Should I get anti-virus for my macbook?

[Rise]

Hey guys,

I just wanted your personal opinion. I know there isn't a virus out there and many have said that anti-virus inst a necessity with a macbook pro. Is that how you guys think also?

[Nicole!]

I've never owned a Mac personally, but my ex did say that Macs never get viruses on them. However I would get one just in case. Viruses can be nasty

[FlyingTrue]

Even though there aren't as many Mac viruses out there as there are Windows viruses, they are still out there. So personally I use antivirus protection on my MacBook.

[Digilodger]

Originally Posted by Rise

I just wanted your personal opinion. I know there isn't a virus out there and many have said that anti-virus inst a necessity with a macbook pro. Is that how you guys think also?

This is a losing battle for us but I'll keep fighting anyway (Never give up, right? ): Virus is just one type of malware. Malware includes virus, spyware, adware, trojan, keylogger, worm, backdoor, exploit, rootkit, dialer, URL injector, etc.

For some reason, virus has slowly becoming interchangeable with malware, making it really hard to tell what a person is talking about when he/she says "virus." It's confusing!


And this thread is a good example of how confusing this can be. When you say "virus" in your first post, do you mean "virus" as in malware or "virus" in its strict definition?

Originally Posted by Rise

I know there isn't a virus out there and many have said that anti-virus inst a necessity with a macbook pro.

Currently (as of the day I type this post, Jan. 30, 2012) we have no virus in the wild for Macs; that's true. However, we do have other malware in the wild that specifically targeting Macs, such as Trojans and keylogger.

The most recent example is the MacDefender (MacSecurity, MacProtector, etc.) malware. It wreaked havoc at around the first half of 2011, affected thousands of Mac users. See Wikipedia's article for more info; if you don't trust Wikipedia, Apple also has a support page for this malware. It was HUGE back then.


Not just directly, other ways exist as well. Here's an example of a Java-based malware that targeted Macs in 2010: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/27/...evel-disputed/


Apple itself admitted that we have "trojans" in the wild targeting Macs: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.h...n/mh11389.html

• "Frequently, a harmful application will try to appear as an innocent document, such as a movie or graphic file. These applications, called “trojans,” are most often spread by Internet downloads and email enclosures."

• "Run an antivirus program if you find any suspicious files or applications, or if you notice any suspicious behavior on your computer."

Originally Posted by Rise

I just wanted your personal opinion.

No, for now, I don't think Mac users need antivirus, unless you like to pirate stuffs around the web. I don't know how things would turn out in a few more years, though.

Check out this list of malware threats for Macs: http://www.iantivirus.com/threats/


Malware for Macs are out there, but not many or threatening at all. Heck, arguably the most dangerous malware ever released in the wild for Macs was the MacDefender malware last year, but even that only affected about ten thousand machines. No problem!

Even for me who have two computers running Windows 7, I still haven't gotten any malware on my system yet. So since Macs don't have as many malware target them, just be careful and you'll be fine. No need to waste resources and money for some little-used antivirus.


If I'm a careful person for whatever reason, then I would install one of the free antivirus for Macs (such as Sophos Home Edition or ClamXav, I prefer Sophos, personally). And just scan about once a week. I wouldn't even have have it running all the time or pay for commercial software.

[how.we.operate.]

First off...Mac viruses. Yes there are viruses for Macs but the reason why no one seems to think there are is because there aren't as many as there are when it comes to PCs.

Getting an anti-virus software...I had one for a while, but I haven't had use for it really. I got rid of mine after a good 1/2 a year. I would say skip it for now BUT always be careful with downloading and clicking links...stuff that is common knowledge.