Mac OS X users be warned. After years of being able to roam free without the threat of contracting a WTD (a web transmitted disease), nasty keys are busy working on a way to wipe the smug off our arrogant, Mac-using faces.
Several news sites are reporting trojans and viruses for the Mac, warning a largely unprotected population to set ourselves up with the appropriate software. Linux users as well might be headed for the same fire. So ya’ll take note!
Turn your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections off when you’re not using them, keep your Antivirus definitions up-to-date and try to set yourself up with a personal firewall.
If you don’t have any Antivirus protection just yet, download ClamXav to tie you over. It’s a free app that does have its limitations. It does not have an auto-protect feature. This means you’ll have to manually search your files regularly as it won’t run a safety net in the background to catch infected files before you open them. It also does not have any method of fixing or cleaning the infected files it finds.
The three most popular Antivirus solutions for the Mac platform are:
Norton Antivirus is cheaper when you buy it from the US site and they’ll allow you to buy the “Download” version from anywhere in the world. The US Site charges US$49 and the UK site £49 – a 100% markup proving what I discussed in that post last week.
Intego also has a “DualProtection” version, designed for Intel-Macs running Windows through BootCamp (?) or Parallels (?). It won’t protect any viruses you contract while running Linux on your system though (ie: Ubuntu, Debian, etc). Post any Linux options you know of in the comments section below.
While virus definitions have been updated regularly, the apps themselves haven’t really been touched over the past couple of years. A true sign of how slight demand has been for virus protection software. We have been playing with fire! This has little to no bearing on their ability to protect your computer though, as the virus definitions are what count.