As the Mac becomes more democratic , its osmium could well start to pull in the attention of malicious computer virus writers . Installing antivirus software now will not only protect your Mac but also prevent you from passing along Windows - only virus to your Windows - using protagonist and colleagues via e - mail attachments or Office written document .
We ’ve taken a close look at three major Mac antivirus programs : Intego ’s VirusBarrier X4 , the open - beginning ClamXav 1.0.3 , and Symantec ’s Norton AntiVirus 10.1 ( see mesa for details ) . ( Two other Mac antivirus apps , Sophos AntiVirusandMcAfee Virexare now train primarily at concern emptor who need to protect fleet of Macs ) .
Defending the home front
Like security system guard do their round , all three programme scan your Mac take care for anomalies . Each can scan built - in surd drives , of course . All three can also scan cd , DVDs , FireWire hard drives , and other obliterable medium as presently as they ’re mounted . All but ClamXav will scan incoming e - mail attachments , and all but ClamXav will scan your memory to make certain a piece of malware is n’t already running .
Test RunTo get out how well these political program perform , we load up a test machine with the stock EICAR antivirus test file ( click herefor more information ) , the Hacker Defender Trojan horse installer , and Leap - A ; we then installed our three antivirus apps one at a time . All three successfully detect and quarantined the test single file on our drive .
Speed MattersMore - dramatic differences crop up when we took out our stopwatch . We expect each program to run down an Applications booklet containing 14 GB of practical program and compressed files , and a 900 MB written document folder holding a mix of Microsoft Office and Apple iWork files . VirusBarrier was by far the fastest , taking 13 minutes to scan the Applications booklet and 2 minutes to run down Documents . Norton AntiVirus took or so four times as long , and ClamXav roughly eight times as long .
When There ’s a VirusFinally , there ’s the motion of how each app reacts when it find out a computer virus . Ideally , the program should be able to repair the infected data file . If that ’s not possible , the program should be able to move the file to a quarantine brochure or blue-pencil it totally . Each of these programme gives you pile of options for handle infected files . Norton AntiVirus get extra points for offering by far the honorable entropy about the transmission .
antivirus software compared
Macworld’s buying advice
Although all of these programs will get the job done , we like Intego ’s VirusBarrier easily for its scanning speed and its well - integrated Mac feature article . It give way you a contextual menu in the Finder , and a Dashboard widget update you on the advancement of scans and computer virus updates . It integrates with iCal and has full pull - and - drop support .
Symantec ’s Norton AntiVirus is a near second , thanks to its wide virus data and its strong handling of Windows viruses . If price is a concern , ClamXav will get the problem done for free , but you ’ll have to deal with its nonstandard interface and some tricky operating issues .
Mac attacks
After year of quiet on the habitation front , Mac users have late had to fend for against a few surety threats . The number is still so low as to make a Windows user jest ( or cry ) , but the attacks are a good reminder of advanced computing ’s risks .
Leap - A , or Oompa Loompa ( February 2006)Even the mainstream pressure talked about the first “ literal ” Trojan horse for the Mac . mask as photos of the next Mac OS , Leap - A could , once clicked on , spread out itself to other user through iChat . Leap - A was more a proof - of - conception than a serious risk ( see “ Digging deep into the Leap - A malware ” for more info ) . Still , it get up awareness about security gaps in OS X and attest the need for Mac users to be skeptical of unexpected files .
Inqtana - A ( February 2006)Around the time that Leap - A get in , the Inqtana - A insect come out . Inqtana - A used a exposure in Bluetooth to replicate from one Mac to another . However , Apple had already patch this exposure in May 2005 , so only un - update computers within 30 understructure of infect computers were really at risk .
Zaptastic ( May 2005)An anonymous author give away certificate gaps in Tiger ’s widgets with this trial impression - of - concept . By nonremittal , Web pages could mechanically set up widgets , with potentially disastrous results . Apple patched this fix pretty quickly , and users now get an alerting whenever a entanglement page attempts to put in a widget.—Kirk McElhearn
