[NPMUG] virus protection???

[Dave Sevick]

Many thanks to Charles for sharing what I have seen him tell clients  
every day .....

Let's further the discussion on antivirus apps on the Mac.

Charles insights are unquestionably the same as mine .... and many of  
my policies are based on our local Mac consultants'  experiences and  
national listserve postings of Mac users struggles with AntiVirus apps.

By looking more closely at system crash logs we saw that Norton Anti- 
Virus version 9 and 10 were problematic on multiple, yet not all  
Macs ..... but a high enough percentage to warrant not using it anymore.

To beat Symantec into the ground even further  ... I have found that  
Sophos does pick up even more viruses ... recently I found 26  
additional offenders on one of my Macs .....


On Apr 30, 2009, at 10:44 PM, Charles Firth wrote:

>
> 7) "Good Neighbor Policy" - Something a lot of Mac people forget is  
> the fact they share files with Windows folk. Although Word macro  
> viruses and other "content file" viruses are dying out, they are  
> still around. Just because your Mac is immune to Windows viruses  
> doesn't mean you can't be a carrier. So if you do a lot of file  
> sharing with Windows users, and the files you share aren't "made by  
> me on my Mac" then you could be distributing viruses to your Windows  
> friends. For example: Someone sends you an infected Word document,  
> which works fine for you on your Mac, so you forward it on to other  
> people. I'm well aware of what few files I forward, and have never  
> inadvertently sent someone an infected file. But the possibility is  
> there. I've encountered Windows-virus infected files on Macs at  
> client sites, so I know it happens.

Here is what Sophos found just recently ( and Norton could not ) on  
one of my Macs:

'Troj/Agent-IOA'
'JS/Kakworm-A'
'W32/Klez-H'
W32/MyDoom-N'
'W32/Sober-Z'
W32/Mytob-AZ'
'W32/MyDoom-O'
'Mal/EncPk-CZ'
'Troj/Invo-Zip'
'Mal/EncPk-CO'
'W32/Netsky-D'
'JS/Kakworm-A'

All found by:
Sophos Anti-Virus
Version 4.40



>
> 8) Since there are no viruses for Macs, OSX AV is securing you from  
> the few trojans out there, and mostly just scanning for Windows  
> viruses you have be a carrier for. You're spending money and  
> resources to keep your neighbor's garden clean of pests.
>
> Recommendations.
> *These are my personal opinions, I am not reimbursed or paid by any  
> of these companies*
>
> If you must have AV on your Mac, what do I recommend?
> 1) Sophos (no surprise to anyone who knows me) - by far the best  
> choice in OSX AV. But it costs money, and they don't sell single  
> copies - no retail box, no home user option, no single license.  
> Sophos is business/education only. (5 licenses is the smallest  
> they'll go). But they are the best I've ever seen for both OSX and  
> Windows.

At this point I would have to agree.  Sophos is the best .....  And  
virus definition updates are hourly.  Norton is daily , weekly or  
monthly.


> 2) ClamAVX - Free. (horray open source!) Not the most friendly, and  
> you'll probably want to just have it around to run periodic manual  
> scans. But a nice tool if you're worried
> 3) Sorry - at this time I have no other recommendations. I do  
> however have two anti-recommendations:
> 	a) If you're thinking about Symantec Anti-Virus for Mac, just hit  
> your mac with a sledgehammer until it's dust. It's kinder to the  
> poor machine

Very colorful recommendation indeed .... but I'm on the same page ...   
minus the violence and destruction ....  :-)

And if you currently have Norton (Symantec)  installed I can provide  
you a removal tool if needed.  I use it all the time.


> 	b) If you're thinking about McAfee, just use the money to buy  
> yourself a book on computer security. It's more effective.


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