need of a anti-virus software
- Thread starter LogicMan
- Start date
I think that's pretty un-nice to answer the thread like that. :/
First: While there are no viruses for OS X, there ARE a lot of viruses propagated through E-Mail. They're for Windows, but you never know whether a file you forward to somebody else will end up on a Windows machine, right? So: A BIT of reason there _is_ for antiviral software on the Mac.
Second: There's a free solution available. -> http://macintosh.fryke.com/cgi-bin/macnews2.cgi/2004/10/26#20041026_clamxav
First: While there are no viruses for OS X, there ARE a lot of viruses propagated through E-Mail. They're for Windows, but you never know whether a file you forward to somebody else will end up on a Windows machine, right? So: A BIT of reason there _is_ for antiviral software on the Mac.
Second: There's a free solution available. -> http://macintosh.fryke.com/cgi-bin/macnews2.cgi/2004/10/26#20041026_clamxav
perfessor101
Registered
Inexpensive and antivirus software do not fit into the same sentence. Not matter what brand you buy you will have to subscribe annually to the virus signatures (a.k.a. updates) and they all cost about the same.
Personally I think it is largely a matter of personal preference between the three.
- Norton Antivirus for Macintosh is about the only product for Macs that is still being developed by Symantec and more people swear by it than swear at it.
- Intego's Virus Barrier is the new kid on the block and seems to be okay. At least I have not seen or heard many complaints about it.
- Virex 7 works well for me, but it is only available to individuals as a perk of the .Mac membership. According to how you value the .Mac features either the Virex subscription more than cuts the cost of .Mac membership in half or vice-versa.
Personally I think it is largely a matter of personal preference between the three.
There are plenty of viruses that can spread through a Mac, even if they don't affect them. Word viruses are a pain too.
I currently have Norton AV installed at a small business I do work for, it sucks, period. Especially on a network, NAV's auto-update sucks as it store it's update schedule on a per-user basis instead of being able to set it up with an admin account for everyone. And when the update runs, it's slow and takes over the screen.
I tried VirusBarrier before using NAV and it kept screwing up network shares, and now I find them questionable because they keep making up these new "viruses" that everyone should be worried about.
Virex sucked because of no auto-update, no on-access scanning, etc. It was very clumsy. I haven't tried the new version, but it's .Mac anyway and I've never like any MacAfee product for Windows either.
Sophos was pretty cool. I haven't look into pricing, but they cater to businesses only. Also, their defs are only updated every month or so, which seems odd, and I don't think their auto-update works unless it's running on a Windows server, someone still has to manually download the updates every month which is no good for people that can't even burn a CD or use email attachments and they have no in-office IT staff.
I need something for the company that requires no user interaction to work, background scanning, unobtrusive auto-updating, etc. I think I'm going to give ClamAV a try, nothing else really fits the bill.
It's sad they need any, they're an all-Mac business, but a few months ago they got swamped with email viruses from clients that use Windows and kept inadvertently sending them to other clients, it was a huge mess, important documents kept getting bounced back, etc. We ran a virus scan and found hundreds of infected files on every machine in the office.
I currently have Norton AV installed at a small business I do work for, it sucks, period. Especially on a network, NAV's auto-update sucks as it store it's update schedule on a per-user basis instead of being able to set it up with an admin account for everyone. And when the update runs, it's slow and takes over the screen.
I tried VirusBarrier before using NAV and it kept screwing up network shares, and now I find them questionable because they keep making up these new "viruses" that everyone should be worried about.
Virex sucked because of no auto-update, no on-access scanning, etc. It was very clumsy. I haven't tried the new version, but it's .Mac anyway and I've never like any MacAfee product for Windows either.
Sophos was pretty cool. I haven't look into pricing, but they cater to businesses only. Also, their defs are only updated every month or so, which seems odd, and I don't think their auto-update works unless it's running on a Windows server, someone still has to manually download the updates every month which is no good for people that can't even burn a CD or use email attachments and they have no in-office IT staff.
I need something for the company that requires no user interaction to work, background scanning, unobtrusive auto-updating, etc. I think I'm going to give ClamAV a try, nothing else really fits the bill.
It's sad they need any, they're an all-Mac business, but a few months ago they got swamped with email viruses from clients that use Windows and kept inadvertently sending them to other clients, it was a huge mess, important documents kept getting bounced back, etc. We ran a virus scan and found hundreds of infected files on every machine in the office.
perfessor101
Registered
Actually Virex's auto update feature works quite well on all the Macs around here. That was added sometime back. In fact all you are complaining about does work in Virex 7.5 which was on the .Mac site for a short while and then withdrawn for some reason. However, I got Virex 7.5 and have had no problems with it.btoth said:
The last time I checked, which was a couple of years ago Sophos was only available as an annual subscription at $125 per seat per year and I think you had to buy a minimum of 10 seats. With only three machines that was definitely out of my price range.
The monthly virus signature update cycle is the norm for all Mac anti-virus software. Fortunately Macs have not needed the daily or weekly update schedule required for PC safety. And while on that subject, I have never run across a case where a Microsoft macro virus has damaged a Mac running OS X. I am not saying it has not happened, but it is very rare.
As far as I am concerned the only reason at present for running anti-virus software on a Mac is to protect our poor benighted PC using brothers and sisters from attachments we might forward to them. However that is subject to change at any moment.
Norton products for Mac OS X are best described as JUNK. I'd stay as far away as possible from them.
Virex was still available from McAfee the last time I checked a few months ago. I've used it to scan files on the server since it's holding files for two Win2KPro machines, it's done it's job well and caught a few that the PC versions of Norton AV (junk also) have missed. I have a copy of it installed on the iBook, but it's only seen use once in the past year. I had to scan a file I received in an e-mail from a family member (whose computer has been infected so many times it's not funny) before passing that file along.
Virex was still available from McAfee the last time I checked a few months ago. I've used it to scan files on the server since it's holding files for two Win2KPro machines, it's done it's job well and caught a few that the PC versions of Norton AV (junk also) have missed. I have a copy of it installed on the iBook, but it's only seen use once in the past year. I had to scan a file I received in an e-mail from a family member (whose computer has been infected so many times it's not funny) before passing that file along.
perfessor101
Registered
As I was reading this thread this morning, Virex 7.5 popped up to warn me that an attachment to an just received email contained the Netsky virus. So at least I know that it does detect virii.
