Please notice this article is not yet finished!

First one up is Avast for MAC:

System requirements:

- CPU Intel or PowerPC.

- Mac OS X minimum version 10.4 (Tiger).

- Memory minimum 128MB.

- Disk space required 50MB.

Features:

- Virus scanning engine that can be modified and scheduled to scan.

- On-access scanning.

- Automatic updates.

- Virus chest.

- Integrated mail protection.

User interface:

- Simple.

- Intuative.

- Easy to use (user friendly).

Conclusion:

- Installation/Uninstallation 5 of 5

- User interface 4 of 5

- Protection level NA

- Performance 4 of 5

On to the next candidate – PC Tools iAntivirus for MAC:

Based on this article – http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/fr/iantivirus.htm

Conclusion:

- Installation/Uninstallation

- User interface

- Protection level

- Performance

The next in line is – Sophos Anti-Virus for MAC

Based on this article – http://www.securemac.com/sophos-anti-virus-review.php

Conclusion:

- Installation/Uninstallation

- User interface

- Protection level

- Performance

The last contender – ClamXav

Based on this article – http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/index.cfm?RSS&ReviewID=3762

Conclusion:

- Installation/Uninstallation

- User interface

- Protection level

- Performance

At the end we will compare the results of the score and provide our winner, but best of all you can try them all out for free.

You are more than welcome to send us your opinion, or even better to register at our website and join the discussion about free antivirus reviews.

The AC Team

Well on to the test itself

Downloaded the software directly from Bitdefender’s website, it only took 10-15 sec. on my 10Mbit Internet line.

You need to dobbelclick on the downloaded file, this will unpack the files to a folder, inside you will find both a version for MAC and one for Windows, dobbelclick on the MAC installation file, it has the extension .dmg.

Around 10 seconds later you see the following picture and can start the installation.

Now dobbelclick the BitdefenderInstaller and you are presented by this welcome screen.

Click continue 3 times and on the agree button. Select the hard drive for installation and click continue and lastly install.

You are prompted for your administrator password, type it in and hit enter and then the installation is in progress.

After around 20-30 sec. you get a screen saying “install succeeded” and bitdefender starts automatically, you can click close on the install screen.

Type in your registration key and your newly installed software are ready to go into action.

Update of signature files will start automatically. When done you need to make a full scan to be sure you are protected.

A full scan can take a while, I have an older (3 year old) MAC containing a 75GB hard drive and it took around 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete.

Here the scan is finished.

And the conclusion.

- A very easy installation and simple and good user interface interface.

- Protection level, difficult to say and compare when being in the MAC computer world.

- Seems light on resources, no noticeable performance degrade on programs.

Can be recommended.

To get more information and to possible buy, click here BitDefender Antivirus for Mac

We highly recommend the emsisoft anti-malware security suite that now can be bought bundled with the Online Armor firewall.

The emsisoft anti-malware keeps being on top year after year and they even have a free trial, please try it out and then decide.

The version you pay for has active scanning which ofcource are a must in the long run.

Best regards

Admin

What aspects you should consider when you need to buy a good anti-malware program, here is my 1 page suggestion.

1. High detection rate

First and foremost, the program should find any malware, whether it be viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, rootkits and other malicious which has infected the computer.

One should look for tests on the Internet where an independent entity has tested and compared different anti-malware programs and their ability to detect all malware samples.

In addition, the software should be able to handle unknown malware and allow to send this for analysis.
Eventually there should also be a frequent update of definitions so that the program has always the best way to catch all malware.

2. Impact on resources

Antimalware software should respect the available resources and not make the computer noticecable slower on startup and does not blunt the overall system performance under normal use.

When doing an active file system scan for malware you should expect the performance of the computer to be reduced especially in relation to the most common bottleneck being disk i/o in a computer.

3. Ease of Use

Antimalware software must be able to be installed and configured by ordinary people and not require much technical knowledge.

It should be easy and intuitive to use, while it should be simple and easily understandable when in use.

Help with software should be available in both offline help files and online support. Additionally it is recommended that there is possibility to choose different languages for the anti-malware program.

How do we find such an antimalware program that meets these requirements?

It is relatively easy to find articles comparing paragraph 1 and 2, representing high detection rate and impact on resources. Just choose a search engine and search for testing and comparison of anti-malware programs, but remember to stick to the independent and credible websites.

Paragraph 3 – ease of use can often be found by searching but just as often a matter of one’s own preferences.

