Upgrading my laptop to a mac soon.

Not used mac at all (well like briefly when i was like 5 but tht dont count)

 

Got mixed advice on do I need to worry about anti-virus or not and which are any good.

 

so any advice techy folks?

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Macs have malware too, but I do not know which antivirus is good on it.

Don't get a Mac

A friend uses Kaspersky, and i haven't heard any problems from her.

No need for the antivirus.

In the defence for Windows.

 

The only reason that there are not many viruses for mac is because >90% of the planet use Windows ^^. Don;t be fooled into thinking that it's better.

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In the defence for Windows.

 

The only reason that there are not many viruses for mac is because >90% of the planet use Windows ^^. Don;t be fooled into thinking that it's better.

I might accept this if I thought it were even remotely accurate. As far as personal/business desktop/laptops, you're probably right; I doubt this holds true when considering servers and embedded systems as well. Servers especially aren't evenly weighted with dekstop/laptop systems as far as data collection goes, as collecting sensitive data from a server is as good as infecting and collecting from every client that sends sensitive data to the server.

 

Postulation aside, I have yet to hear of any self-propagating(no user interaction) malware for OS X, which is not insignificant regardless of what factors may contribute.

I think it's still accurate for personal/business based desktops/laptops, and I'm sure that's what he was talking about. Why you would go talking about servers in an obvious personal computer thread is beyond me though. We all know that a lot fo companies run their serveurs on Linux.

 

Also, as far as I know, for a while most of the viruses on Windows as well needs user interaction, especially with the security they added in Vista/7.

If you really feel the need for an AV, try out ClamXav.

Yeah why did someone go on server tangent?

 

Top post clear said replacing laptop with mac ergo not a server so irrelivant issue.

 

And the guy with the data is right.

Windows vastly dominates the desktop/laptop market; apple only has a tiny tiny share. Hence why vast majority of virsuses are targetted at windows. and these days most viruses you'll ever get on a windows system even with windows firewall and no proper av require user interaction to infect you.

 

Anyway thank for the advice I think I'll jsut go without, atleast until it becomes an issue on mac as mac virus's are on the grow along with their market share.

 

Also just a tidbit for thoose who argue mac is better as it is safer:

In expert opinions mac is actually far less safe. As windows (and other os to some extent) release updates pretty much every weak that fix minor security floors and upgrade alongside tech advancements where as mac does not; the mac is actually much more vunerable as once a virus is created to exploit one of these small loopholes it is liable to have months on end to abuse it before it is fixed, where as in windows the hole will be patch ebfore msot users can even come close to the virus.

The apparent safety of the mac only comes from the small market share and thus small amount of viruses, due to the issue above if mac had an equal market share to windows it'd be absolutely riddled compared to the mcuh safer windows.

 

Something I cam across while doing some research on this matter; thought it was quite interesting and very true.

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Well, I do not use Macs often, though I can say from looking around that Apple seems to suggest having antivirus without directly saying that you need it, as atleast a few Mac OS X support documents mention using Antivirus software (including atleast one document suggesting scanning every file before installing it regardless of its source).

This is largely geared towards servers that have Windows systems on their network, which is why ClamAV is provided on OS X Server, versions 10.4+. 10.6 has a built in trojan list which is updated as new versions of the OS are pushed out.

To answer the OP's original question, while a handful of viruses do exist for macs, they are exceedingly rare and the only ones I have heard of pop up packaged with torrented copies of ilife, photoshop and others. Generally speaking an antivirus shouldn't be necessary.

10.6 has a built in trojan list which is updated as new versions of the OS are pushed out.

Proving Sy_Accursed's point.

I believe the self-propagating malware is what's yet to exist for macs (even on windows they are rarer then they were). I'd personally recommend an antivirus for any computer, but it may not be strictly necessary.

10.6 has a built in trojan list which is updated as new versions of the OS are pushed out.

Proving Sy_Accursed's point.

I'm not seeing it. Not that I was posting to disprove his post. :huh:

10.6 has a built in trojan list which is updated as new versions of the OS are pushed out.

Proving Sy_Accursed's point.

I'm not seeing it. Not that I was posting to disprove his post. :huh:

 

I'm guessing it was reference to proving my point on matter of experts saying mac is technically less secure.

As the list is only updated with OS updates tht are (comapred to windows) not exactly frequent. Newly discovered security loopholes etc remain open for longer than windows where it can be shut within days of being found, no matter how minor.

 

But its only a technicality as obviously the amount of viruses for the os plays a factor.

Yup, it doesn't prove anything without knowing the number of trojans released during those intervals.

But macs dont get viruses. :twss:

 

Honestly I would recommend putting on a Mac OS compatable anti-virus. It might be rare but it's better to be safe then sorry.