Best Apple anti-virus software options for multiple devices (1 Viewer)

[EricSchulz]

What do you recommend for the best protection? I'm looking for something that will cover my Mac, iPhone and iPad if possible.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Personally I don't recommend an active antivirus for Mac or iOS. I installed ClamXav on my MacBook Pro when I bought it several years back and have only run it a handful of times to check an installer package for malware before installing it. Back in my Windows days, a good antivirus program was worth its weight in gold but since abonding Windows for Mac I haven't seen the need for one. That was one of the many reasons I switched. If you're smart about what you do, OS X and iOS are pretty safe and secure on their own. If you feel you need a yearly bloatware package, Avast, Symantec and Sophos say they make good ones.

 

[EricSchulz]

Personally I don't recommend an active antivirus for Mac or iOS. I installed ClamXav on my MacBook Pro when I bought it several years back and have only run it a handful of times to check an installer package for malware before installing it. Back in my Windows days, a good antivirus program was worth its weight in gold but since abonding Windows for Mac I haven't seen the need for one. That was one of the many reasons I switched. If you're smart about what you do, OS X and iOS are pretty safe and secure on their own. If you feel you need a yearly bloatware package, Avast, Symantec and Sophos say they make good ones.

I had lost tons with my PC getting infected years ago (mostly my own fault, going to sites that were sketchy) but am really careful since switching to my Mac in 2010. MOST artcles about Apple-infected hardware are from consumers putting themselves in situations where they are vulnerable. Just curious if I should add another layer of protection.

 

[Clinton McClure]

IF modern Mac antivirus programs are well written, do not chew up system resources, do not arbitrarily quarantine and/or delete system files rendering the Mac almost unusable or embed themselves so deeply in the OS that they can't be uninstalled without completely reformating and restoring your HD from a backup (I have seen all of the above) then it may be worth it for that extra tiny layer of protection. Whether you want to buy a yearly subscription to an av like Symantec or Bitdefender Antivirus (not worth the money, IMO) or get freeware like MalwareBytes Anti-Malware for Mac (the Windows version is an absolute must have), Avast, Sophos or Avira, the choice is yours. On the Windows side I eventually stopped using Symantec and Norton AVs and switched to a combo of MalwareBytes and Windows Defender, both of which are free and work very well. I can't intelligently answer about an av for iOS because I have never researched them.

 

[Sam Posten]

None

 

[Eve Babcock]

Maybe this article will help you. But personally I don't have any and I've never had any problems.

 

[DaveF]

There is no antivirus software for iOS devices.

I don't know what to say about antivirus for the OS X. We're getting past the trivially safe era of Mac computing. I think there are now in-the-wild attacks on the Mac, that don't require downloading pirated software from Chinese servers. But I'm not so concerned about it yet that that I regularly run AV software.

 

[Sam Posten]

The best AV is to uninstall Flash or better yet never install in the first place. If you must use flash do it via Chrome