vote up 5 vote down star
5

What are free options for mac os x anti-virus software? I know Norton is the most common software I find for virus protection on os x, but I don't like the subscription model.

flag
85% accept rate
2  
Do you really want to slow down your computer ALL THE TIME? You'd almost be better off "risking" getting a virus since it will have less negative effect than Norton :-). Snake Oil, my friend. Unless of course you are managing public computers or something with high traffic and many users (and memory sticks) in which case, you never know... – Jared Updike Jul 17 at 7:43
2  
Please, stay clear of Norton. It's cure is worst than the sickness. – GeneQ Jul 17 at 7:46
1  
I just want to make sure i know about all the options that exist. I have my opinions about norton just like everyone else along with performance concerns with using anti virus all together. I just want to know what else is out there, so I can recommend to people every possible solution out there when I get asked about it. – Troggy♦ Jul 19 at 6:45
Just to reiterate: Stay away from norton. It's probably not worse than some viruses, but it's a constant drain on everything. – Phoshi Sep 30 at 17:34

4 Answers

vote up 11 vote down check

Try ClamXav. It's open sourced and pretty much the only free (as in freedom) Mac antivirus that comes to mind.

It's used a lot of Linux servers too so it's actively developed and has frequent virus definition updates. A Mac only AV would not have such a large community.

Download it here.

link|flag
vote up 6 vote down

ClamXav is a good option.

(As a general tip, not downloading and running suspicious files is about the best thing you can do for security.)

link|flag
vote up 1 vote down

What may also help is setting your DNS to OpenDNS, creating an account there (free), and block certain categories of sites. Phishing for example. OpenDNS may also speed up your browsing.

link|flag
vote up 1 vote down

iAntiVirus is free antivirus. I dont like ClamXav ( its not that great )

link|flag

Your Answer

Get an OpenID
or
never shown

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.