Question
Hi,
My old PC was stuffed around by Norton ...and a trojan it didn't pick up... until NOD32 did...so...
I got a MAC. And now i'm a little confused because I'm not sure what antivirus or firewall stuff ( ) i'm supposed to be using. I realise that MAC has its own protection or whatever...but I don't really understand, i.e. see it on my computer (haha ). What software is there that i can use for extra protection??
Thanks!
Answer
This is a free anti-virus program: http://www.markallan.co.uk/clamXav/
There is an inbuilt firewall, in system preferences -> sharing the firewall tab is there.
I never used anything other than inbuilt protection when I used a mac. There are apparently no viruses made for macs I think because most are made in a format mac cant read? not sure. Unless you install windows on it, you wont need anything else. If you run windows you can install protection in windows.
Answer
thanks!
Just a bit paranoid i guess from prior experience.
Answer
As well as using the Mac OS firewall you should also ensure you download and install Apple security updates (and OS X "point" updates like 10.4.9) as they are made available (via Software Update). Mac OS X does have security holes and Apple regularly issue updates to fix them. So far there have been no known exploits for these flaws seen "in the wild", but it's only a matter of time...
E.g. Just the other day this one was found in Quicktime/Java. Until Apple patch it you might want to disable Java in your web browser.
The other thing is - make sure you take regular backups of your hard disk, both as a whole (buy an external hard drive and use a utility like SuperDuper) and of individual things like your iTunes library (use it's in-built backup facility to copy it to CD/DVD on a regular basis) and anything else you cannot afford to lose.
There are only two types of computer users - those who take back ups, and those who are going to wish they had.
Answer
You still should have anti-virus software installed on your machine as you can still send and recieve viruses in documents and emails.