The full name is Sophos Anti-Virus For Mac Home Edition and this is an antivirus utility from Sophos who also supplies business strength solutions and represents that they are including the same function in this free version. This is a review of my personal experience installing and using the software so you can decide whether it may work well for you.
Anti-Virus For Mac?
Here are some reasons why you might want to consider installing antivirus software on the Mac. When Apple had the classic operating system, I always used antivirus just to be on the safe side. Even though I have always kept a complete backup and updated every day, an infection could be copied onto the backup all too easily. In those days it was Norton Antivirus, and even though I always updated the definitions there was never an issue.
With in the introduction of Mac OSX the character of the operating system changed because it was based on UNIX programming which is very stable and requires an administrator password to change core functions. For this reason it seemed unnecessary to use an antivirus program on modern Mac computers as long as one was careful not to open hoaxes in email or online.
Exploits That Circumvent Administrator Protection
Now that Apple has gained such huge size and recognition, new threats are beginning to appear. The Flashback exploit used a false Flash update installer and then evolved to exploit a flaw in the Java programming language. Apple released an update through the automatic software update to handle this but 600,000 machines had been infected. After the removal patch that number dropped very quickly. Still, it now could be possible to be at risk just by visiting a site online that is completely legitimate but has been compromised by hackers. Continue reading »