widely exploited on the Mac before taking that jump.

 

I haven't run AV software on windows for something like 6 or 7 years.

In that time I've encountered 1 'real' virus, and that was blaster. I also ran into some benign spyware, but that was moreso the result of piggyback type software.


In short, AV software is really not needed, even on a Windows platform if you know what you are doing.

 

any website can be infected with malicious software either virus sending or malware/spyware. No matter how careful you are you can get them. Even Acer's website, Microsoft's, and many other main stream company websites and message boards have been hacked and infected. An adequate virus protection and firewall and anti spyware program should be common sense. I know people will say just be careful where you go, but that is a cop out and you can easily go to a wrong website or to one that has been hacked etc.

You don't need to worry about the mac os x for viruses right now, I am not sure about spyware etc that can effect a mac running os x.

 

What if I decide to run Parallels with Win XP? Will I need Windows AntiVirus Software?

 

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I do not think Mac's need a virus scanner or spyware scanner at this point.

UNLESS, you run it with Windows. I think Windows will require a virus scanner and several spyware scanners.

 

Any worthwhile browser will prevent infection through webpages. Sure IE6 is an open door to infection, but I've never used IE6.

 

I tend to agree with that. I have only encountered 1 virus in 10 years.

 

When you run Windows (through Parallels or Boot Camp), it is the full Windows OS, and has just as much potential to be infected as on any other PC. Depending on what you are doing, you might want to run antivirus software on your Windows install.

The virus wouldn't infect your Mac, but it could wreak havoc on your Windows install.