[Mr Mushroom]

I have just made the switch from PC to MAC, and will be receiving my new Powerbook G4 next week.

Will I need to get an Anti-virus or Firewall program for my new MAC?
One of the reasons I wanted to make the switch is because of all I have heard about the lack of viruses for MACs, so I am assuming there is little risk, but what is the general opinion? What options are there?

Also, if I am planning to use Virtual PC to run certain applications on the internet (Online poker mostly), do I also need to get an
Anti-virus/Firewall software for the PC part of my new MAC? Or is that a silly question? I am new to this - go easy on me

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Mushroom

[eevyl]

Welcome aboard!

One first thing to learn is that Mac is not an acronym, it's a short way of saying Macintosh, hence MAC is wrong.

About the viruses, it's true there are really few for the Mac (if any for OS X) but having some type of protection can not do any bad for you. For both platforms I have found myself that the best antivirus is following these steps where possible:

1. Do not use Outlook for email in Windows by any means if it is avoidable.
2. Do not use Internet Explorer by any means.
3. Do not download untrusted content (I don't care from, just don't be surprised if you download "Spiderma2DVDrippedREALLY.avi" and you end up with a virus and a porn movie).
4. Use some antivirus software from time to time, in Windows is a must to do this very often, in Mac is not so needed, but still a good practice.
5. Backup your important files often.

My 5 gold points to keep my computers fresh and healthy

[Sod Off Sadr]

don't waste time or money with antivirus for your MAC ( ). Just apply common sense to your email, downloading, and browsing habits, and you'll be okay without an antivirus for MAC ( ). On Windows, however, I'd say it is a definite requirement.

[brachiator]

Originally posted by eevyl:
Welcome aboard!

One first thing to learn is that Mac is not an acronym, it's a short way of saying Macintosh, hence MAC is wrong.

Referring to the Apple computer it is not an acronym. But there is a computer-related acronym "MAC," which is another reason to avoid using all caps to refer to your computer. As an acronym MAC means "Media Access Control."

There are a lot of threads addressing the AV issue that you'll find by searching the forums.

[Brass]

There are currently no known viruses for Mac OS X. So currently using anti-virus software on your Mac will have little effect. However, nobody knows when the first virus(es) will appear so it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

In general if you never open an email attachment that you weren't expecting, you're unlikely to get a virus, and anti-virus software cannot always protect you anyway, as the virus must circulate for some time before a fix can be found and then distributed.

You also asked about firewalls... there is a firewall built into Mac OS X. Go to the System Preferences "Sharing" pane and click on the "Firewall" tab.

Note that in Mac OS X, the opposite approach to Windows is used. No ports are open by default, so there is no way for external users to gain access. However, once you start enabling services (eg, personal file sharing, web sharing, etc) you should make sure your firewall settings are appropriate.

If you need a more sophisticated firewall configuration, you can do it manually using the Terminal, or download third party software for a GUI with more options.

[Ilja]

Would be nice if Apple would build in a anti-virus scanner

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Ilja:
Would be nice if Apple would build in a anti-virus scanner

Why would it scan for exactly? I never really understood how anti-virus apps work... in that there's not some clean method for viruses to exist that can simply be eradicated. Rather any number of viruses can manifest themselves any number of ways and affect any part of the computer. Do virus apps just have special instructions on how to remove each virus? Or do they not get rid of viruses? They just prevent them by hooking onto Explorer or Outlook Express? I just don't get the whole "scan" process.

Anyways, how would this anti-virus scanner be any different from Apple releasing security updates like it already does?

Also, are there any downsides to running an anti-virus program? Can they slow down your computer? Nastily hook onto the file system, doing some kind of live scan? Screw with your files trying to "fix" them? I just think the inconvenience of running an anti-virus app would outweigh a "good practice". Some of the benefits I've heard however is that it prevents you from propogating Windows viruses to fellow Windows users (as in simply forwarding an attachment by accident?) and Microsoft Office macro viruses. Again I'm not even sure what these are, but apparently they can do some annoying things.

These are just my personal thoughts, I'll let someone more experienced with viruses correct/fill in any gaps if they want. Until we actually start seeing some viruses, I'm personally not going to waste my time buying a virus scanner.

