Do you really doesn’t need any Antivirus or Firewall on Mac?

[dotdotdot]

This text comes right from .Mac site ( http://www.mac.com/1/iTour/tour_antivirus.html ). Believe it or not, but there are 'more than 85,000 viruses and other dangerous programs' which can harm your Mac. That aren't my words! That's kind of an official statement of Apple as it is placed on it's official website along with the product the company is selling.

Here goes the original text:

McAfee Security Advantage
Award-winning Virex from McAfee helps keep your Mac safe from more than 85,000 viruses and other dangerous programs, employing the same industrial-strength engine used to protect millions of computers world wide. McAfee's Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team (AVERT) provides the information used to develop automatic Virex anti-virus updates for your continued security.

It's a Jungle Out There
Every time you save an email attachment or download a file from the web, you're risking exposure to viruses and other types of dangerous programs. The second-most prevalent type of virus, Macro viruses, can attack both Macs and PCs. That's why .Mac membership comes with full-strength virus protection (a US$50 value): Virex® from McAfee Security®, the first choice in anti-virus software for the Mac.

Those are for Windows... if you get Virex and there is ONE mac virus developed, it will work in Windows also I guess -once virus wirters can figure out Mac OSX, then maybe 20,000 of 85,000 could be recoded to "support" OSX - they do that on Windows anyway to make it stronger...
---
also, someone said that Apple patches all the known OSX viruses... or something like that.

Microsoft patches all the incredibly powerful viruses, but there are so many that they can't POSSIBLY patch all and still make new versions of their OS.

If they patched every virus by themselves, then we would all be on Windows 98...

Also, Microsoft is now developing an AntiVirus Program and an Anti spyware program.

 

[Peterkro]

or more to the point brought antivirus and antispyware programs.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Oh boy... Being curious is not necessary equal to being paranoid, you know.

Well, the name of one of the little protection programs I recommended is Paranoid Android, and I'm paranoid enough to keep it running.

I've also tried Little Snitch for a little while, but not sure I'm gonna keep it at the end of the trial...

 

[oingoboingo]

there has not been any designed especially for OS X, except for a couple of concept viruses, which really was just a script which executed from a website and tried to perfom a "rm -r *", which would create havoc with your home folder, but unless you gave it your root password, it wouldn't touch your system.

For most users, having their home directory scrubbed clean, containing all their e-mail, photos, movies, documents, music etc etc is a far worse outcome than having their system folder destroyed. OS X is easily re-installed, as are applications. Without frequent backups (which we all should be doing anyway, but many don't) the loss of the user's home directory is about as big a home computing catastrophe as can be imagined.

 

[tobio]

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/shrenepoa.html

the amount of viruses for mac is teeny. (approx 30) and most of them seem to effect OS8 and earlier, but not all of them.

I think is is worth running antivirus software. It doesn't take up that much of an overhead on the system, and its better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

For most users, having their home directory scrubbed clean, containing all their e-mail, photos, movies, documents, music etc etc is a far worse outcome than having their system folder destroyed. OS X is easily re-installed, as are applications. Without frequent backups (which we all should be doing anyway, but many don't) the loss of the user's home directory is about as big a home computing catastrophe as can be imagined.

That's why I specified that such a script would "create havoc" with your home folder, and went on to recommend keeping current backups (among other things). That way you probably would be far better protected than with Virex or any other current AV software...

And protecting your system migth seem less important than your data, but if scripts get control over your system it can do even worse things before deleteing your home folder...

 

[Platform]

Well, the name of one of the little protection programs I recommended is Paranoid Android, and I'm paranoid enough to keep it running.

It look's to me that this is a FREE program for MAC OS X that fixes the "rumored" new mac virus/worm is it really

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

It look's to me that this is a FREE program for MAC OS X that fixes the "rumored" new mac virus/worm is it really

APE and Paranoid Android is also freeware. And, yes, one of the main threats PA was designed to protect against is fixed in a security update, but PA also kicks in when other suspicious things happen, mainly when programs unexpectedly tries to connect to the net... not just new programs like the Apple fix...

 

[Platform]

APE and Paranoid Android is also freeware. And, yes, one of the main threats PA was designed to protect against is fixed in a security update, but PA also kicks in when other suspicious things happen, mainly when programs unexpectedly tries to connect to the net... not just new programs like the Apple fix...

Thanks for that

Now I can't see any other major dangers out there or is there
(that OS X can't be protected from)

 

[jaromski]

In OS/X if you have an ingress and egress firewall solution I don't think you would have much of a virus problem. I know you can turn on ingress firewalling with a push of a button, but as far as egress (outbound) firewall, does anybody know how to do that in OS/X?

-jaromski

 

[fartheststar]

It can't hurt.

P.S. I'm getting in the habit of posting trivial and meaningless replies to jack up my status, like everyone else seems to do.

Lol.....

what he said.