Anti Virus for MAC

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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My FIL recently passed away and now his wife (77 yrs old) has to learn to use the Mac to pay bills and do on-line banking. They have been hacked before so she is panicking about cyber security and asked me to make sure her computer is protected. I took it to a local shop and they found and removed 23,000 security issues.

I know very little about Macintosh.

What is a good AV package for Mac? I installed AVAST on my PC recently and it took me 3 days to figure out why my printer wasn't working. I removed AVAST and the printer magically started working again. I think it was the built in VPN.
 
I have malwarebites. Not sure if it does anything or not. I went naked for quite a while with no issues. I'm suspicious of the 23,000 security issues. I've only had issues with browsers and adware crap from time to time.
 
I know you asked for a good AV package. I've got an example of a product I don't recommend.

I've been using McAfee. I really really really hate that the product doesn't honor user selections (try turning off the macfee firewall and see how well that works). OS X has a built-in firewall, I don't need or want multiple firewalls. And there is no way to prevent the weekly virus scan. It happens whenever the *&^*&^ the crappy product wants to run it.

I might just delete it before it renews.
 
Bob Noel said:
I know you asked for a good AV package. I've got an example of a product I don't recommend.

I've been using McAfee. I really really really hate that the product doesn't honor user selections (try turning off the macfee firewall and see how well that works). OS X has a built-in firewall, I don't need or want multiple firewalls. And there is no way to prevent the weekly virus scan. It happens whenever the *&^*&^ the crappy product wants to run it.

I might just delete it before it renews.
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Good call.

[NSFW]
 
The best things you can do for her are (1) Teach how to recognize phishing and not fall for it (2) Make sure she has an account with least privilege as her normal user account that does not allow install of software.

Those two things will get her 99+% of the way there. I've not used an AV on a Mac in a long time.
 
Remember to turn on the firewall too. In addition to Malwarebytes, I also have AVG installed. Different tools.

Don’t forget backups! I’ve got 80 beginning CS students this semester…only 6 do backups.
 
If you need anti-virus on a Mac you're doing it wrong.
 
Salty said:
If you need anti-virus on a Mac you're doing it wrong.
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That is sort of what I just told my MIL. Her husband used to do a lot of web surfing and he probably picked up a lot of tracking cookies.

I also tried to explain to her that being hacked may have nothing to do with her computer. Passwords can be compromised from hacks such as the Target or Equifax or the hundred other companies that have been penetrated.

But she has been told she needs "cyber security" on her computer, so I just want to find one that doesn't cause a bunch of other problems like the one I had with the printer not working.
 
JOhnH said:
That is sort of what I just told my MIL. Her husband used to do a lot of web surfing and he probably picked up a lot of tracking cookies.

I also tried to explain to her that being hacked may have nothing to do with her computer. Passwords can be compromised from hacks such as the Target or Equifax or the hundred other companies that have been penetrated.

But she has been told she needs "cyber security" on her computer, so I just want to find one that doesn't cause a bunch of other problems like the one I had with the printer not working.
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well, the mac os x has a reasonable amount of built-in security (including the firewall).

If you want to be really really paranoid/careful, there are steps that should be taken to protect against ransomware (including making sure at least some backups aren't network-accessible).
 
if she's really concerned, she can use one computer for that purpose and never use it for anything else, and turn it physically off when not in use.
 
I have not use an anti-virus application on any of MY computers in the last 25 years. I have also not gotten viruses.
 
IK04 said:
I have not use an anti-virus application on any of MY computers in the last 25 years. I have also not gotten viruses.
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So then by that I deduce that AV software causes viruses. Because I have almost always used AV software and I have still contracted a few viruses over the years.
 
JOhnH said:
So then by that I deduce that AV software causes viruses. Because I have almost always used AV software and I have still contracted a few viruses over the years.
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You’re assuming he uses his computer. @eman1200 could accurately assert that he has no viruses and never uses protection… this may be similar.
:biggrin:
:cheers:​
 
I work in Cyber Security. Former network security architect and sales engineer @ F5 Networks. Now an account manager for one of the largest MDR providers for endpoint. With that said, any of the major anti-virus providers will work.

Get Norton or Mcafee either will work.

Crowd Strike, Cylance, Carbon Black, S1 etc... are enterprise solutions that are overkill, IMO for home use.
 
m3kerry said:
I work in Cyber Security. Former network security architect and sales engineer @ F5 Networks. Now an account manager for one of the largest MDR providers for endpoint. With that said, any of the major anti-virus providers will work.

Get Norton or Mcafee either will work.

Crowd Strike, Cylance, Carbon Black, S1 etc... are enterprise solutions that are overkill, IMO for home use.
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Both are horrible on the Mac. MacAfee takes up most of the cpu on my windows business laptop…but it aint mine so I don’t care.
 
JOhnH said:
So then by that I deduce that AV software causes viruses. Because I have almost always used AV software and I have still contracted a few viruses over the years.
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I'll give you a hint: I don't use Windows, Apple or Intel products.
 
IK04 said:
I'll give you a hint: I don't use Windows, Apple or Intel products.
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While I run an Ubuntu box in the workshop for fun (and Macs since 1987 for everything else) throwing Linux in front of a 77 year old isn't a great idea.
 
IK04 said:
I'll give you a hint: I don't use Windows, Apple or Intel products.
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While there are lots and lots and lots of softer/easier targets out there, if someone really wanted to hack your computer, there are still vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
 
Pugs said:

While I run an Ubuntu box in the workshop for fun (and Macs since 1987 for everything else) throwing Linux in front of a 77 year old isn't a great idea.
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I would not inflict Ubuntu on my worst enemy and surely not a 77 year old. I have "thrown" such installs in front of numerous senior folks and those with learning disorders with unparalleled success.

Ubuntu is not Linux. The *Buntus are the "Hello Kitty" of distributions.
 
I detest McAfee. I hated it when it was crammed down my throat at work and I stupidly thought it would be a good multiplatform thing for home (I have PCs and Macs all over). It's a disaster. When I decided to pull the plug on it, it took me a long time to get rid of it as well.

McAfee gave my computer autism.
 
I have had the same Macbook for 13 years now with no antivirus/malware and never had an issue. Part of that might be my caution towards clicking links or opening unknown e-mail, who knows. That's part of the reason I went Mac back then after dealing with all the Windows crap.
 
flyingron said:
I detest McAfee. I hated it when it was crammed down my throat at work and I stupidly thought it would be a good multiplatform thing for home (I have PCs and Macs all over). It's a disaster. When I decided to pull the plug on it, it took me a long time to get rid of it as well.

McAfee gave my computer autism.
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I have never liked that program. I swear it protects a computer by making it so slow and loaded up the viruses can’t run.
 
One of the irritating things about the Dells I bought for home use is that they came bundled with McAfee. It definitely has one of the traits of a virus in that it's hard to get rid of. Didn't Intel buy the company? Hard to trust anything these days.
 
m3kerry said:
I work in Cyber Security. Get Norton or Mcafee either will work.
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I got a package deal so that's why I run Norton on a Macbook and Windows PCs around the house. Haven't had problems so far. Fuzzy data point but that's all I got.
 
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