Mac OS X is considered one of the most secure operating systems. However, today’s user must protect himself not only against viruses but also against identity and money theft. Therefore, it is a good idea to take prevention. Here below is a description of Top 5 best free and most popular Mac antiviruses.
Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac offers a smarter way to protect your digital life. You can surf, socialize, shop and stream, while award-winning security helps safeguard you from infections, phishing and dangerous websites. Kaspersky secure connection is the best option available in the market nowadays for the protection purpose of the systems. Kaspersky is developed with a very user-friendly design. I am very happy with its performance so far.
Avast software is the most popular and, for many, the best antivirus for Mac. Developed by Czech company Avast Software, it has been available in 43 languages since 1988. It is currently being used by more than 400 million people worldwide, and third-party tests done in 2016 have shown a malware detection rate of 99.5%.
Features
This antivirus is based on a central virus-scanning daemon and requires 128MB of RAM, and 750MB of disk space. It offers three protection shields and on-demand scanning.
In addition, WebRep clients are installed to Safari, Chrome and Firefox browsers in an automatic manner. However, this free antivirus for Mac provides the user with the option not to install them.
Disadvantages
On the negative side, Avast antivirus is quite difficult to uninstall, requiring a special uninstaller program that must be downloaded from the company’s website.
Conclusion
In brief, Avast free antivirus for Mac is a safe option for many users, as its vast adoption and publicized tests give the user a guarantee in performance and confidence.
3 Easy Steps to Install Avast Antivirus for Free
1. Download from the official website and save the installation file.
2. Run the installation by clicking on a downloaded file.
3. Follow the installation instructions.
Kaspersky antivirus for Mac is a security suite developed by Kaspersky Lab, a company made famous by its research.
Features
This software protects the user from malware, email spam, phishing, hacking attempts, data leaks and more. It also has features for secure online shopping and banking, and for privacy and child protection.
Its strong parental control has been praised. It includes protection against sexual predators, inappropriate content, games, social network sites, the disclosure of personal information, and unwanted online buys.
In addition, its webcam protection prevents criminals from gaining access to the computer’s webcam, and thus, invading the user’s privacy. This feature is enhanced through the private browsing option, which prevents websites from tracking the user’s personal information and online behavior.
Kaspersky’s Mac antivirus software also offers an attack blocker, which has the capacity to detect suspicious actions and stop them.
The app is offered with a free 30-day trial, and free automatic updates.
Conclusion
Overall, the Kaspersky Internet Security suite presents a sound option for the user, when considering the high quality of the product and the research behind it.
Available since 1985, and now a product by Symantec, this classic app is a good antivirus for Mac. The software runs in the background, has daily updates and the advantage of being designed to work without slowing down the computer.
For Mac users, the app protects the computer, iPhoto pictures, and iTunes media files from viruses and spyware amongst others. It also features vulnerability protection, which prevents criminals from using weaknesses in software programs.
In addition, this Mac antivirus software monitors email and Instant Message, protecting the user against identity and money theft. On the downside, this antivirus for Mac only has free support in the English language.
Summarizing, the Norton software has the advantage of a well-known name and the backing of a good antivirus developer such as Symantec. Its daily updates and smooth background running, make it a practical choice for the sensible Mac user.
Avira for Mac antivirus was developed by Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG, a German company that specializes in computer security. The app runs on OS X 10.9 and above, and it is used by more than 100 million people. There is also a version for iOS available.
What makes this Mac antivirus software different is its use of generic signatures that increases performance and scanning speed. Adding to it, the software works by using a set of heuristics that can prevent damage by unknown malware. However, they can also produce false alarms.
Avira also contains the ProActiv component, which detects potential threats via a set of rules, and sends the information to the company. The app has had several awards and some excellent reviews.
Summarizing, Avira presents a good alternative due to its use of generic signatures and heuristics, which can result in fast and efficient protection against criminals.
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Kaspersky has had its fair share of trouble, butting heads with the U.S. government that has accused Kaspersky of using its software to spy on federal agencies and workers on behalf of the Russian government. As a result, several retailers no longer offer Kaspersky in their online or physical stores. However, we found that Kaspersky Anti-Virus is still a good, reliable option for detecting and blocking malware on home computers.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus performed well in our malware detection tests, blocking 98 percent of over 300 live malware samples we used. It requires you to enable the browser extensions before it can monitor threats online, but when set up Kaspersky catches malware lurking behind websites that are no longer up, are suspended or that time out because the browser can’t load them quickly enough. And Kaspersky does a decent job of warning you of malicious sites if you’re using Edge as your browser, even though there isn’t a browser extension for this program. And when a few virus downloads slipped past Edge’s security settings, this antivirus software stopped them quickly before the download was complete and the threat could infect our computers.
When we first installed Kaspersky on our test computers, we ran a deep virus scan. It was during this scan that we discovered another antivirus program we had tested didn’t completely delete the malware in its quarantine folder. Instead these files had been moved to our computer recycle bin. This is where Kaspersky found them and again quarantined them. And this time when we requested them to be deleted, Kaspersky made sure they were securely removed so nothing remained that could re-infect our machine. Our confidence in Kaspersky Anti-Virus’ ability to protect against malware was boosted with these findings.
This program comes with safe browsing. This means when you use a search engine to find a site, Kaspersky will display a small icon next to each search result to let you know which sites are safe to visit and which are dangerous.
One perk using Kaspersky Anti-Virus is it comes with three user licenses, so you can protect more computers and laptops with a single subscription. This makes Kaspersky a decent value if you’re looking for basic antivirus without having to endure the endless pop-up ads that come along with free antivirus programs. Plus, Kaspersky comes with antiphishing tools that help keep your identity and personal information secure, as well as a virtual keyboard that masks your usernames and passwords as you enter them into login fields to keep hackers, keyloggers and other such threats from snatching your information. Most other protection tools, like a personal firewall, parental controls and password managers, are included with Kaspersky’s pricier internet security programs such as Kaspersky Total Security. Although, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus also includes several of these advanced security tools and costs about the same as Kaspersky Anti-Virus.
During our performance tests, Kaspersky did cause some slowdown to our computers. We didn’t see it as much while browsing the web or playing games, but it took a little longer than usual to download videos and programs and upload attachments during Kaspersky’s virus scans. The difference varied between 10 seconds extra to download a video and 40 seconds more to upload and attach a file to an outgoing email message. Generally, it wasn’t enough to frustrate us or interrupt our tasks too much.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus is among the top antivirus programs for computers running any version of Windows. It does an exceptional job protecting against malware and phishing attacks. If your PC is already riddled with infections, the software can track them down, set things right and heal the damage. Its on-screen keyboard can help keep sensitive information safe when you access online accounts, and the safe browser feature marks search results so you know if a site is safe to visit. It does cause some slowdown during system scans, though we noticed it mainly while trying to download or upload files.
Kaspersky Anti-Virus is among the top antivirus programs for computers running any version of Windows. It does an exceptional job protecting against malware and phishing attacks. If your PC is already riddled with infections, the software can track them down, set things right and heal the damage. Its on-screen keyboard can help keep sensitive information safe when you access online accounts, and the safe browser feature marks search results so you know if a site is safe to visit. It does cause some slowdown during system scans, though we noticed it mainly while trying to download or upload files.