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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > Virus protection?

Virus protection?
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Wayward780
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Mar 13, 2007, 08:13 PM
 
I'm switching to Mac. I was on chat with the Apple store and they suggested Norton if I work with clients that send files that were created on Windows (and I do). Plus I have a DELL laptop and a home wireless network so there will be a lot of go-between there with my Mac Pro. However, I'm searching these forums and reading about how there are no known viruses for Mac.

So my question is what's up with this? A Mac Pro is huge investment and I would hate to see problems because of viruses after I choose NOT to get virus protection. Should I be looking towards something like Norton or McAffe? Thanks.
     
Philip J. Fry
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Mar 13, 2007, 08:34 PM
 
For the Mac OS, virii will be undetected unless they are Word macro virii, which can affect Office for Mac. In that respect, if you do a lot of file transfer via Office between the computers, you may want anti-virus, unless you are comfortable with the software on your PC.

Now, not to say that there won't ever be a virus for the Mac OS, but for the last 6 years of OS X, there have only been proof-of-concept trojans that were quickly fixed by Apple via security updates.
     
bearcatrp
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Mar 13, 2007, 08:53 PM
 
I wouldn't go with norton. Go to http://www.intego.com . Doesn't eat up alot of ram. Very small foot print.
     
TETENAL
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Mar 13, 2007, 09:32 PM
 
     
ghporter
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Mar 13, 2007, 09:35 PM
 
Norton is a very good product, in spite of the fact that a lot of people complain about it. I have had no trouble at all in over five years of using Norton AV for Mac. And as they rep said, it would be useful to have a product that sees viruses that can come from Windows users, mostly so you won't pass them on! There is nothing in the wild as of today that can hurt your Mac.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Philip J. Fry
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Mar 14, 2007, 12:05 AM
 
Sorry, fail me now.
     
phobos
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Mar 14, 2007, 06:52 AM
 
I've been a mac user since 1999. I've never used a antivirus program. Like NEVER. As the platform gets popular we will probably see a few viruses but let's worry about that when apple gets 20% of the global share.
     
Artanis
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Mar 14, 2007, 09:21 AM
 
apple advertises alot the fact that Macs can't have viruses.
For me Office 2004 is the most important application in my iMac and I never encoutered something that was acting like a virus. I have downloaded alot of documents from the web and I had no problem, though my most used office documents come from reliable sources.
The only security measure that I keep on my iMac is to have the firewall started.
     
ghporter
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Mar 14, 2007, 10:46 AM
 
You DO need to pay attention to the same sort of "smart surfing" techniques that Windows requires-don't open stuff you don't recognize, don't visit sites you wouldn't want email from, don't believe the guy from Nigeria, all of that sort of stuff. But you don't have to be as paranoid as you are when surfing with a PC.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
JKT
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Mar 14, 2007, 05:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by Artanis View Post
apple advertises alot the fact that Macs can't have viruses.
Apple has never advertised that Macs can't have viruses (they would be immensely stupid to do so). They advertise that Macs don't have 100's of thousands of viruses.
     
   
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