What Antivirus Should You Install on Your Mac?
The Mac is now an incredibly popular system and has come under the spotlight of the hackers. So now, more than ever, it’s time to start looking at what anti-virus you have and, if you don’t, what you should have.
The Mac OS already includes some security tools that help to keep malware and adware away from your machine and this includes a series of restrictions on apps that come from unidentified sources. If you only ever download stuff from the Mac store and NEVER from websites, then your Mac will stay pretty clean. Protecting your computer from bad websites and apps is a lot more complicated though and that is why you need anti-virus software on your Mac.
So, which one do you need? There are several to choose from and these are the best of the bunch:
- Bitdefender – runs quietly in the background, taking up little in the way of resources. It detects malware and eliminates it immediately. Plenty of options, including a hub for protecting all devices in the home and multi-Mac packages
- Intego Mac – Supports multiple Macs and protects against phishing, malware and a great deal more. There is also a special version for dual-boot machines with Windows and Mac OS X
- Kaspersky – one of the most well-known of all, Kaspersky is also one of the most robust. There are malware protection tools, support for safety checks, private browsing, blocking network attacks, and a lot more
- Malwarebytes – Recommended by Apple tech support. This software is dedicated to finding and eliminating malware, and it will block any website that is known for spreading malware and eliminates any exploit virus
How to Tell If Your Mac is Infected
Perhaps you have spotted some odd advertisements that appear in odd places on websites you normally use; you may well have a virus. You may see that the ad has adult content in it or it may tell you that a virus has been found. More often than not, these ads will show up where you least expect it.
Maybe your Facebook or Twitter account has been sending your contacts messages that you know you didn’t write or your email address has been sending out emails you are not responsible for. The first thing to do in this instance is to change your passwords.
If your Mac isn’t working as it should be, you could have malware on the system. Perhaps a program refuses to load, or it freezes up. If your Mac takes too long to wake, there could be something nasty there.
You won’t always be aware of a virus on your machine. Things have improved, not just for you but for the hackers too and it is much easier for them to hide their tracks these days and this is why it is vital that you have more than just the built-in security tools at your disposal. Even using a free version of one of the above is better than nothing.