Mac Antivirus applications, is it needed?

Mac Antivirus applications exist and one of the arguments die hard Mac fans use is the fact that the Mac doesn't have any viruses worth mentioning about. There are some reasons why this is the case and one reason is the Mac user base is much lower compared to Windows for example. This in turn makes the Mac OS X platform not so attractive to develop viruses for.

However the Mac is becoming more and more popular each day, and virus makers will probably turn some of the focus to the Mac sooner or later. If you decide to install antivirus software this will protect your Mac but it will also protect your friends using Windows. You might get a mail you want to forward to some friends, this e-mail might contain a virus. This virus will probably not hurt your Mac but you will get alerted by the anti virus application so you can stop the mail. This way you just dont protect yourself but others too.

Mac OS X is built around a completely different foundation compared to Windows. The foundation is very much UNIX like and UNIX is well known for its good security. While this is good it can be dangerous to be naive and think that you never will be affected. There will always be security holes. Virus writers will take advantage of that. Still I feel a bit more secure when using a Mac compared to a Windows computer...

What options do I have ?

In these cases I always use common sense, it can be hard if you are not used to working with computers and when everything is confusing. Common sense have always worked for me, and right now I do not have any Mac antivirus software installed. However if you work a lot with Windows users it is recommended that you at least think about it. You also have the option of using ClamXav witch is free antivirus for Mac. The link is below.

Anti virus for Mac

Here are some Mac antivirus applications I recommend.

Virus Barrier

Norton antivirus

ClamXav - This one is free (open-source)

To wrap this up it is safe to say that if you are using a Mac, you are probably more secure compared to Windows. But do not let that make you go crazy, thinking about security is healthy regardless of what operating system you run and will benefit you in the long run. Even if you are using a Mac.