Why Should You Bother To Use Macintosh Antivirus Software?
The Windows operating system has so far at least 20 million different kinds of viruses; the Apple platform, only a couple of hundred at best. Only corporate users of Macintosh OSX really ever pay much attention to Macintosh antivirus software. The rumor was that Snow Leopard, the latest Macintosh OS, would have it own native anti-anivirus tool called Basic. This is because hackers were beginning to turn their attention on the Mac. In reality though, Snow Leopard only had the old Apple XProtect to defend against two specific Trojans, OSX.RPlug.A and OSX.iservice. But Apple is definitely starting to worry. Now whenever Apple updates its operating system, it includes a malware scan.
Yes, you could just compare the Apple and Microsoft duality to a tale of two cities. For instance the OSX life in Toronto: your surroundings are beautiful, and you can leave your door open at night, just like shown in that movie by Michael Moore. But, cross over the lake to Detroit, and you have a fair idea what life is like for a Windows user: life in an interesting and happening town while also armed with a Taser and a triple-locked front doors with a German Sheppard out front. And you’re still worried. Not that crime or a police force do not exist over the border in Toronto, it’s just that they are a little bit hard to find.
How rare is a Mac virus attack? Consider the latest Trojan virus for the Mac that wasn’t even really a problem after all: it was a game called Lose/Lose. It is really an application that does what as a normal user can do; delete files that they have ownership of. Thus, the game tried out a new concept: making matters a little interesting by raising the stakes. The look of the game is the classic 80′s era Space Invaders coin op arcade game. But, when you shoot an alien spaceship though, you end up deleting an important system file. When the alien hits the mothership though your entire system gets deleted. This isn’t really a virus that comes onto your system by stealth to do this. It is a proper game that is supposed to raise awareness about how when you kill, even in a game, a part of you dies inside. But a maker of Macintosh antivirus software, Symantec, likes to classify this as a real threat, a Trojan. Symantec’s view is that while the game Lose/Lose may not actually do anything by stealth, it is an open source program that any virus writer could easily modify to do some real harm. But one has to wonder to delete system files or your entire system; one would have to give this permission upfront.
Let us look at some of the best Macintosh antivirus software out there. Consider Kaspersky for the Mac. It works particularly efficiently on today’s multicore Macs and there is a special feature to help keep Macintosh computers from transferring any infections to a corporate network. Intego VirusBarrier X5 has a contemporary and modern design, and ClamXav is very effective freeware. In the end, it is impossible to read anything about the Macintosh and malware, without coming across constant pondering over why one should bother at all. Most antivirus software slow down the computer so much, that even on the Windows platform, one would do well to weigh the possibility of a virus infection, against the bother and hassle of a antivirus-slowdown. Perhaps everyone would do well to not think of Macintosh antivirus software until they actually find themselves in a virus-infected situation