Antivirus Needed Or Not Software For It

I was wondering if it is necessary to install an antivirus software for it During my research it looks like no, but I noticed at the apple store online that they sell an norton antivirus for macs.

Is this just Norton trying to make a quick buck off uninformed windows users like me.

Others, like myself, feel that its not worth the toll on system resources.

If I forward to someone and they dont have AV on their windows box its their own fault.

Antivirus Needed Or Not Mac Running OS

More importantly, however, is the fact that some hacker tools written for Unix systems can be used to compromise a Mac running OS X.

There are also many cross-platform exploits appearing now that affect specific applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, etc., regardless of OS.

You can get the open source (i.e.

Clam AV for Mac here.

And yes, you should have your firewall turned on, but that doesnt affect viruses.

There have been several buffer overflow vulnerabilities noted in OS X that could be exploited by files sent as e-mail attachments that would give an attacker root privileges without the user necessarily needing to do anything other than clicking on the attached file.

Advising people that their computers are perfectly safe without anti-virus software runs contrary to the conventional wisdom on computer security.

Running a Mac without anti-virus is a calculated risk, one where the chances of infection are trivial.

Meanwhile dealing with an antivirus program where the risks are this low simply isnt worth the nuisance.

In 10 years of using a Mac without anti-virus software Ive never had a problem.

When I persuaded my brother to switch to Mac last year, he installed an antivirus program (an old habit from Windows) and the program itself caused more hassle for him than a virus.

To my knowledge the dangerous keyloggers and trojan horses that plague Windows are nonexistent on the Mac.

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Antivirus For Mac Needed Or Not