Do not use on any
shared computer
August 29, 2008 09:41pm pdt
 
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Free Firewall/Antivirus/Antispyware for OS X

Tags: free, antivirus, os, x, firewall
Long story short, I'm a Windows/Linux guy who decided to give OS X a try by buying a new MacBook.

I'm going to be using my laptop on a college public wireless network.  What applications do I need to make sure I'm secure?  Specifically,

1. Is the built-in firewall good enough, or is their a preferred free software firewall out there?
2. What is the recommended free antivirus program?  It looks like ClamXav is popular, and I know ClamAV is a popular choice on Linux.
3. Are there any OS X antispyware programs out there?
4. Are there any services (sshd, vnc, etc.) that are on by default that I will need to turn off?

Is there anything else I'm missing?  (I am going to avoid making credit card purchases and online banking transactions just to be safe side, too.)
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Question Stats
Zone: Apple
Question Asked By: JohnK813
Solution Provided By: eoinosullivan
Participating Experts: 3
Solution Grade: A
Views: 354
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[+][-]Accepted Solution by eoinosullivan

Rank: Guru

Accepted Solution by eoinosullivan:

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[+][-]Author Comment by JohnK813
Author Comment by JohnK813:

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Comment by MarketingDrive
Don't even bother with AV programs for Mac. Since 2001 there really hasn't been anything documented. I find it somewhat funny that AV programs have been available since then for no reason - with updates!! In fact, those who used Norton did more damage to their Macs than if they had left them alone.

There is NO spyware that affects Macs. Period. If you are worried about cookies (I wouldn't be, to be honest), then go into your Safari prefs and clear out the ones you don't want in there.
 
 
Comment by IdleFire
I'd recommend a VPN solution for a shared network, more to avoid people snooping on your activity online than anything else. Someone seeing you enter your login will be significantly more dangerous than any virus on the Mac.

There's a number of good VPN solutions available from HotSpotVPN.com, VforVPN.com, and various others, otherwise you could make your own SSH tunnel to a machine elsewhere.
 
 
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