Anti-virus/spyware for Mac X OS?

Is it worth getting an anti-virus program for the Mac X OS?

I rarely hear about apple getting infected with a virus.

For an anti-virus program what do you recommend?

What about spyware? Does a Mac ever get spyware?

 

From what I hear about Mac it's alot less prone to get a virus, I doubt that anti virus software is even made for the Mac.

 

Though the Mac OS is much less worrisome when it comes to viruses, it isn't so much that it's virus-proof as much as there just aren't that many viruses that are created to attack a mac system. But they do exist. And even if you happen to be "immune" to a particular virus, there is still the possibility that you could pass it along to a computer that isn't.

If you want to be on the safe side (and I think it's always better to be safe than sorry) Norton makes antivirus software for Mac, as do some other companies.

 

there are 67 viruses on the mac ever made in history...most of which were made over 5 years ago and dont function on Mac osx.

I dont think u need anything.

And Spyawre doesnt excist on a mac btw.

 

you don't need such programs on mac os x

 

I have an apple since almost 2 years and never needed an anti virus. Never even had any problems with spyware/adware crap either. I've always found the Apple to be extremely useful as a reliable backup to my windows pc as it has never let me down.

 

At the very least i would turn on the firewall. This will help keep out any intrusions. And if you don't need them, turn off filesharing options. If you are careful with what you do online, out side of a necessary firewall, viruses are fairly easy to avoid.

One of the major security points is that anything major that tries to install will ask for your admin password to install it. So right there you get an alert that something is going on.

 

Spyware will be getting to Macs soon enough, due to Apple's market share growing, it wont be long before authors start targeting Mac machines.

 

even so, OS X is much better built and secured so it should stand up against the attackers better then windows does. Plus the fact that alot of stuff needs your permission before it can proceed.

 

No doubt about the OS's build quality, but really anything made by humans are in someway faulty, I would estimate that MAC will eventually someday get to where the Windows environment problems are.

I understand there is a password needed for any changes, but there will be some way found around that.

 

There is antivirus software for Mac. Norton Antivirus 10.0 for Mac is available and includes a desktop widget; however, no viruses have yet compromised a system running OS X Tiger, and are extremely rare on Macs.

 

I'd never use Norton or McAfee, both take up too many resources and are mostly useless. I removed Norton from my Windows PC since it informed me of a virus but couldnt do anything with it. Installed Avast for free and it's working far better than Norton crap.

 

Yes, but will Avast run on Mac OS X?

 

i never felt the need for antivirus on mac but then you can never be too safe. Check THIS OUT!

 

I agree. If for no other reason than the chance that an Apple user could pass along a virus that has no effect on his machine to a windows user.

 

Well, Macs are supposedly "invulnerable" to viruses unless you open them up. I personally don't think that any OS is perfect and is vulnerable to viruses. In addition, because the Mac community is growing, so is the likehood that hackers will target Macs as well as Windows, due to its higher profile.

 

Still, OS X is really secure, unless you have a hole in it, or a root drive active, they are really friggen hard to hack into.

 

Yes - I love my iMac for this exact reason. I was trying to bash Apple's OS - it's absolutely great (no annoying spyware/virus scans!!!). You don't need to shell out the money for anti-viruses and such. However, no OS is perfect, but Apple's OS X comes pretty darn close.