“Apple’s devices are far better defended against malware and viruses than other platforms, but does this mean they don’t need anti-virus software?” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld.
“I’ve lost track of the number of times Mac users have told me Macs don’t need virus protection because they are inherently more robust against such attacks. I’ve also lost count of how many security researchers have said that Apple devices are becoming more liable to being attacked as their market share grows,” Evans writes. “Both are right. Both are wrong.”
“I think its common sense to use malware and anti-virus protection as part of a package of security deterrents,” Evans writes. “I’m not convinced such protections need to be ‘always-on’ when using Apple’s systems, in part because the attacks most likely to subvert those systems tend to be undefined, but also because the checkers tend to slow our systems down. However, as the nature of cyber-attack continues to change, I think it’s important that every user does what they can to protect themselves – and others.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The answer to the headline is: No.
It’s built-in, but Mac users can be phished, too, so businesses (and users) are smart to scan regularly to make sure nothing dangerous to others — usually on the lesser platform (Windows) – gets passed on.
MacMost’s Gary Rosenzweig covered this recently:
SEE ALSO:
The best Mac anti-virus software – May 3, 2019
Mostly we need anti-advertising devices.
Good advice, MDN. And a good video.
Also, always run from a non-privileged, non-admin account. Create a STANDARD account as your (cough) “Daily Driver.” (Cough). This will help by forcing you to be aware when something requires privileges, especially something you were unaware of. This is especially true of Windows as well.
Turn Guest User off if you don’t need it.
Security And Your Apple ID
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201303
macOS Security
https://www.apple.com/macos/security/
macOS Security Overview for IT
(Very helpful for making IT people who are afraid STFU)
Click to access macOS_Security_Overview.pdf
Gatekeeper
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491
XProtect updated to fight Windows Crap
https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-updates-xprotect-to-combat-windows-exploits-on-mac-machines/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines
I would say yes! I have seen users with malware on their systems. They where idiots and installed it, but I would hope if they would have had something installed, they would have been better off.
I aways thought I need not be concerned. Been exclusively Mac since 1985, and never had a serious problem. Then one day last year my MacBook Pro fans were going crazy. I download and tried the free Bitdefender from the app store. It found a bitcoin miner in Chrome and got rid of it. Only happened one other time on my iMac or MacPro. So… doesn’t hurt or take long to run the app every couple weeks.