photo credit: hyperscholar

Anti-virus or no Anti-virus for the Mac? Often I get asked if one should purchase anti-virus software along with their first Mac. I personally tell them not to (after a lengthy and probably boring description of user permissions), but I do warn them to be careful and make sure their systems are kept up to date. Daniel, from Roughly Drafted, wrote recently about running anti-virus programs on Macs and I enjoyed his opinion and evidence for thinking twice before purchasing…

The Mac Malware Myth — RoughlyDrafted Magazine

 For more than a half decade, the Windows-enraptured tech media has been banging on a drum about the imminent arrival of Mac viruses. As proof of this coming wave, they always cite researchers employed by anti-virus vendors who recount vulnerabilities found in Mac OS X or occasionally trojan horse malware designed to dupe Mac users into manually installing software that intentionally causes problems…

(edu.Mac take- What exactly does this mean for us home users though?)

…for home users, Mac anti-virus makes no sense whatsoever. All it can possibly do is slow down the system, add some irritating interruptions, and provide a false sense of security while actually undermining real security by adding new layers of potential vulnerabilities. Very targeted attacks, ones that might exploit a vulnerability to gain access to your system, are not preventable with anti-virus software that only scans for known patterns of malicious software.

(via Roughly Drafted)

So do you use anti-virus software on your Mac? If so, has it ever caught something potentially damaging?

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