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General discussion

Virus attack on Mac

by awalwah Apr 24, 2005 6:51PM PDT

Hello guys,
How secured is MAC from virus attack no one can guarantee. That is why Virex is created for MAC as MAC is gaining popularity and there maybe some virus writer try to prove their capabality. Soon or later MAC going to be a playground for them. I'm thinking of downloading virus protection software from internet.Is there any free software for MAC out there beside Virex which has to be purchased.

Do virus protection slow down my MAC in anyway? I experienced it on Windows PC as protection software running on the background, same goes to Microsoft antispyware. It is quite annoying when popup blocker windows pops out every time I switched page and my homepage always been redirect to some page even though I already quaranteen/delete them. This experienced really disturbing me and that explain why I thinking of taking proactive measures here before it strike me again on my Mac.

Discussion is locked

16 Posts
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AV for Mac
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Apr 24, 2005 8:56PM PDT

I don't know of any free AV for the Mac. Virex is a reasonable choice as is the Symantec product. Both work well and will detect Windows virus's so that you do not infect the other side with your email attachments.
Bear in mind that neither of these products will be able to prevent the first OS X virus from getting through. An AV program is only as good as its last virus definitions update and, currently, there are no Mac OS X virus definitions in either company's definition file. OS X is inherently more secure than windows.

Go for either of the two products and run your firewall.

Hope this helps

P

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OS X Virus
by awalwah Apr 25, 2005 12:24AM PDT

Thanks mrmaxficit.

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firewall
by awalwah Apr 25, 2005 12:33AM PDT

Could you explain briefly how to set firewall? This sort of thing is new to me(just recently switched to MacHappy )
Last time when I was on window I never bother about running firewall

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Firewall
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Apr 25, 2005 12:15PM PDT

you must be very brave, running a PC without a firewall!

Go to the System Preferences, File Sharing, Firewall tab and turn the firewall on.
It prevents incoming probes to your machine. If you purchase the Norton Personal Firewall, you will be asked to turn off the Apple Firewall when you install it. Two firewalls will not play nice with each other.

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Brave
by awalwah Apr 25, 2005 4:12PM PDT

Thanks mrmacfixit,
Not brave but stupid Sad
I thought antivirus is good enought !

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Firewall
by taboma. Apr 29, 2005 4:08PM PDT

P, Nice post! And info to anyone on a Mac or a PC.

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Thanks for great advice!
by mprah May 20, 2005 3:43AM PDT

I was reading over your shoulder and you gave me a great tip. I just installed Tiger and had not turned on my firewall. Now I have it on. I owe you one!

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Use care in AV selection
by Norm_Roberts May 24, 2005 8:35PM PDT

I installed Norton System Works 3.0.3 for Macintosh on my G5 2.0. After upgrading/updating to OS X 10.4.1, NSW had to be re-installed. After re-installing NSW, I discovered my system and disk were corrupted. It doesn't appear the software is compatible with OS X 10.4.1.

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Virex and Symantec
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator May 24, 2005 10:02PM PDT

are NOT compatible with Tiger.

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Symantec
by squirri Jun 10, 2005 8:34AM PDT

According to their website, the latest version of NAV(V 10) woks with Tiger. Of course, you have to buy it - there is no upgrade apparently). Sigh....

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That is true,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Jun 10, 2005 9:28AM PDT

I wonder what OS X virus's it can find??? Happy

P

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True and off subject
by taboma. Jun 12, 2005 3:50PM PDT

P, Maybe blossom drop on the fruit trees?

Kevin

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yes there is!
by PCfluent Jul 18, 2005 1:25PM PDT
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ClamXav
by brookeb Nov 29, 2005 2:58AM PST

I started using ClamXav when VirusBarrier wanted to charge me for an update after only nine months of use. ClamX is a little tricky ... as far as I can see, you can only scan one file at a time (i.e., mail) ... but so far, it seems to be working. BTW, you have to install some ClamX engine first before you can operate the anti-virus software, so remember that. (Read the directions.) But it's free, so if you can deal with all of the other stuff, it seems to be a worthy (and cost-free!) alternative.

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Speed Up Mac
by techrecover Jan 4, 2011 2:04PM PST

My mac was also running very slow. Earlier I doubt if its a virus attack . But later when I deleted some language files using the Stellar Speed up mac and Mac disk utility, and freed some hard drive space , it started performing little better and faster.

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Yep, sure sign that it was not a virus.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Jan 4, 2011 8:58PM PST

Still no virus capable of attacking OS X and replicating itself.

P

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