Sophos gives away free AV software for Mac users

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dclegg

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#70995 3-Nov-2010 11:34

http://www.techday.co.nz/macguide/news/sophos-gives-away-mac-anti-virus/18594/4/

I've only been using Macs for a little over a year (first replaced my desktop and now my work laptop), and during that time I'd never been sure as to how important it is to have AV software on my Mac. I know the Apple spin machine will say that AV software is not required, but is this the reality? Do the downsides of running AV software (in terms of machine resource usage) outweigh the protection that it would offer, or is the Mac virus market getting to a point where AV solutions should be considered now?

muppet

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#399542 3-Nov-2010 11:36

Depends. Do you download a lot of stuff that requires root to install? Do you just blindly type in your root password? If so, you probably want this.

The flipside is I've had an XP box with no antivirus for ~2 years and had no problems.

I'm sure this'll provoke some heated responses, but Antivirus software is basically insurance for stupid/non-technical people.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

dclegg

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#399547 3-Nov-2010 11:43

muppet: Depends. Do you download a lot of stuff that requires root to install? Do you just blindly type in your root password? If so, you probably want this.

The flipside is I've had an XP box with no antivirus for ~2 years and had no problems.

I'm sure this'll provoke some heated responses, but Antivirus software is basically insurance for stupid/non-technical people.

I'm a software developer with many years computing experience up my sleeve. As such I like to think I have pretty good sense when it comes to safe computing practices. But our desktop is used by other members of the family (from 9 upwards), so that awareness isn't there for all users. I've tried to educate them as best as possible, but that only gets one so far when they are drawn in by that oh so cute unicorn emoticon set ("Its so fluffy, I'm gonna die!"), and forget all the rules and lessons they've had drummed into them.

That being said, they wouldn't know what a root account is, and I've definitely not given them the root password, and any software installs that ask for a password result in "Dad? A little help here!".

muppet

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#399550 3-Nov-2010 11:51

I think you'll be fine then.

There is always the risk of course of a bit of software that manages to exploit a suid binary on Mac OSX, but really if there's an exploit like that out there you'd hope that Apple would patch it quickly. I think the time between when AV might protect you vs Apple patching such a exploit would be fairly small.

So IMHO, Antivirus on a Mac is pointless.

But I don't own a Mac, so maybe I'm not up to speed.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

gehenna

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#399559 3-Nov-2010 12:04

Unless you're installing unsigned software from nefarious sources such as TPB, I really wouldn't bother.

michaelmurfy

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#399573 3-Nov-2010 12:58

I have never used any antivirus software on any of my PC's ever.
Even back in the day when I was running Windows.
There's no point in AV software for well-educated people, just adds CPU clocks + uses up your ram.

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Ragnor

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#399629 3-Nov-2010 14:17

I disagree!

The performance impact of a decent free AV is minimal these days and it's just an extra safety feature akin to wearing a helmet whilst riding a bike or a seatbelt while driving a car.

99% of the time you won't need it but hey that 1% of the time it can be very useful.

I think it's worthwhile especially if you have not as geeky family members etc use your machine from time to time.

Don't forget USB drives are a common attack vector to these days if you ever use them on shared computers or lend them to friends and family.

ethanrose

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#399796 3-Nov-2010 19:48

I think antivirus on Mac is for new-to-mac PC converts who believe they should be "scared of hackers".

Little do they know that Mac's have so few viruses they probably don't need and that said program could never stop a hacker anyway

I have worked with Mac's for years and never seen need for anything but regular updates and a secure password.