Therefore and highly advisable it can also be a great idea to try some different programs, many anti-malware manufactures provides either a free version or possibly. a trial version and it gives good opportunity to test and thereby gain experience of a given product.

SpiderBatman,

If you think your computer is infected you can use this free tool from Trend Micro and attach your log in our forum.

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

Best regards

Admin

I found this nice and well written article about security and it includes the most fundamental security aspects which can keep you from getting malware.

Thanks to Martha, the author http://www.marthas-web.com who gave permission to publish it on our antivirus community website.

This is the article, Dan

Security

More and more it is difficult to keep our computers safe from all of the crimeware waiting to assault if we let our guard down. We absolutely must protect our computers and ourselves. The only way to protect is to use good surfing habits, never open emails from strangers and keep our security programs updated and current.

The internet is growing every day and not everyone there is friendly. Never give your name, phone number & address to anyone on the internet until you have checked that site’s privacy policy. Even then it may not be safe! Create and use an ‘Internet Profile’ to use on sites that require registration. Get a junk email address on one of the free email account sites. And never, ever put confidential information in an email!

Everyone hates spam and you could be sending it! Your computer could be an Internet ‘Zombie’. If your computer is running too slow, it could be you are infected with virus and/or spyware that is sending out spam or even other virus laden emails. It could also cost you your Internet connection as well, just read this article ‘ISP Gets Tough With ‘Zombie’ Customers‘ by Colin C. Haley

If you use dialup to connect to the Internet, read this article on PC Mag’s site and make sure you’ve protected yourself by following the instructions for disabling ActiveX.

There are so many bad things on the ‘net just waiting to attack your computer. Some of them are trying (and succeeding!) to steal your logins and passwords for financial sites. Others are trying to convince you to buy ‘security’ programs that are really spyware.

There are hijackers that take over your browser, trojans and worms that can turn your computer into a zombie that can send spam, virus, trojans and worms to other unsuspecting folks.
Every day there are new and evil scammers purveying their crimeware. Our security programs are stressed to the max trying to keep up. You must make sure they are constantly updated, but even then the ‘bad stuff’ may be one step ahead, so safe computing is  absolutely the first line of defense.

As the malware writers grow more sophisticated, it is increasingly dangerous to surf the Internet without some industrial-strength programs to protect you. You absolutely must use a firewall, an updated virus scanner and at least three spyware scanners.

The battle against malware of all types is an ongoing process. Just when we think we have the latest and greatest of security programs, the bad guys on the Internet come up with a new way to inflict their ugly stuff on unsuspecting computer users. The need for updating and patching Windows and programs never goes away.

But the biggest way to protect your computer (and you!) is to follow safe practices with email and web surfing.  If you open attachments, click on email links from people you don’t know or know casually and download programs from unsafe sites, you are inviting the bad stuff in to your computer. Never click on links to a website and then input your personal information on the site. Never send confidential information using email. And please, for your sake and others, stop sending attachments without explaining what the attachment contains and stop opening them unless you know for certain who they are from and the sender has told you about the attachment!

I recently found this good reveiw of security suites in 2010, here’s the link.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/191904/maximum_security_2010_internet_security_suites.html

Regards

Admin

antivirus free edition

Here’s some of the links to vendors providing a antivirus free edition.

• Avast Free Antivirus
• AVG

Please suggest more and they will be added.

Sometimes it can be useful to get a second opinion from another malware scanner, but you really won’t pay for another just to test.

Several anti-malware manufacturs provides a online scanner and can be very useful if you want to test your existing software (and really a must if you dont use any software!)

ESET Online Scanner (for easy use access with Internet Explorer)

http://www.eset.com/online-scanner#

Malware or Virus?

Often these terms are completely mixed up, so this first small article will be about the definition of malicious software, also known as malware where viruses are only a subset.

Malware

The generel term for any kind of malicious software, including viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, greyware and adware.

Virus

A computer program that can copy itself and infect files, though only spread locally on a computer.

Worm

A computer worm is a type of malware that replicate itself and spread through network shares, instant messages and as email attachments.

Trojan

A trojan or trojan horse is a non self replicating malware that act as a backdoor to a potential hacker.

Spyware

Spyware is software that collects data about the user without his or her knowledge or acceptance.

Greyware

Malware software that is considered in the “grey area” between normal software and virus. Like Adware, Spyware and Trackware.

Adware

Malware software that displays or downloads advertisements to the computer.