This goes out to the Mac users: Are there free firewall and antivirus programs for the Mac OS X? On my PC, I use ZoneAlarm which is available free for personal use. I also use Avast! which carries a similar licensing. I just checked and neither offer a free Mac version. What's the consensus of the Mac users here? Do you use a free software or purchase protection?
You probably don't need anything. Not many malware writers bother to try to get through the built in Mac OS defenses.
Before I answer, think about this question: Have you ever known anyone with a Mac who ever had a virus on their computer? :madgrin: That said, there is an open source freeware AV called ClamXAV. I actually sent a donation to the owner because I think it is a good program. And I actually found a couple of Windows viruses (are there any other type?) in my Virtual PC virtual HD a couple of years ago. OS X has a built in firewall, but I also use Little Snitch (not freeware, it cost $29.95) which is an outgoing firewall that will alert you to applications that want to phone home. It is interesting to see which apps are trying to connect and you have the power to veto the connection if you want.
I use 'private browsing' and 'reset safari' all the time. No extra firewall or antivirus installed. File sharing turned off, cable connection - not wireless. Invisible network with encrypted password. I'm not aware of any problems, put it that way. I have a windows pc too, but it isn't connected to the net. Hack that. :hand:
I bought my wife a MacBook for Christmas. From time to time I hit up the Mac Experts around here for info. Thanks for the thoughts, guys. I read them to her and she is more at ease now with not having programs specifically set up for firewall and antivirus. As much as I talk about PC's collective knowledge and available information, she knows that if you all say so then it must be true.
You should have at least Little Snitch, it's worth the money. A lot of Mac users have a false sense of security, thinking that their Macs are somehow immune to what ails WinBlows computers but the virus writers have paid attention to the increasing popularity of Macs so I wouldn't work from the assumption that you don't need the at least the protection of a firewall.
Theoretically you don't really need to use either as most of the mal-ware out there is for PC users. If you are looking for free/shareware software then a good place to start is Free Downloads Encyclopedia - Softpedia they have a lot of listing for all computers. Also Avast have a mac version of their antivirus software out there.
I have been using Macs at home for several years without any extra anti-virus or firewall software. The Houston Chronicle's PC columnist started using a mac last year and is slightly less sanguine about it. He recommends iantivirus. Click HERE for his archived blog. Scroll down to Dec. 22 article.
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. The Mac Avast! is not free. I choose to pursue all free options before spending money. With my and my family's current success with Avast! and the reports from my friends and coworkers, I would buy Avast! if I need to spend money. I have used it for free for so long that I start to feel that I owe them.
Actually, the only "successful" malware attacks that I have heard about on the Mac are Trojan Horse attacks. And even those seem to be pretty infrequent. So, unless you are downloading strange files from File Sharing sites or Porn sites, your chance of malware is pretty remote. That is why I like Little Snitch; if you did inadvertantly download some spyware or malware, you would have a better chance of catching the malware trying to phone home.
You don't need a firewall for most purposes. Leopard, the current OS X release, comes with not only an "application firewall" that gets configured through a GUI but also a traditional kernel-level stateful packet filter called "ipfw" which has been in a handful of BSDs for years as well as OSX pretty much since the beginning. Since the app-firewall is a newer thing and I *still* haven't found exactly where/how its configuration is stored, I back it up with a ten-line ipfw ruleset dropped into /etc/rc.local. To handle the outbound side, I take advantage of the fact that proxy settings are global to the machine [except for firefox which maintains its own] and run everything web-like through a logging proxy which can deny certain things [e.g. *.apple.com unless I'm going after something specific] and show me everything being requested. [Including the entirety of this post's form-submittal HTTP transaction, once I fire it off.] . Mac viruses are pretty uncommon, especially when users are fairly isolated from administrative privilege by default. To make this distinction clearer, set your main user account up as a NON-admin group one, leaving the first one you created as an administrative layer you ONLY invoke to do installs, updates, etc. That disallows you from writing to system directories owned by the admin group, such as [eep!] /Applications. That helps constrain malware to only running in your context if it gains a foothold, not being able to take over the whole machine. It's also a bit harder for malware to conceal itself in a real unix environment; it would probably have to install itself as a kext if it was going to be that smart. . There are several good OS X hardening references kicking around on the net. "Launchctl" is your friend, but the best virus protection is YOU. Don't click on questionable stuff, turn off scripting in your browsers, and you should be fine. Oh, and junk Safari early in the game, it's crap. . _H*
That is the best advice possible. Ubuntu is fairly easy to setup that way. Running FireFox, the NoScript addon works *very* well at blocking scripts, especially those that seem to infest .... um ..... naughty sites. Perhaps too aggressive, NoScript is still a nice simple addon
I'm not exactly a Mac fanboy, but as a fan of all that is open-source, might I suggest checking Find Open Source Alternatives to commercial software | Open Source Alternative - osalt.com They seem to have a pretty good selection of all things open-source for just about any OS on the market.
There are free security alternatives for the Mac Intel Platform... iAntivirus Free Edition iAntiVirus Free Edition - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com ClamXav Antivirus ClamXav - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com WaterRoof Firewall WaterRoof - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com iServices Trojan Removal Tool iServices Trojan Removal Tool - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com MacScan is not free but is excellent as is Norton 9 for Mac.:rockon:
Waterroof is a wrapper for creating "ipfw" rulesets. Not needed if you grok packet filtering, and the manpage is pretty comprehensive. . _H*
Tony, you might also consider setting up your home network to use OpenDNS.com which will let you block nasty domains and ad trackers and set up shortcuts. You can make a shortcut called pc that expands into http://priuschat.com so you can get on even easier.
