[odej98]

ok I am a PC enthusiast switching to an ibook g4, hopefully primarily and permanetly, and I was wondering about firewalls and anti-virus programs. I am used to spyware, virii, and exploits in windows, but know nothing about macs other than what I read.

What is your favorite anti virus and firewall programs?

[odej98]

sorry I just realized i should've posted this in a more appropriate forum,


if moderator would move this thread it would be appreciated.

[warpedten]

hehe .... i'll still answer even if this isn't the "right" forum...

There are no real viruses for the Mac OS X, despite what you might hear on the news. So, you don't really need an antivirus program.

The firewall you get built in OS X (under "Sharing" preferences) is pretty good.... if you want something a little more user friendly you could try "Brickhouse", a nicer graphical frontend to OS X's firewall ... it hasn't been updated in a while but it still works fine.

The best security measure you can take is to not have a blank password on any accounts on your mac. abc123 isn't really that much better : )

[The Placid Casual]

If you have .Mac, Virex will be fine. If not, don't worry.

Brickhouse is also recommended, but not essential.

Unless you are using remote stuff, or Unix geekiness....Just enjoy! one of the benefits of Mac ownership is not to have to worry about updating your Norton definitions...

(Heck, we don't even have Norton anymore!! )

[Forte]

As far as anti-virus goes, you could always go with clamXav, which is free. Although it's worth bearing in mind that it's still a beta - http://www.markallan.co.uk/software.php?page=clam .

Regarding firewalls, personally I'd recommend something like Intego's NetBarrier X, although many would say it's overkill for most uses (I like overkill, though. XD). Or, of course, as others said, the built-in firewall is usually fine, too.

[Strix]

Switching on the OS X firewall should be enough.

I have Virex from my .Mac account and use it to scan disks I bring home from work. We've had a number of virus outbreaks at work due to the anti-virus scanners being out of date. I reckon by scanning them at home before taking them back, I can at least get rid of some PC virus'.

As an aside, my sister decided to buy her first computer in April this year. Despite by reasonings, she decided against a Mac, and bought a HP PC. I've had Mac's since 1997, and in that time I perhaps reinstalled the OS once or twice. However since April, I've had to rebuild my sisters PC twice due to virus outbreaks (this is even with antivirus and firewall software switched on). Indeed I recently install the XP Service Pack which apparantly improves security, and my sister called this evening to say that she has got another two virus'.

If only she had listened to her 'lil brother.

[D'Espice]

Originally posted by Strix:
As an aside, my sister decided to buy her first computer in April this year. Despite by reasonings, she decided against a Mac, and bought a HP PC. I've had Mac's since 1997, and in that time I perhaps reinstalled the OS once or twice. However since April, I've had to rebuild my sisters PC twice due to virus outbreaks (this is even with antivirus and firewall software switched on). Indeed I recently install the XP Service Pack which apparantly improves security, and my sister called this evening to say that she has got another two virus'.

Maybe you should take your baseball bat this time and club her with it until she understands that she should NOT open any attachments if she's not expecting any. Because that is still how most viruses work in Windows - a fancy subject line like "Re: your question" or "Re: help please!" then some goofy body like "here's the help you requested" and then a file attached that is named "help.pif" or "help.exe" or "help.bat"
And despite the warnings even on evening news, people still open these files and wonder why nothing happens.

[jamil5454]

You could use the built-in firewall, but if you're behind a router (like most broadband users) you shouldn't have to worry. Thankfully OS X is built on UNIX which means you can have ifconfig, ipfw, and other great UNIX firewalls.