AntiVirus/Malware for Mac & iPhone

[teevee]

Does anyone have a recommendation regarding use of an AntiVirus/Malware app on my Mac and iPhone. I have used Mac and iPhone and iPad for the past 15 years and never felt the need to have additional protection but my online bank account was recently hacked (big reputable international bank in Bangkok) and I think it may be time to beef up my security.

[Saltire]

Have a look at MalwareBytes free version.

 

Initial scan on my MacBook Air detected 9 malware, cleaned up and have had nothing new in a year.

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

You will find many companies trying to sell their products. I have yet to see anything that is of a benefit to the user.

[Rhacsyn]

The operating system is IOS and should not require antivirus. If somebody is hacking in to your devices when you are connected to the internet then why not install a VPN such as iVpn or others...

[mrfill]

3 hours ago, Rhacsyn said:

The operating system is IOS and should not require antivirus. If somebody is hacking in to your devices when you are connected to the internet then why not install a VPN such as iVpn or others...

Most account hacking is caused through email phishing and you'd need an anti-idiot device to prevent a user giving their data away. The IoS operating system is extremely secure and diligent - something not always present in the operators.

[tomazbodner]

Malware Bytes and Avast offer free nagware - basically they are free but you'll be asked to upgrade to paid version often. They do their job.

 

About 1000THB/year are commercial offerings from these, as well as ESET, Kaspersky, etc.

 

[PDPA2024]

6 hours ago, Rhacsyn said:

The operating system is IOS and should not require antivirus. If somebody is hacking in to your devices when you are connected to the internet then why not install a VPN such as iVpn or others...

Just like Mac/iOS "Antivirus", VPN is unlikely to offer any protection from stolen passwords or identity. If anything, using commercial VPN service makes you more vulnerable. I'd only trust a VPN I'm running myself; actually, it's cheaper and faster, and it takes one click to install.

 

I suggest checking website address and lock icon (real bank websites usually have a green one) before typing in password. You can also filter out most potentially dangerous scripts with an ad blocker such as AdGuard (they have a free Safari version).

 

I haven't used antiviruses for many years (even back when I had Windows), because they're practically useless against Internet threats. Here's a bonus regarding VPN services:

 

[teacherclaire]

OP, please don't listen to the free this and that.

 

   Buy a Kaspersky key for your machine on e-bay for almost nothing and you'll see that online banking, etc will be much safer. It automatically goes on a protected site when you do anything similar.

 

 

 

   

Edited October 26, 2020 by teacherclaire

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, mrfill said:

Most account hacking is caused through email phishing

In fact phishing is the second in numbers of breaches vulnerabilities in OS and applications are more common.

[Dart12]

MalwareBytes is good for getting junk off your Mac.  And no, Mac's are NOT virus proof as someone alluded to.

Kapersky, idk about them, I just know they are banned from US for something they did with Russia.

But more than likely you weren't hacked.  You probably just need to create some serious passwords for all sites (and/or double protection like text secruity key too) and use something like Lastpass to keep them safe.

[bbabythai]

20 hours ago, Saltire said:

Have a look at MalwareBytes free version.

 

Initial scan on my MacBook Air detected 9 malware, cleaned up and have had nothing new in a year.

 

 

same with me when I ran it on my MCBpro. Got to think if its a scam.... the first scan that is

[KannikaP]

19 hours ago, Rhacsyn said:

The operating system is IOS and should not require antivirus. If somebody is hacking in to your devices when you are connected to the internet then why not install a VPN such as iVpn or others...

Would a VPN prevent viruses?

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, redpill17 said:

only trust a VPN I'm running myself; actually, it's cheaper and faster, and it takes one click to install.

More info please, either publicly or via PM. Ta.

[sanuk711]

I have run on the free version of Bit Defender which is also in the top 3.

they give you 5 porgrams to try phone as well as Mac.

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

and you'll see that online banking, etc will be much safer

How will I notice that please, before someone steals any money from me?

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Would a VPN prevent viruses?

No

[PDPA2024]

17 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

OP, please don't listen to the free this and that.

 

   Buy a Kaspersky key for your machine on e-bay for almost nothing and you'll see that online banking, etc will be much safer. It automatically goes on a protected site when you do anything similar.

 

 

 

   

Kaspersky is the worst of all, don't buy anything from them. This company has a long history of being in bed with Kremlin.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/technology/kaspersky-lab-israel-russia-hacking.html

 

5 hours ago, KannikaP said:

More info please, either publicly or via PM. Ta.

Sure, one cheap option is to get a virtual machine from Vultr, they have a 1-click OpenVPN installer.

https://www.vultr.com/docs/one-click-openvpn/

Also, Amazon offers a 1-year trial for AWS. After that, it gets a bit pricey, but hey - that's free VPN for a year, and it doesn't spy on you. AWS is a bit more technical, but there are step-by-step guides how to do this:

 

 

 

[elgenon]

Super anti-spyware works for me. Free version. I've had times where my computer froze and the voice said I had to contact them and pay. I ran the aforementioned and it cleaned up. I run it periodically and it scrubs.

[up-country_sinclair]

Bitdefender have a pretty good deal going at the moment:

 

3 Macs for 3 years for a total of 1442 THB.

 

https://www.bitdefender.co.th/antivirus-mac/?___store=en

 

Anyone currently using this antivirus software?

[sometimewoodworker]

The general tech consensus is that there is no significant benefit for using 3rd party AV software.

 

I have been using Macs for the last 25 years and the only viruses that have ever been on my machines were some windows ones about 15+ years ago. I very occasionally use the free scan SW
 

Even windows doesn’t need 3P AV SW today 

 

The way the Mac OS has been progressing AV SW will become less and less able to get its hooks into the kernel software specifically with the current OS

Edited April 2, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[sometimewoodworker]

On 10/27/2020 at 8:14 AM, Dart12 said:

Kapersky, idk about them, I just know they are banned from US for something they did with Russia.

They are Russian 

[sometimewoodworker]

You would be far better advised to spend the money on a password manager. I have been using 1Password for about 15 years. I have virtually no sites that have the same password and most email addresses are also unique. I currently have around 700 different email password combinations and only need to remember about 5 an example password is “2WJugLsZFdQn8!TbxwD7r2qv6HfyQ.Rb”

they will warn you of compromised sites if you want

all 4 are Facebook and since the last time either SWMBO or I used anything there was a couple of years ago I haven’t bothered to do anything yet.