Does OS X Require Anti-Virus protection?

hailing

Hello All - still a Mac beginner!



Being a long time DOS/Windows user, I'm used to buying Anti-Virus software with each successive PC that I obtain. I noticed that a .Mac membership gives you Virus protection.



I don't plan on using IE or Outlook.



(Safari and GMail for me!)



Does OS X require anti-virus software?



Thanks so much in advance.



This forum is wonderful!



Cheers,

Jonathan

cake

So far - not really.

As a .Mac user I get Virex for free, but I got tired of it running and hogging my CPU.



There's something called MacScan that claims to take care of keyloggers and trojans on OS X, but I'm not sure it's really needed.



Bottom line is that there are a few "proof-of-concept" trojans, but OS X is pretty safe right out of the box.



Do you have a router - then your firewall is probably already up. If not, at least, turn on OS X's built in Firewall.

hailing

I'm currently in the process of buying a Mac, and I was plannng on using the Airport Express as a wireless router... does this include a firewall?

cake

hailing,Read this review - lots of good info.

Basically, it'll use the firewall of your router.

If you don't have a router you can easily turn on OS X's built-in firewall.

ibook911

On my windows machines, I have my zonealarm software firewall and antivirus. I also have my spy ware protection programs like Spypot and Adaware. These programs keep those machines running in great shape (as well as other things like cleaning the registry).



Being new to mac, I don't know what I really need to do. I don't have the OS X firewall on yet. I'm not good with firewalls that aren't simple like Zonealarm. I just want to pick what gets access in and out. I might use the Virex stuff, but since the mac seems a little slow to me, I don't want to slow it down more with Virex, so I might not use it.



Thankfully, I do have my wireless router, so that acts as a firewall. I'm hoping that I can perhaps get by like this, but we'll see .

kickaha

The Mac firewall is about as simple as they come, for configuration.



Open your System Preferences, click on Sharing, then in the Sharing pane select the Firewall tab. Click the Start button to turn it on, and then select the protocols you want to get through.



That's it.



Once you get that in place, avoid IE and Outlook, there's precious little else you need to do to protect yourself. There simply aren't any viruses to worry about. Or spyware. Or worms. Nada. Really.



I know it's a big shift in thinking, but get used to it.

ishawn

Can you turn on your firewall even if you don't share? I suppose I might be sharing...but I was trying to figure out everything before I got my powerbook. It's got the wireless LAN in it (correct? 15 PB 1.5GH blah blah) so taht I can use the home's internet connection...but I highly doubt I'll be sharing files with dad's laptop and the home desktop (which are windows anyways)...so...can I still use the firewall even if I'm using the computer just for basic internet resources and not necessarily sharing of files, printers, ect.

kickaha

Ayup, and it couldn't be simpler.



Go to your Sharing panel in your System Preferences, select Firewall, and click the Start button. That's it. You can do a per-port customization if you want, but the default locks down everything but basic services... but of course you can shut those down too. (Oh, and a nice thing... if you don't have the Web server on, it doesn't open up port 80... but when you start Apache (another click of a single button), it tells the firewall it's going to need 80 opened. Voila. Turn off Apache, that port closes again.

karl kuehn

The simple answer to the original question hinges on whether you use, and share, Microsoft Office files. The only viruses currently known on MacOS X are all Office macro-viruses. I am not aware of one that actually causes damage on the Mac (they are all concentrating on C:Windows... so you could change the name on your hard drive to get damage....), some of the macro-viruses cause some annoyances, but no lost files. So if you are trading Microsoft Office files back and forth it is a good idea to have anti-virus software... more so that you are not passing them to others.



If Microsoft Office is not in the picture, then there is no reason to run anti-virus software on a non-server computer.

ishawn

Quote:

Originally posted by Karl Kuehn

If Microsoft Office is not in the picture, then there is no reason to run anti-virus software on a non-server computer.

So...what is the anti-virus software of choice? Norton seems to be unanimously ruled out.

reg

I use the mac firewall. There are some ports that you will need to have open depending on what apps you use. Some of the ones that I have on are for personal file sharing, FTP, iChat Rendezvous, iTune, iPhoto and Bluetooth. Since you have gmail you might want to get GmailStatus if you don't already have it.



reg

giaguara

i've used macs since system 6.something..



i have never seen an os x virus.



i know one person (of hundreds of mac users and apple employees i know) that has once seen a mac virus .. and that was for os 8.