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General discussion

Intel Mac Antivirus and Firewall

Oct 29, 2006 2:01AM PST

I am at a lose as to what is out there for the Intel Mac in terms of antivirus and firewall protection. It seems that everything is for either for pc or powerpc. Very little for Intel mac.

I would appreciate any help. Please direct me to vendors for the following:

Anti spyware
Firewall

I am thinking about buying Norton antivirus. What do you think?

Discussion is locked

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Since we haven't seen such a virus, why?
Oct 29, 2006 2:03AM PST

Usually this question is posed by owners that have been on Windows for years. Since we don't have this issue on the Mac, what would it do other than fund Symantec?

Bob

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Why bother?
Nov 2, 2006 9:17PM PST

I have used Norton Anti Virus for years on my Macs. It finds plenty of Windoze viruses that are harmless junk on a Mac but in 22 years of using Macs I have only had two viruses and they caused no damage.

Use Norton or smilar if you like but its not essential.

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Anti Virus for Mac
Oct 29, 2006 2:27AM PST

Currently there are NO viruses for OS X, any flavor, so you would only be filling the coffers of Symantec or Macaffee, as Bob pointed out.
The Intel driven Mac is no more susceptible to viruses than the PPC driven Mac, the OS is the same.

If you just want to have something to make you feel good, try ClamavX.
It's free and is available here: http://www.clamxav.com

As to a firewall, OS X has a firewall built-in. Access it through the Sharing Preferences Pane

P

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Forgot about the Spyware
Oct 29, 2006 2:28AM PST

Easy to do since there doesn't seem to be any affecting OS X.

P

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How do I take care of this
Oct 29, 2006 4:24AM PST

I have MS office 2004 istalled on my machine. How do I turn MS Office's macro support off ?

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See Visual Basic Help in the Office 2004.
Oct 29, 2006 4:36AM PST

From memory VBA isn't installed in Word, but is in some Toolkit. Did you install that?

Also, the demo you get with the Mac (at least the Word portion) does not have VBA.

This may change if someone changes it, but from the last time I looked this is how it was.

Bob

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If you want more than the Mac-based firewall
Oct 29, 2006 8:55AM PST

and are using the machine over a broadband connection at home, that means you are using a router - which should also have a firewall... be sure it is active as well. Also, be sure the default admin password is changed to some sort of non-word that is at least eight alpha-numeric characters including upper and lower case alpha and numbers - and if the router allows, special characters, too.

And, if the router allows ICMP WAN ping blocking, be sure that is enabled...

And if the router is wireless, turn wireless off if you aren't using it - and if you are using wireless, do not broadcast SSID and use 128 bit WEP.

++++++++++++

You need the software firewall and antivirus products in your Intel Mac ONLY if you are running Windows - because it is the Operating System that has the vulnerabilities - not the hardware (or MacOSX).

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About SSID. What to do with range extenders and my PDA?
Oct 29, 2006 8:59AM PST

My range extenders don't work without SSID broadcast as well as my PDA.

Is this a real security risk or just the pundits?

Hint: It's what the pundits have written. SSID can be sniffed out in no time with KISMAC. So why offer advice that breaks connectivity?

Bob

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Security is what you make it.
Oct 29, 2006 11:55AM PST

In this case - as with any network and application security, it is about layers... in my opinion...

Hiding SSID is merely another layer - not a thick layer, I agree. If you need it visible, then have another layer that's way better... like by allowing only certain MAC addresses (which can be spoofed, but "they" need to figure out which to spoof). Or allowing only certain IP addess ranges... or using a passphrase that is a pretty long sentence that would have little meaning to anyone else...

No sense making it easy - and I certainly didn't suggest that not broadcasting SSID was the *only* security... There are so many wide open LANs out there that are easy to get to, why bother with the tough ones?

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Truth about Mac anti virus
Nov 2, 2006 10:16PM PST

Most people who move from a windows machine to a mac feel naked as their new mac does not have anti virus. The greater truth is, as long as you do not download suspicious files or browse through the bad part of the internet(offensive/adult material), you computer will be safe. Also OSx10.4.8 has a built in firewall that is considerably better then windows. You can turn it on under preferences and security. If your feel absolutely sure, that you need an anti virus solution, then all the major heads, Norton, McAfee have anti virus solutions for macs.

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Norton Anitvirus
Nov 2, 2006 10:16PM PST

Do not buy Norton. You don't need it. Norton is a virus.

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No need to cloud the issue.
Nov 3, 2006 4:05AM PST

Clearly, Symantec's Norton's products are not viruses, whether for Macs or Windows systems.

You may not particularly like Norton products, but you would do better to keep to accuracy, and not to falsehoods, or name calling.

Mark

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Depends whether you deal with Windows users
Nov 3, 2006 7:19AM PST

I have used Macs since 1992. I all that time, I have only had one virus, back in the days of OS 7.5 I think. This did something funny to print spooling(I can't remember the details) and took about 5 minutes to remove.

However, I have always run AV software(Virex originally, now Norton) because I get a lot of e-mail from WIndows users, some of it carrying viruses. Whilst these have absolutely no impact on my Macs, I just feel that as a good Net citizen is is worth the UKP 20 a year to avoid propagating these to other Windows users when I reply to or forward messages.

My 2 pennorth as we say in the UK

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Symantec
Nov 3, 2006 8:52AM PST

What would you call a product that introduced a vulnerability into your OS and that called itself a Security Suite?

Yep, Norton AV for Mac. Also for Windows.
Source: http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/Content/2005.02.08.html

Norton products have become increasingly dangerous for Mac users, so much so that Symantec no longer produce their System Works (an oxymoron if there ever was one) for Mac. It was a dangerous piece of software.
While I agree that Norton products were not quite a virus, they came pretty close and opened holes that were not there before. Not name calling, not falsehoods, Norton no longer have a good name in the Mac world.

P

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(NT) (NT) Acceptted, but he should clarify his post.
Nov 3, 2006 1:19PM PST
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Anti-Virus Software
Nov 3, 2006 1:28PM PST

I would Get Intego's Internet Security Barrier X4 for Mac. It is a universal application and works with both Intel Based and PowerPC based Mac Computers. Out of all the review I have looked at this is the better security suite. You will however have to fork out $149.95 for a single user liscense, but I think it is worth it.

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price correction
Dec 23, 2006 4:06AM PST

On the Apple website you can get Intego NetBarrier X4 for $69.95, and on Amazon.com they have it for $59.95 and free shipping, in case anyone is interested.

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Intel Mac Antivirus & Firewall...
Dec 28, 2006 10:52AM PST

I have found Intego NetBarrier & VirusBarrier to be very helpful. They have lots of settings to suit your style and they are very stable. I've been using them for years...

Happy

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Did they ever catch a Mac virus
Dec 28, 2006 10:59AM PST

in OS 9 or OS X?

P