Virus protection - worth it or not?
I just switched from WinXP to OS X, and have a question regarding virus protection. On my Windows machine, I never used virus protection. I just didn't need it. I know OS X is WAY more secure than XP, so is it even worth getting virus protection? I always thought McAfee and Symantec for Windows were more of a virus/resource hog than protection software, and I'm hoping the Mac versions are better. My school provides a free version of Virex 7.7 to students, so I guess I will keep it around anway. Any comments? Thanks!
-Alex
-Alex
Comments
http://www.clamxav.com/
-alex
The only people who say there are currently dangerous* viruses for Mac OS X are Mac OS X antivirus writers, and they're full of crap.
If a Mac OS X virus ever were to pop up, you'd know about it the next day and THEN you can buy antivirus software.
(* I say dangerous because there are a few malware apps out there, but require a username/password to be entered ... which is just stupid.)
Originally posted by RASH
I would like to add, that if you don't scan for viruses, you should be just as cautious with e-mail attachments from dubious sources as with Windows, because it is still possible to infect Windows computers if you send such contaminated e-mail attachments to your friends and others with Windows computers.
Right, because everybody forwards scary attachments to their friends. All the time.
Originally posted by gregmightdothat
Right, because everybody forwards scary attachments to their friends. All the time.
Right, because virus-makers are so dumb that they actually let you know that you are sending attachments with virii so that you can remove them. All the time.
Originally posted by Gene Clean
Right, because virus-makers are so dumb that they actually let you know that you are sending attachments with virii so that you can remove them. All the time.
Yeah, um, we were talking about sending PC viruses from Macs. You can see them all plain as day, because, they're, you know, PC viruses.
Originally posted by gregmightdothat
Yeah, um, we were talking about sending PC viruses from Macs. You can see them all plain as day, because, they're, you know, PC viruses.
Right. They're usually named 'ImaPCvirus.exe' and their icon is a blowtorch.
Originally posted by Gene Clean
Right. They're usually named 'ImaPCvirus.exe' and their icon is a blowtorch.
Are you seriously trying to defend yourself?
Do you actually think that anyone with a Mac is going to get a message that says "Open the attachment" that's clearly a .exe or a .bat, and think, "Wow, I'm going to forward this message to all my PC friends?"
Originally posted by gregmightdothat
Are you seriously trying to defend yourself?
Do you actually think that anyone with a Mac is going to get a message that says "Open the attachment" that's clearly a .exe or a .bat, and think, "Wow, I'm going to forward this message to all my PC friends?"
I guess we've never heard of infected documents, such as, oh, the omni-present .doc. You know documents get infected too, right? And you know that the more they get passed around, the more people get infected, right?
Originally posted by Gene Clean
I guess we've never heard of infected documents, such as, oh, the omni-present .doc. You know documents get infected too, right? And you know that the more they get passed around, the more people get infected, right?
If you open up and resave a Word document on a Mac, it'll bypass the virus AFAIK. (I don't use Word.)
But I suppose you're right, even so, it's stupid to pay for AV software that slows down your computer for such fringe occasions.
Don't use Virex and definitely do not use Norton (not without a crucifix, some garlic and a mirror, anyway
PC users? They choose to take the risk, they have to live with it. Not our problem. PC users don't get viruses because Mac users email them to them. They get them because they've failed to protect their virus-prone OS.