Mac Antivirus Software
Mac antivirus software is as hard to find as actual Mac viruses, but there are a few packages that come from well-established sources, both commerical and open-source, as cheap as “free” (meaning a well-intentioned donation on your part) up to a couple of hundred bucks. The line-up consists of some familiar faces and some new “acts.” Here’s what we’ve got:
Norton AV for the Mac: Pros – well-established, committed “lab”, fairly cheap per station, auto-updates, prior version resource hogging is reputedly better. MacWorld has a positive review. I believe that Norton AV gives the operator a little more control over what it pays attention to, which can be helpful. Cons – Norton is well-hated in the underground/typical computerist community for squingy code. I have personally had to manually dis-install frickin’ Norton from two Windows machines and paid for support to liberate a third when it would repeatedly corrupt the XP “hive.” I still have a half-uninstalled Norton Systemworks product on my Win PC and I can’t get rid of it.
View: Notwithstanding Norton’s bad rep for crappy installations, system crashes and unbootable drives, this current version is getting fairly good reviews from users, tech forums and mags alike. Rather hard to form the words, but I’d have to say it might be worth a throw in light of recent experiences with Virex. Unless, of course, there were other choices (which there are, dear reader, so read on!)
McAfee: Pros – apparently always just one step behind Norton in discovering viruses (check the time stamps). There is a free Java-based “Housecall” version that works better (for the PC) than Norton AV, is seamless in the background and requires no installation other than a small applet. Cons: Virex closely watches any file writes or anything that causes a modification to the modified date. I don’t see a way to fix this without compromising security in a rather broad way. Support is very weak historically and their forums are not useful. I’m not a fan in light of other choices.
View – McAfee really has had the time to make Virex work. They mean well, but the news doens’t seem too bright. I would probably use Norton’s new AV if there was no other choice.
Sophos: Just don’t know it, but Pros – business-oriented, enterprise-wide solution that apparently offers a specific version for OS X server. They also make an appliance. Cons – more expensive than the alternatives. Looking at the documentation, I would have to say that this is the only offering in the bunch that actually has a learning curve. On the other hand, a learning curve could predict the power of the software, a la Quark – or it could simply be clunky. A trial is available.
View: I’d have a look-see especially since there is server and Windows sister apps. I’m not sure I could learn to use it before the eval period expired, though.
Intego VirusBarrier: Pros – Not a port: native Mac OS X. MacWorld, CNET reviews say that it runs much faster and more transparently than Norton. It’s cheaper on a multiple license basis than any of the others. Self-updates, easy to use. Free eval download. Cons – There are some installation issues, but there are work-arounds in their FAQ on their website, in re: Tiger. A very small percentage of users have problems with stability, but I would emphasize “small” by my research.
View – This software is seductively priced and seems to be supported. If it was my money, I might give it a go, if only to say “Our Macs files have been scanned for viruses.”
ClamXav – Pros – Free / shareware. Rides atop ClamAV which is purportedly stable, reliable and fast. ClamXav is the GUI for it. Allows selective scanning by folder / hot folder which seems low tech and economical, in a good way. Cons – It’s open source. Support is limited to the “community” of users / programmers.
View: Has a definite fanbase – might be worth a try for the price – free.
To sum up, I’d order my “try-outs” as VirusBarrier, Sophos, ClamXav, Norton and Virex, in that order. There are no other truly commericial products and I’m wary of relying on 0.09839 releases of a garage beta to do any kind of protectin’.
If you must have anti-virus software for the Mac, the free trials are a good bet, on a single system. The problem, of course, is that with the paucity of Mac worms, viruses and Trojans, who knows if it’s working?
The old rules are the first best protection – avoid downloading ANYTHING from the interent unless it’s a known, trusted source (and a it’s permitted source, in a company setting,) don’t install anything without your admin’s explicit permission, don’t open e-mail attachments unless the person sending it can describe to you, in person (as in, by phone or in the e-mail) exactly what it is, and you understand what the file is and expect it, and log in unless a limited permissions password, not your Admin account.
Additional Info:
Websites:
Norton AV 10.0 for Mac – http://www.symantec.com/small_business/products/internet_security/nav10mac/index.html
Virex – http://www.mcafee.com/us/products/mcafee/antivirus/desktop/virex.htm
Sophos – http://www.sophos.com/products/es/endpoint-server/sav-mac.html
Intego VirusBarrier – http://www.intego.com/virusbarrier/
ClamXav – http://www.clamxav.com