http://tidbits.com/ Despite much-publicized Flashback infections in 2012, most Mac users still don’t need antivirus software. We explain why, and which situations might warrant it. en-us Copyright 2013 TidBITS Publishing Inc. Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) editors@tidbits.com (TidBITS Editors) http://tidbits.com/images/tb_logo_152x55.png http://tidbits.com/ 55 152 TidBITS badge http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17326 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:50:02 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17326
Admittedly, I only use Sophos Anti-Virus and haven't tried the other options, let alone any free options. (Sophos is provided to me through a university license.) But Sophos almost never uses any CPU when my computer is idle, and its cost in memory is minimal. If it offers added protection with essentially zero extra resource consumption, then why not use it?

I will agree that the best defense against being infected is to use good computing practices, and I'm willing to bet that most of the users of this site are intermediate-to-expert Mac users, who would be familiar with these. Still, as an expert user, I don't see the harm.

For family members, I always install antivirus software because their friends are constantly forwarding attachments to them, and many of these attachments are infected.]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17322 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:26:37 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17322 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17305 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:39:32 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17305
If you had to walk ten miles across a field, and there was a 1 in 1,000,000 chance that there was a big hole covered with grass somewhere in the field, and you could wear a pair of free boots with long sticks on the front to disturb the grass and would give you a 9 in 10 chance of not falling in the hole, but wearing the boots would cause you to take twice as long to walk across the field and would cause you to trip regularly, would you go barefoot?]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17299 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:49:23 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17299 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17298 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:53:36 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17298 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17281 Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:08:52 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17281 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17275 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:44:37 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17275 http://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/that-anti-virus-test-you-read-might-not-be-accurate-and-heres-why/]]> http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17265 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:22:49 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17265 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17262 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:12:49 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17262 http://db.tidbits.com/article/13476?rss#comments_17260 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:11:15 EST http://tidbits.com/article/13476#comments_17260
Now, Android is another story. Android is becoming an extremely popular vector because it's so profitable. Malware on Android can give you access to pay-for phone services and text messaging services. Most malware merely signs users up for $4.95 "monthly services" which most users don't even notice.]]>