Internet Security For Mac, Security Software for Mac

Internet security for Mac is becoming important as the number of Macs in use has increased and hackers have started actively targeting Macs.

The malware problem though nowhere near as severe as it is for Windows machines, is growing. There is an active toolkit out that enables attackers to create new Mac malware easily.

An issue with Mac security is that Apple is secretive and does not release security patches to Mac OS X quickly. This leaves Mac OS X users exposed to vulnerabilities till MacOS X is patched with the security updates from Apple.

The inherent security of a Mac prevents viruses from infecting the system but does not guard against other attacks. For example a Mac user is still subject to system independent attacks such as phishing attacks.

Some security software for Mac guard against not only viruses but also against such behavior based attacks.

The downside of installing an anti virus scanning solution on a Mac is that it will slow down the computer while guarding against a threat that is still not defined.

Security Software for Mac

Google provides a Safebrowsing list of known malware or phishing URLS. Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox incorporate real time access to this list and prevent you from being their target.

Use Ad muncher to block popup ads if you are using a browser other than Firefox.

Clam XAV provides free anti virus solution for Mac. It can be set up to scan all incoming files or to scan your entire hard disk.

Sophos Antivirus is free for the home user and users give it good reviews.

Avast for Mac requires an annual subscription. Users have given it good reviews lately.

Eset Security for Mac - users in the past have complained about compatibility problems with different versions of Mac OSX as well as about slow responsiveness. Recent versions seem to fix these issues.

Important security steps for Mac

Make sure the Mac OSX firewall is turned on and is operating.

Ensure that you browse the Internet and do general computing as a regular user and not as the Administrative user Return from Internet security for Mac to Security and Privacy Software