If you’re a Mac user–and I am, although I prefer UbuntuLinux most of the time, my Mac work mostly done at work rather than home unless I’m getting ready for a keynote presentation–then you probably need not fear the viruses that creep by night into your email inbox.
If you have a Mac, you can safely ignore the scorpion stinger, invincible in your shell of Mac goodness, blessed with “god power” like some video game that enables you to eliminate your enemy with a touch, impervious to their worst.
As smaugg points out in his plurks:
Macs can be a ‘Typhoid Mary’ carrier of PC viruses; i.e., won’t affect OS X, but will pass infected files to Windoze blindered folks
Yet, if you are a responsible netizen–and you use a mac or UbuntuLinux–you’ll make the time to install antivirus for the “for sure” chance you’ll be able to do a Windows user a good turn, and to protect yourself against the rare possibility a virus may be coming for you. Consider dub144’s perspective:
Sad so many are so ignorant/arrogant to think they don’t need av. ALL machines can be infected. Including routers, wap, phones, etc….Who refuse to protect themselves put the rest of us at risk. If not directly, indirectly.
Here are some solutions that arose from a Plurk conversation about the subject:
- ClamAV for Mac – Free antivirus, but lacks a “terminate and stay resident” (TSR) protection options to catch viruses that suddenly show up. You have scan for viruses manually. Here’s the link to the Snow Leopard version.
- iAntiVirus – Free antivirus for Mac
- NOD32 for Mac – not free antivirus program due out in November, 2010
- Sophos – not free antivirus program
For GNU/Linux antivirus programs, I encourage you to check out the ones mentioned here.
For Windows, well, there are tons of solutions. Start with these:
- AntiSpyware Tools:
- Malware Bytes – This program is fantastic anti-spyware tool that finds and eliminates spyware on your computer. Get it online at http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
- A-Squared HiJaack Free – http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
- SuperAntiSpyware Free edition – Get the free Home edition online at http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispyware.html
- Hitman Pro – This tool combines Ad-Aware SE, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Spy Sweeper, Spyware Doctor, CWShredder, Spyware Blaster, NOD32, Sysclean package to get the job done. Most of the included programs are freeware. Get it online at http://tinyurl.com/3bk4lv
- AntiVirus Tools:While there are many antivirus tools, there is only one that is worth installing on thousands of computers.
- AVG AntiVirus Free – This free version is for personal home use, but you can also install the free version for a 30-day trial. Get it online at http://free.avg.com/
- Panda Cloud AntiVirus
- Revo Uninstaller – Some times, you need a program that will completely uninstall a program, including cleaning up your Windows registry. This program accomplishes that and ensures complete removal of a program. Get the portable version online at http://www.revouninstaller.com/
- CCleaner – This invaluable tool actually cleans up your computer’s registry, and run periodically, keeps your computer running in tip-top shape. Get the portable version online at http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds
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