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Geeky stuff

I need anti-virus and firewall for my gorgeous new MacBook ...for free

15 replies

brimfull · 09/06/2008 22:34

can anyone give me some recommendations?

OP posts:
Ecmo · 09/06/2008 22:37

Haven't got it on mine
Apple says not to bother and I listened!
Apparently 95% of viruses etc dont affect Macs

I'm probably talking rubbish and someone will be along soon to shout at me!

brimfull · 09/06/2008 22:39

really

even a firewall?

OP posts:
DaDaDa · 09/06/2008 22:41

Nope. Not needed. I hope.

DisplacementActivity · 09/06/2008 22:41

Message withdrawn

Milkycheeks · 09/06/2008 22:41

Haven't got any anti-virus stuff on our Macbook either, and have had no probs since we got it 18 moths ago (famous last words ...)

Ecmo · 09/06/2008 22:42

I've had mine since November. I use it for college so am on it alot. Have not got anti-virus or firewall. Have them both on our PC's.
Am starting to feel as though I may get shouted at in a mo thou!

brimfull · 09/06/2008 22:44

wow that's brilliant

I'm loving this new mac way of life even more!

OP posts:
Ecmo · 09/06/2008 22:47

praps wont get shouted at then

GeekBoy · 10/06/2008 08:50

I'd have to strongly disagree.

The backend of macs is now a Unix type of affair. Hackers have long looked at exploits for these kind of systems. A firewall (even the built in one) would be a must. If you're connecting from home, most routers supplied by broadband provides pretty much nail their routers down to only accept traffic that had an originating request from the internal side of the router.

As for viruses - agreed that there are hardly any that affect the Mac - most are proof of concept and don't exist 'in the wild'. However, it's long been accepted that the Macintosh platform didn't have sufficient numbers of users for hackers to target (for kudos) or exploit (key loggers, trojans etc).

As someone that uses a Mac but also worked as a sysadmin during the rise of Viruses like melissa, 'I love you', MyDoom, etc. I've seen how a proof of concept virus can infect literally millions of machines in a sub 24 hour period.

Eventually, a virus or a program exhibiting virus like behaviour will appear and there's a lovely, big community of users that haven't done anything to secure their machine..

...also, you''ll have a Windows machine running on your Mac - that will definitely need virus protection.

MrsJamin · 10/06/2008 08:58

Right. Antivirus - no it would be a waste of money if you did. Firewall - yes - you need to set the one within Mac OS X. Go to System Preferences and go to Firewall tab. There's a couple of options there, I'd have a look on the apple help website to determine which level you need to set.

brimfull · 10/06/2008 08:58

geekboy-do you recommend AVG antivirus then?

I am not running windows,will I already have a firewall with this new macbook?

OP posts:
brimfull · 10/06/2008 09:02

mrsjamin-right thanks have done that

OP posts:
Pruners · 10/06/2008 09:03

Message withdrawn

StellaWasADiver · 10/06/2008 09:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

alibubbles · 10/06/2008 21:04

We've had mac's for 18 years, no antivirus, they are all fine.

The man who repairs our macs doesn't have anything on his either.

The first thing the geekynice young man in the Apple store did when I went for a one to one session was uninstall my Norton!

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