[CharlesS]

Right now there are no viruses for OS X that I'm aware of. The only viruses you could get would be:

1. Old viruses for OS 9 that could infect the Classic environment (there are only two that I know to still work, AutoStart and SevenDust).

2. Cross-platform Word and Excel macro viruses.

If you use the Classic environment a lot you may want an antivirus program (there's a free one called Agax which covers all the Classic viruses - however, it runs in the Classic environment itself). If you use Word and Excel, you will want to go into their settings and turn on macro virus protection, so that you will be warned if a document tries to run a macro. For Virtual PC, I would definitely recommend getting a virus scanner for it if you are using it often since that will probably be running Windows, which is at risk to many viruses.

[Powaqqatsi]

As long as there are no known viruses for OSX, it's useless to buy and use an AntiVirus app.

[JKT]

If you are running VPC, it is vital that you have antivirus software for Windows as the emulated Windows environment CAN get viruses just like any PC (they will only cause damage to the Windows software and files, however). If you have it for your VPC/Windows, it would be needless to also get it for the MacOS as the main reason for having anti-virus software on the Mac is to detect viruses etc for the PC just so you don't pass them on to PC using colleagues or friends.

[Millennium]

Actually, yes; you do need these. The reasons, however, are somewhat nonintuitive.

It is true that no true viruses have yet been released for OSX, and Macs cannot be infected by most Windows viruses (the major exception being Word/Excel macro viruses). However, we can still carry those viruses -in which case they reside as inert files on disk- and thus possibly infect others. Even if we don't, these files still take up disk space, which while harmless is still annoying. Also, if you use a Windows emulator of any kind, the emulated environment can still be infected.

As for firewalls, the Mac comes with a fairly decent firewall on its own, though the interface to it is quite poor. There are better interfaces out there, such as the excellent BrickHouse, and you may want to supplement it with something like Little Snitch. However, for basic usage, the built-in firewall is mostly adequate.

[mitchell_pgh]

It's safer to have some, but don't worry all that much. I use Norton AntiVirus and it finds all the Windows viruses that are sent to me. It also picks up on the PHP viruses that wouldn't do anything on my Mac.

The firewall built in to OS X is solid, just use it. Also, don't turn anything on that you don't need. And if you are paranoid, disconnect your computer from the internet when it's not being used.

[Brass]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Actually, yes; you do need these. The reasons, however, are somewhat nonintuitive.

It is true that no true viruses have yet been released for OSX, and Macs cannot be infected by most Windows viruses (the major exception being Word/Excel macro viruses). However, we can still carry those viruses -in which case they reside as inert files on disk- and thus possibly infect others. Even if we don't, these files still take up disk space, which while harmless is still annoying. Also, if you use a Windows emulator of any kind, the emulated environment can still be infected.

As for firewalls, the Mac comes with a fairly decent firewall on its own, though the interface to it is quite poor. There are better interfaces out there, such as the excellent BrickHouse, and you may want to supplement it with something like Little Snitch. However, for basic usage, the built-in firewall is mostly adequate.

inert windows viruses on a Mac do make the Mac a carrier, but how likely is it that the Mac will pass it on? Not at all. How likely is it that the Mac user will pass it on? Very slim. Eg, I got about 20 copies of the new variant of the Windows-only bagle/beagle virus in my email yesterday. None of them made me think "ooh! That's great, I must forward that to somebody". The only way a Mac can propogate a Windows virus, is if the user explicitly does so. So it's really not a big deal.

And the space on disk? Well, what does everybody else do when they get a virus email? I simply delete it immediately. It may sit in the Trash mailbox for a few days, but 10k ain't gonna be noticed, and it will automatically be removed when my mail program automatically deletes old items in the trash occasionally.

As for Windows emulators, you may like to consider a Windows-only virus protection program. However, and alternative, if you have enough disk space (or use a CD/DVD to archive) is to keep a backup copy of your Windows HD image file. The windows viruses can only affect your Windows environment and it's HD image file. So if you delete the HD image file and replace it with a clean image or a backup of your HD image file before it as infected, then the virus is gone!

Also, NEVER check your email using a Windows emulator (or windows of any kine if you can avoid it). Then you'll be fairly safe.