Do we need antivirus on a Mac?
By GjAMastEr
@gjabaigar (2200)
Philippines
January 20, 2009 7:22am CST
^_^ Howdy!.... Mylotters!....
Do a Mac need some installation of antivirus softwares? Is it a must? Or not necessarily needed?
I'm not yet a Mac users but soon I will. I know there are some antivirus for Mac like from McAfee but I want to know more also the other antivirus software for Mac.
^_^ Thanks.... Enjoy mylotting!....
4 responses
@saichandtalluri (1486)
• India
20 Jan 09
I don't know anything about Mac because i am not using Mac. I hope for every operating system there is virus so Anti-Virus is important for Mac also.
I think Norton is there for Mac.
@michel_sun (219)
• China
21 Jan 09
In fact, there is no need to install an Anti-Virus software in your MAC. To most of us, MAC is safe enough. Don't worry about your bank account, because you maybe can't use your bank online on Mac.
@gjabaigar (2200)
• Philippines
21 Jan 09
^_^ Thanks! michel_sun!....
Why can't use the bank online on Mac? I do online banking on my Ubuntu.
@Zaphan (710)
• Philippines
21 Jan 09
uhmm.. I believe that viruses are made for windows only.. they say that this viruses won't harm your system Mac. I have my ubunto os and it is based on mac.. I experimented I put windows viruses and nothing happened. maybe you need it or maybe not... but mac is a great operating system...
@unusualsuspect (2602)
• United States
20 Jan 09
If you're going to go to the kinds of sites where viruses often come from -- gaming, downloading, etc., then you definitely need an anti-virus program. Also if you have a habit of opening emails from strangers. Macs don't get a lot of viruses, but there are more of them lately. I've never used any anti-virus, but I'm a very careful internet user and I'm not interested in the sites that expose you to viruses, so I've never had a problem.
Norton is one of the anti-virus programs, and there are several others. There's also a shareware program that you can probably find at Version Tracker.
@gjabaigar (2200)
• Philippines
21 Jan 09
^_^ Thanks! For the nice comment of yours, unusualysuspect....
So as you said, antivirus for mac is not necessary to install. I'm using Ubuntu actually right for a year now. And do not install antivirus even though they are just a few of them and not minding them at all. So, Mac is really almost like linux ubuntu as per a secured system is on concern.
I've visited some high critical website that's surely have lots of spywares and possibly even catching some virus or worms. I notice it has little effect on the browser i.e. I'm using Firefox. Firefox will can get corrupted sometimes but the whole system of Ubuntu it does not affected at all even a single scratch. So, at Firefox I installed Add-ons like "no-script" and "McAfee SiteAdvisor"....
^_^ Enjoy!
@spriggy (27)
•
20 Jan 09
Hi,
I get this question everyday when I am at work. Do macs need antivirus packages. Although the Mac is more superior than the Pc when it comes to security issues I would still say yes.
Even though there are not many virii written for the mac you still have an issue regarding ID theft from the not so genuine websites that are set-up to phish for your personal information. Also if you send emails to a windows user you can potentially send the virus that was written to affect windows machines in it therefore acting as a carrier, this also is the case if you have a network with a mac and a pc.
So if anyone says you do not need an antivirus or an internet security for a mac then ask them how would they feel if their identity got stolen because they did not have any protection from phishing websites.
