Which anti virus is best?

[Jay Wilkerson]

Which anti virus should I u use with mac?

 

[Bazza1]

Rabid Macolytes will insist no antivirus is required - and that's an argument that has no end - but given that I trade documents and information with others who may not be on Macs, I am of a view that I don't necessarily want to transfer someone else's problem - if not to my Mac - to another's computer inadvertently. As well, as Macs have increased in popularity (as well as the variety of different browsers that now work on Macs), there is more 'value' and opportunity to those who build viruses, malware, keyloggers, etc to do so.

I finally came full time to Mac when Win8 was released - and with it, I brought my paranoia about viruses and malware. I was using the free Avira AV on my Win machine and they have a Mac version, too. Its not in the Mac App Store, so do a Google if interested. It has all sorts of manual controls, the ability to set scheduled scans and updates, etc, etc. I've not had a problem with it. And I have no problem with the price!

There are a number of other AV products in the App Store (which suggests that even Apple may not agree with its biggest fans) - BitDefender and Trend Micro two familiar brands - but I've no practical experience with either.

Hope this helps.

 

[thejasonhowell]

My school requires one, and the least worst I've found is Sophos

 

[psamo]

I use Avast .It's free and good enough.

 

[Ericclark4]

I use AVG, but thats just because I'm familiar with it

 

[iwicked]

I've been considering getting an antivirus too. But my experience on Windows hasn't been positive (system hog). How much of it is applicable for MacOS? Any recommendation for which AV is the lightest - in terms of system footprint?

 

[Bazza1]

I've been considering getting an antivirus too. But my experience on Windows hasn't been positive (system hog). How much of it is applicable for MacOS? Any recommendation for which AV is the lightest - in terms of system footprint?

I checked using the Activity Monitor for how the Avira AV was doing here. Several instances in CPU and Memory of avguard, and they all seem to be barely ticking over, while overall usage off all apps on CPU load light overall. Not sure where that stands with other AV products for Mac. But having also owned a Windows device - I hear your pain / concern about AV and system hogs.

If interested in AV products, as with Windows, it's well worth checking out the reports and results from AV Comparatives - an independent test site - to see what they say about Mac products -

https://www.av-comparatives.org/mac-security-reviews/

 

[DJM626]

Big fan of bitdefender

 

[anon(9057135)]

Bitdefender and Kaspersky are the best imho. Most people prefer Kaspersky (talking about paid-wise) because it always seems to have the highest rate of catching viruses

 

[iwicked]

I checked using the Activity Monitor for how the Avira AV was doing here. Several instances in CPU and Memory of avguard, and they all seem to be barely ticking over, while overall usage off all apps on CPU load light overall. Not sure where that stands with other AV products for Mac. But having also owned a Windows device - I hear your pain / concern about AV and system hogs.

If interested in AV products, as with Windows, it's well worth checking out the reports and results from AV Comparatives - an independent test site - to see what they say about Mac products -

https://www.av-comparatives.org/mac-security-reviews/

Thanks bazza. I'm going to give Avira a go.

 

[Bazza1]

Thanks bazza. I'm going to give Avira a go.

I hope it 'works for you'! At least, there's always other (free) AV apps out there with good reviews, if it isn't a good fit.

I've just always appreciated Avira's real time protection, auto-update and the ability for the user to schedule updates and scans - some items not all free AV apps offer.

 

[Anthonyiamador]

I've always trusted Kaspersky..

 

[Eclipse2K]

I use Norton 360 but that's only because Comcast offers it for free with our service and it works well. If I was paying for a service I'd use Kaspersky.

Edit: Oops. I forgot that this is a Mac forum and I posted about my Windows info. Carry on!

 

[metalchick719]

I use Avast on my Macs and my Windows laptop. It's definitely one of the best options. I used to use Sophos on my oldest Mac, but it wasn't all that great.