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Should I Get An Antivirus For Mac10/18/2021
There’s an age-old belief in the tech world that Macs don’t get malware. When using the metric of threats per endpoint to calculate, Mac threats outpaced Windows threats by nearly double. A Mac still remains more secure than a Microsoft Windows PC, however this statistic means having antivirus software on your Mac is a wise decision to help protect you from the latest bread of advanced malware threats.If you restart your Mac and execute a Terminal command, you can disable SIP but most people should leave it alone. There are no frills, but it should deliver when it comes to basic protection, adding that last layer of defense for when all else fails. See how it fared in our antivirus lab by reading the full AVG Antivirus for Mac review. Avira Free Security Suite for Mac.
![]() ![]() Many of these slip through Apple’s defenses by design, or they exploit a “zero-day” security flaw Apple hasn’t been able to patch.In June 2019, OSX/CrescentCore was discovered posing as an Adobe Flash Player installer disk image. New instances of macOS malware are discovered every year. The Case for a Third-Party AntivirusThese security features all help protect your Mac from attack, but no platform is immune. The flaws could allow attackers to access data in parts of the system that were considered protected.Apple eventually patched macOS to guard against Spectre and Meltdown. These flaws became known as Spectre and Meltdown—and yes, your Mac was likely affected. In early 2018, it was discovered that almost every CPU sold in the past two decades was affected by serious security flaws. Since Apple hadn’t patched the security flaw when it was first reported earlier in the year, OSX/Linker slipped past Gatekeeper.Hardware is another point of weakness in the chain. OSX/CrescentCore was signed with a developer certificate, so it infected machines for days before Apple caught it.Intego ( recently uncovered a new piece of mac malware (adware installer): □□Guessing they called it `OSX.CrescentCore` due to embedded strings such as: /Users/mehdira/Desktop/WaningCrescent/WaningCrescent/Utils/RtfUtils.swift □A month earlier, malware known as OSX/Linker took advantage of a “zero-day” flaw in Gatekeeper. Apps like Adware Doctor, Open Any Files, and Dr. Again, because the infected version was signed with a legitimate certificate, Gatekeeper didn’t catch it.While the Mac App Store hopes to catch any unscrupulous apps, in 2017, several malicious ones passed Apple’s review process. This was the second incident in five months to involve Transmission. It attempted to steal login details from the system keychain and create a backdoor for future access to the system. Meltdownattack.comIn 2016, OSX/Keydnap infected the popular BitTorrent client Transmission. Meltdown and Spectre highlight the fact that even hardware outside Apple’s control can result in serious security exploits. Halo 3 registration codeHow You Can Reduce Your Risk of InfectionThe single best thing you can do to protect your Mac from security vulnerabilities is to keep it updated. Third-party antivirus software wouldn’t catch all of them, nor would all of them directly result in a usable exploit (notably Meltdown and Spectre). The exploit affected both Mac and Windows computers.These are just a few examples of recent macOS security problems. LoudMiner installs virtualization software that runs a Linux virtual machine and uses system resources to mine cryptocurrency. An app like this can’t cause too much damage at a system-level thanks to Apple’s sandboxing rules, but stolen information is still a significant security breach.In August 2018, LoudMiner was discovered in pirated copies of VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins and Ableton Live 10. However, they sent information—including browsing history and currently-running processes—to servers in China.Because Gatekeeper implicitly trusts the Mac App Store, the software was installed with no additional checks. If you have to install an unsigned app, make sure you download it from a reputable source. For best results, only use software that’s either from the Mac App Store or signed with a legitimate developer certificate.As covered above, even if you do that, your system isn’t immune, but it does provide a good deal of protection. It’s best if you set your Mac to install updates automatically.If you install software from unknown sources, it could also lead to an infection. Head to System Preferences > Software Update to check for updates. If you do have to use it, install Google Chrome and enable the sandboxed version of Flash.Public unsecured wireless networks also pose security and privacy risks. Most websites have already transitioned away from Flash, and it’ll be gone for good at the end of 2020. If you don’t use it much, remove it from your system. You could expose yourself to more than you bargained for.Adobe Flash is another source of malware and browser-based exploits. This is high-risk because when you download software from illegitimate sources, you’re at the mercy of the uploader. When one Mac is compromised, all are compromised, regardless of whether you run an antivirus.Still, if it makes you feel more comfortable to have an antivirus on your Mac, that’s just fine, and there are a few we recommend.For a basic malware removal tool, try Malwarebytes. Even with an antivirus, your system could fall victim to a new, undocumented infection. If you follow the basic “common sense” practices covered above, the chances of infection remain low. Which Mac Security Software Should You Install?Let’s be clear: antivirus software for your Mac is not essential. If you must use an unsecured public network, do so through a VPN.And finally, for additional protection, you can install antivirus or anti-malware software to monitor your system. Should I Get An Antivirus Free To DownloadIt doesn’t remove tools, though, and it might flag some known safe processes. Since malware often uses aggressive tactics to remain installed on a computer, KnockKnock finds and analyzes these processes.KnockKnock is completely free to download and use. KnockKnock doesn’t specifically target malware, but rather, persistently installed software. But the following tools received top marks in AV-Test’s macOS June 2019 roundup:Another useful tool that detects malware is KnockKnock from Objective-See. If you want real-time protection (and again, you probably don’t need it), we recommend Malwarebytes Premium ($39.99 per year).We haven’t conducted our own tests to find the “best” Mac antivirus package. With the free version, you can scan your Mac for malware and remove anything it finds. Little Snitch is available as a free trial, and the full version is $45. You can then approve or deny these requests to limit which applications can send and receive data, and the app remembers. It’s essentially a firewall that prompts you each time an application tries to connect to the internet. Vulnerabilities can appear overnight with no warning. No operating system or piece of hardware is immune to attack.
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