Mac mini up and running. What's the antivirus and firewall software of choice?
in [Mac Systems]
|
From: Mike Barnard on 13 Aug 2010 14:53 "Mac's don't get viruses" Or do they?
From: Lloyd Parsons on 13 Aug 2010 15:00 In article <o25b661gkr5r421ko94h8kn8pkn9hbmfgv(a)4ax.com>, Mike Barnard <m.barnard.trousers(a)thunderin.co.uk> wrote: > "Mac's don't get viruses" Or do they? Today they don't, who knows what tomorrow brings? -- Lloyd
From: Jolly Roger on 13 Aug 2010 15:12 In article <o25b661gkr5r421ko94h8kn8pkn9hbmfgv(a)4ax.com>, Mike Barnard <m.barnard.trousers(a)thunderin.co.uk> wrote: > "Mac's don't get viruses" Or do they? Mac OS X has a built-in firewall (System Preferences > Security > Firewall). If you are using a hardware router with its own built-in hardware firewall, there's no need to use the Mac OS X firewall in your Mac mini, though. There are no Mac OS X viruses in the wild. None. And it has been this way for the past decade. There is no need to run antivirus software on your Mac. In fact, most Mac OS antivirus software from major corporations such as Symantec, Sophos, and the like is notoriously buggy and causes more problems than it solves. You're truly better off simply using good computing practices and doing without such crappy software. -- Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts. JR
From: Jolly Roger on 13 Aug 2010 15:16 In article <o25b661gkr5r421ko94h8kn8pkn9hbmfgv(a)4ax.com>, Mike Barnard <m.barnard.trousers(a)thunderin.co.uk> wrote: > "Mac's don't get viruses" Or do they? To directly answer your question: Like any operating system, Mac OS X isn't impervious to virus attacks. But it is significantly harder for virus writers to get a Mac virus to gain traction than a Windows virus, for lots of sound reasons I won't bother to go into here. For that reason Mac users have had a relatively worry-free user experience regarding viruses. If you did bother to run antivirus software on your Mac, and you were willing to put up with the bugs and problems related to doing so, you'd still not be any better protected, because to date there are no Mac viruses in the wild for Mac OS X. Such software can't magically protect you from what does not yet exist. -- Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me. E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts. JR
From: Suze on 13 Aug 2010 16:30
In article <o25b661gkr5r421ko94h8kn8pkn9hbmfgv(a)4ax.com>, Mike Barnard <m.barnard.trousers(a)thunderin.co.uk> wrote: > "Mac's don't get viruses" Or do they? I remember one time many years ago when my husband got some kind of Mac worm that necessitated his wiping his drive and re-installing the system. AFAIK, that is the only viral problem my hubbie or I have ever experienced on Macs. (He's been on Macs since around 1981 and me since 1995). I don't have virus programs and don't recommend them. I do keep my firewall up, and as long as you do that, I personally think you'll be fine. It's one of the more pleasurable things about running a Mac, from where I sit. I have a work windoze PC, and I would not dream of running it without virus software. Despite having virus software on every computer in our company, virii still get into the system periodically and several employees have had to have their drives re-imaged. -- Suze Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of them are stupider than that. |