Do Apple Computers require an Antivirus software program?

Question

As a lifelong Windows user, I just bought an Apple Macbook Pro. I was wondering whether Apple computers require Antiviral programs as Windows products do.

I typically use Norton programs and have Norton Internet Security 2006 installed on my primary PC. If such a program is necessary, what program would you recommend?

What Apple compatible antivirus program is the most popular?

Answer 1

I don't know the name of the program, but YES YOU DO NEED anti-virus for the Mac.

Please read the following articles.

Mac Virus / Worm
http://msn.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124755,00.asp

And more important.
http://msn.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124543,00.asp

2006-08-02
Apple fixes 26 Mac OS flaws

By Joris Evers, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: August 2, 2006, 5:25 AM PT





Apple Computer issued on Tuesday updates for its Mac OS X operating system to fix 26 security flaws, some serious.

Several of the vulnerabilities affect the way in which Mac OS X handles images and the file-sharing capabilities of the software, according to an Apple security advisory. Other flaws were found and fixed within components such as Fetchmail, file compression features, and DHCP networking functionality, Apple said.

The vulnerabilities could enable a variety of attacks, security company Symantec said in an advisory sent out to customers of its DeepSight intelligence service. "Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code, trigger denial-of-service conditions, elevate privileges, and disclose potentially sensitive information," Symantec said.



Apple credits a number of security researchers with finding the flaws. These include researchers employed by Google and Mozilla, as well as Tom Ferris, a freelance security researcher who has disclosed limited information on some Apple bugs in the past.

The bulk of the Mac OS X flaws affect both the client and server versions of the operating system. Attackers could exploit several of the vulnerabilities, specifically those related to image processing and file compression, by crafting malicious files and tricking people into opening them, Apple said. This attack method is seen often on computers that run Microsoft's Windows operating system.

A handful of flaws related to file sharing, handled by the Mac OS X AFP server, could expose user data or let a malicious user gain elevated privileges a system running Mac OS X or cause a crash, Apple said.

The update also increases the length of the passkey used for pairing Bluetooth devices with Mac computers, Apple said. This could provide enhanced security for the use of Macs with wireless devices that use Bluetooth technology.

Mac OS X users are urged to upgrade in order to protect their systems against possible attacks that may exploit the flaws. Symantec said that it doesn't know of current attack code for any of the issues, though some may not require specific exploit code, the company said.

Apple has released Security Update 2006-004 to address the issues. The update is available from the Software Update pane in System Preferences on Mac OS X systems or through Apple's Web site. Until now, Apple's most recent security update came out in late June.

Will Mac's growth make it a bigger target?

By Will Sturgeon, Silicon.com
Published on ZDNet News: August 2, 2006, 6:29 AM PT





A recent upturn in Apple's sales of its Mac computers has added fuel to concerns the Mac community's days of claiming a secure upper-hand may be numbered.

Last week it was revealed that Apple's shipments of its Mac machines had shown double digit growth, year-on-year, with analysts suggesting the growth is set to continue with more PC switchers in the pipeline.

And while that is great news for Apple and its marketing prowess, it has coincided with the question of Mac security rearing its head once more, with three large security vendors issuing words of warning for the Mac faithful while Apple remains tight-lipped about the security of its machines.



Mark Sunner, CTO of MessageLabs, said: "Now, as Macs become more popular, we're seeing an increase in attacks targeting OS X." Greg Day, senior antivirus researcher at McAfee, said his company's recent Global Threat Report found evidence to support that claim.

Day told silicon.com: "Microsoft has the biggest bull's-eye on it but there's a lot of interest in Apple right now. There have been more vulnerabilities discovered in OS X than in XP over the past two years."

Day said 95 vulnerabilities have been discovered in XP during that time compared to 238 in OS X.

Jay Heiser, research VP at Gartner, said he would expect to see the risks from owning a Mac increase with popularity and a greater market share. "The relative 'safety' of the Mac environment is not so much an issue of obscurity, as it is a lack of hack-leverage and perhaps biological diversity," said Heiser. "From the attacker's point of view, the bigger the set of logically identical targets, the bigger the payoff in creating 'crimeware.'

"Clearly, as the number of Macs increase, it becomes more appealing to target them."

Heiser added: "The most important consideration is the amount of code. The level of vulnerability is a function of the size of the code-base and it is inevitable that the Mac OS contains a significant number of unrecognized vulnerabilities."

Last week Russian antivirus vendor Kaspersky Labs also waded in to the Mac security debate, with its own findings reporting a similar hike in the number of vulnerabilities found in OS X. And while vulnerabilities and actual proven exploits are very different things, Kaspersky Labs echoed the concerns of others, saying 60 vulnerabilities discovered in the first half of 2006 suggests if growing popularity were to invite more attacks this could soon become a problem.

McAfee's Day also criticized Apple for being slow to address these vulnerabilities--adding that Microsoft, albeit due to an unflattering history of vulnerabilities, is at least largely on top of the situation.

He said: "I think Apple has not been as organized as Microsoft has had to be through necessity at dealing with vulnerabilities."

At the time of writing Apple had failed to comment.

END

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

They sell Norton for Macs it has an auto protect feature that
will not only spot Mac virus but pc ones as well.

Apple does a good job by turning off ports by default unlike
Windows XP that requires that you turn off all the ports and
do it yourself. You need need to how and what to turn off
without breaking something :( alot of work and rebooting if
you do it right.


Why do you need a firewall? well for starters without one you
advertise your system to attackers they can DDOS your
computer with a synflood attack that will slow your Internet
connection to a crawl a firewall also allows you to control
what is making outbound connections to the Internet and
give you a heads up.

Answer 4

You don't really need an antivirus for Mac.

The reason is because Mac OS X is so secure, that there are so few viruses ever successfully made for it, so Apple has no trouble keeping their OS's defenses up to date

Still, don't believe the clowns who tell you there are 100,000+ viruses for Windows. That's an Apple lie. There are less than 3,000 viruses for Windows, ever.

Answer 5

No.

Xue is an idiot and has never had a Mac

I've been using them for ten years.

I've NEVER had a virus or worm, there ARE NO viruses or worms for OS X and you DO NOT need antivirus.

In fact, when I put Norton on mine, it f*****ed up the OS.

DO NOT USE NORTON

Clamshell is ok, but really, unless there are windows machines on your network that might get infected, dont use antivirus.

Answer 6

No need for Anti-virus program. No one writes viruses for an OS that very few people use.
Stay well away from Norton, instead, take a sledgehammer to your Macbook, the hammer is safer.

Answer 7

well on your system you have Norton Internet Security 2006 . i can tell you they should re-name Norton Internet Security 2006 to Norton none / none anit virus Internet Security 2006
is is no good it lets virus on your pc try

zoneAlarm internet security suite
all in one firewall / anti virus/ anti spyware
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jp

that kill's a virus as it try to make the move
most pc's that you buy always has

Norton Internet Security 2006 nortons have paid the pc store's off to have there crap Norton Internet Security 2006
put on there pc's

Answer 8

No antivirus or firewall needed. There are only about 11 or 12 known viruses for MAC. There are wellover 100,000 for windows.

Answer 9

Congrats on making the switch, im sure u will love it and no u dont really need it.

Answer 10

yes of course, all operating systems requires antivirus progarms..
y? because it will protect ur computer from viruses...