On Apr 11, 2010, at 8:40 AM, Roger Henriques wrote:
[-----]
>
> I haven't looked at ClamXav for a while, but I understood it did not
> scan for Mac virii and malware, just PC - it may have changed, but
> if not it is certainly useful as described.
>
> I use Intego VirusBarrier, which claims to scan for everything, but
> it does cost for the program, and then an annual fee for virus
> definition updates.

It is my understanding that there aren't Mac viruses since OSX. Also
that there are some Trojans and malware, but you have to go to the
trouble of installing them. "To watch our fantastic show, just
download the nifty viewer HERE." and install it.

That's probably why ClamXav doesn't scan for them. Seems like since it
scans for Windows viruses, it would be easy for the author to add
them. It does scan for the one Mac OSX Trojan.

I used to use and still have Intego Virus Barrier, but it never found
anything, and it charges for semi-frequent virus updates as somebody
else pointed out. I asked Intego what the advantage was in having
it, without any Mac Viruses, and they answered that it was to keep
from passing on Viruses to my friends on the other side of the
tracks. So I just keep it for other things it does now, although as I
write I realize I don't remember what they are. Oh, yeah ... a
traceroute is one. And you can set it to cloak your identity, and so
on. And it acts as a firewall. I don't know how effective that really
is, but I don't think I've had any unwanted visitors, so maybe it
works. I got it in the first place because I found a file in my
Library directory with a cheerful note on it: "Joy! I love Macs."
I assumed somebody had gotten in and left me a greeting.

It will also cloak your browsing, but some of those settings slowed
down browsing drastically when I turned them on. So I never do anymore.

There are two ... no, three things I do to protect my Mac from trolls
and vermin:

1) Basic security policy. E.g., I have a pretty strong policy of never
opening any attached Word doc, ppt slideshow, pdf or anything else,
really, unless it is from someone I know and trust. I don't visit
weird sites, and so on. And I use Earthlink, which has a virus trap
that has caught quite a few viruses attached to spam email. It also
has an effective spam blocker. Challenge type. (Some people get
offended, and I would prefer not to use it, but it improves email life
a lot. )

2) I scan every now and then with ClamXav. So far it hasn't found
anything either, probably because of #1 above. It's free ... or
really it's donationware, and was re-written last year to include the
lone Mac Trojan, and improve the interface. And it's real easy to use.

3) I keep Little Snitch running in the background. It snitches anytime
anything in my Mac tries to call home. I think everything from Adobe
does, every time I launch it. I could set it so it either never lets
the call through, or always does, and it wouldn't bother me by
asking, and for some things I do.

Doug



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