Running anti-virus software on the mac

Rounik- I should have told you this, but yesterday you download free anti-virus software for the mac which is usually $30. I did it late last night and just wanted to get your take on running something like this on OSX. I know mac's are pretty much virus free but was interested to know what your thoughts are and if you run anything like this yourself?

Thanks,

Here's the software I now use
http://macscan.securemac.com/about/

Darn it! I meant to download that Virus Scanner when it was offered free that day too... completely forgot!

Ah well... I've never (99% certain) had a virus on my Mac. In fact, I'm not aware of any viruses for Mac in the wild. Sure there are a couple of bits of malware floating around on..er.. unsavoury sites (so it's been reported)... but I'm very careful where I visit and what I download.

I remember when iWork '09 was released reading about a torrent site where some people downloaded a cracked version which had been "infected"... another good reason to steer clear of pirated software IMHO.

OSX is a very secure operating system unlike Windows. As it becomes more and more popular it might well be that hackers/virus writers begin to target it more...

... and although there are no known viruses designed to attack the Mac I've come across I know that we can still be "carriers" for viruses - which may be sent on to and infect our PC friends...

The last time I seriously tried an Anti-Virus app on my Mac was in 2004 I think... it was the then current version of Norton anti-virus... a complete waste of time, resources and bogged my system down with no added benefit.

In general my moto is to browse safely, download only from sites you trust, install applications you trust and keep backups of your system drive.

Having said all that it would be interesting to know your experiences using MacScan.

Let us know!
Rounik

p.s. there's a good app for Mac called "Little Snitch" that tells you when any app/service tries to "contact home". I use that occasionally - as I'm curious just how much Google want to know about me!

:)

You can try ClamxAV.

http://www.clamxav.com/

It is a great freeware virus scan tool for Mac. It searches your Mac and informs you of any threats. It doesn't delete them, so you have to go in and delete the mentioned files manually.

Im my 7 years of working on Mac's I have yet to see a virus. Like Rounik mentioned, there was the one infected file associated the with the iWork 09 torrent.

But it doesn't hurt to run ClamXav every now and then for safe measures.

Hey Gary,

Yes, it's also worth bearing in mind that if you either run Windows on your Mac or pass files back and forth between Windows machines, it's possible that you are "transporting" a windows virus -- although these don't affect your Mac, they can affect your friend's Windows PC...

:)

True. That's one of the great reasons of being on Mac. Not getting infected by friends files when they forget to virus check them.