I've been a Mac user since 1987, online since then (started with a 300bps Panasonic telephone/modem with a home-made cable!), on the net since '95. I've used Macs from the early "SE" right up to my current Intel iMac and this PowerMac g4.
I use a router to connect everything together (with whatever firewall protection comes from Network Address Translation), but other than that, I use no (let me repeat that for empahsis, NO) virus protection software, nothing at all.
I download freely, open attachments left and right.
Without worrying.
And... in twenty years of Mac usage, I have NEVER had a virus, trojan, adware, spyware, ANY of that stuff.
Perhaps there is always a first time. If there is, so be it.
But Swordmaker's post was appropriate. The "average" Mac end user can connect to the net with nothing more than the default Firewall protection included in OS X, and not worry any more than I do about "protection". BTW, I don't even have OS X's firewall running. I don't need it.
A far, FAR, F-A-R cry from the world of Windows.... :)
- John
John,
That’s really bad advice to give anyone. If your router is performing NAT then there is a decent chance it has some FW capabilties built-in...or at the very least is not exposing other network enabled devices to the public internet.
In any event there are quite a number of OS-X exploits and this list is growing. Not to mention the fact that many MS-Office Macro viruses will function equaly well in the Mac version of Office. Furthermore, there ARE as I’ve pointed out, plenty of hardware vulnerabilties for network capable devices. If you haven’t gotten hit it’s because you’ve been lucky....and also probably because your router is not exposing any devices except itself to the public internet... and blocking broadcast packets from coming onto your private network.
Furthermore, most people who’s computers are compromised never actualy know it. It’s not like every piece of malware out there is going to pop up a big banner saying that you’ve been hacked or erase your HD.
Forgive my forwardness...and I’m not saying you have been... but if you haven’t been running a FW, virus monitor, spyware scanner etc.... how do you know you’ve never actualy been compromised?