Eset Cybersecurity for Mac

I'm surprised no one on this forum has discussed this product, especially in light of the respected brand, even when it was launched last year or recently in light of the MacDefender paranoia.

Does no one here buy AV for OSX, if for no other reason than to ensure that our Windows counterparts don't get something inadvertently or to comply with security protocols at work?

And for those who have never ventured into the Windows world, ESET is a major AV company that has enjoyed a lot of use in the corporate world, especially pre-2010. They were known for their heuristics and low footprint, although of late other AVs have caught up in some respects.

I know I was pretty happy when ESET decided to venture into the Mac world, even if there was nothing for it to detect (come to think of it, I never had anything detected on the Windows side ever from any AV either ).


And of course all the major Windows names have done this to some extent (Kaspersky, Symantec (which has long since had a Mac version that didn't do anything), etc.). I wonder how they're doing compared to the more "established" Mac names (ClamXaV, Intego, Sophos, etc.).

 

I'm looking for AV for our OSX systems now after reading the Mac Defender piece on SlashDot. I expected this day to come eventually and now we are here. I think that some sophistication in dealing with the social engineering can prevent this sort of thing but I know that even legitimate websites can get hacked and infected or link to ads with malware.

I was looking at MacScan which is affiliated with MacSecure which puts out security bulletins and malware-removal tools. What I want is a security company that's going to be around for a while and that knows their stuff. I use Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows and the product is surprisingly good. I run scans with programs from other vendors and nothing has ever gotten by Security Essentials.

I'm not a fan of Norton as it's given me problems in the past. I would welcome a discussion of AV software for Mac OS X.

 

Norton 2010 and 2011 are surprisingly good products. A complete redesign from the bottom--the current Norton is nothing like the bloated, slow product people were used to during the 2000s. Now, it's incredibly fast, lightweight, and has good detection rates.

Unfortunately, the bad rep from the 2000s still persists, and a lot of people still associate Norton with slow, bloated AV. The reputation is justified for those years, but the new product is definitely worth trying.

Just like how, to this day, I still meet people who tell me "I prefer to use a computer that lets me rightclick on a mouse" when I mention Macs....

 

I just had a look at McAfee - $74 per license though the annual fees aren't bad. The Windows 3-pack is $55 so they're charging through the nose for Mac users where there are far fewer problems to scan for.

I'll take a look at the pricing for Norton.

 

No, I'm not looking for or interested in AV software at the moment. I don't see a reason to. As long as you pay attention to what you're installing, you'll be just fine as always. Did you guys see how people are installing "Mac Defender"? It's the oldest trick in the book. Make something that looks official, and get the user to install it. FAIL.

MacMost Now 555: Mac Defender Trojan <-- watch video for laughs

A trojan similar to this continues to make its rounds in Windows under names like "XP Internet Security" and is a real pain in the a** to remove. In fact, it's one of the worst I've seen.

Anyway, as for what AV to get, I'd recommend something free like Sophos. Seems pretty solid.

Edit: http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-antivirus-for-mac-home-edition.aspx

 

Norton is $80/user.

 

> No, I'm not looking for or interested in AV software at the moment. I don't
> see a reason to. As long as you pay attention to what you're installing,
> you'll be just fine as always. Did you guys see how people are installing
> "Mac Defender"? It's the oldest trick in the book. Make something that
> looks official, and get the user to install it. FAIL.

I have an unsophisticated user in the household and therefore need some level of protection. This is the foot in the door and I expect more to come.

Eset has attractive multi-user licensing.

 

There are a lot of reasons for installing AV software that have nothing to do with how likely you actually are to get a virus. Off the top of my head it could include:

1) requirements for your job or other security protocol (funny how they require you to use AV, but don't pay for it for your personal machine);

2) limitation of liability (e.g. you took all reasonable precautions in prevention and followed best practices--something Sony probably really hopes it can argue right about now though obviously their problem isn't lack of AV);

3) peace of mind for others who regularly receive files from you;

4) peace of mind for yourself;

5) at least some minimal protection if you ever decided, for whatever reason, emergency or otherwise, to let someone else use your machine, however briefly;

6) receipt of an innocuous scripted document that you were expecting from someone who you considered a trusted friend who suddenly decided while drunk it would be funny to embed a virus in the script that he knew you had to run;

7) etc. etc. etc.

Hey, it could happen. Considering the costs of AV (free + negligible system slowdown) vs inoculating yourself against that drunken friend, why not?

 

> 1) requirements for your job or other security protocol (funny how they
> require you to use AV, but don't pay for it for your personal machine);

My workplace requires you to use AV software on all Windows machines connected to the network and they provide it as well.

8) You downloaded software from a trusted site that was hacked with a payload embedded in the software that you installed.

 

no... why buy what you can get for free? Sophos for Mac for home use is free. They have a good product, and I'm sure their business versions are good too.

 

I started to download it but I had a problem with one of the points in the EULA.

 

I've used it, and own a license for it, but I've only had it installed for a grand total of about a week since I purchased said license, and that was about 5 months ago. ESET Cybersecurity is nice for what it is, but running it is definitely more noticeable in OS X than running an antivirus in Windows, in that it causes a perceptible 'lag' in everything I did, amongst other little annoying behaviors. All in all, I found it to be more trouble than it was worth.

 

I can't say for the Eset Cybersecurity for Mac software but I do have McAfee Security (for Mac) installed. I got that for free & have free updates to it but in the very few times that I booted into Mac OS Snow Leopard to just download the latest software updates even though I basically run Windows 7 on my MBP 24/7, I can tell you that having that McAfee software installed makes the Mac OS boot up quite slowly.

I humbly think that if speed is your thing, you might want to take note of that, especially since the Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software (Mac versions) don't seem to do anything worth installing it for.

 

Same--I do notice some slow-downs, especially at first. Then again, I do have it set to scan everything possible with advance heuristics on, and everything set to max....