Software

Market for Antivirus for the Mac

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief April 21, 2009 · 2 min read

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A couple of days ago, I got an email from PR of Symantec Corp. about the availability of Norton Internet Security for Mac which includes a firewall and anti-virus.

norton
While there’s been some word from Apple that Mac users are recommended to use anti-virus, this has been downplayed because Macs have been marketed as free from any sort of virus.

I guess the need for anti-virus for the Mac has become more important now that the newer Intel machines are able to run Windows (via BootCamp, etc). Besides, most exploits seems to be targeted towards the Safari browser.

Even Mac owners are susceptible to online threats, and when it comes to phishing, it doesnâ€™t matter what platform youâ€™re using,â€ said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec. â€œThe data we are seeing from Symantec’s Security Response is showing that Macs can be a target for viruses and malware. Norton Internet Security for Mac now helps safeguard users from phishing threats, malware and hackers, without compromising system performance.

The suggested retail price for Norton Internet Security for Mac is PHP4,890, which includes a one-year subscription to Symantec protection updates. The suggested retail price for Norton Internet Security for Mac Dual Protection is PHP5,510, which includes a one-year subscription to Symantec protection updates.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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32 Comments

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

@rolly, at least we now both agree that there’s that “opportunity” where an anti-virus is needed. =) Likewise, the McAfee solution was a package deal for all three (phishing, malware and antivirus).

rolly · 17 years ago

and I just realized, the email you got is for Norton Internet security which I believe is for phishing and firewall protection only. It isn’t for Antivirus (which is what your title say). I would have agreed on this article had it had a proper title and context to phishing and firewall only – since they are not dependent on OS but the user. That’s why it’s alarming why you leverage antivirus on a phishing and firewall app.

rolly · 17 years ago

well, that’s where this post is loose. Antivirus would have been needed for Windows and not for Mac (for discussion sake only) based on the hardware premise.

As for antivirus companies, they are capitalist companies. They create the market, so take anything they say with a grain of salt. If you actually check the Mac community news, there has yet to be a worldwide outbreak of at least one virus that infects a Mac. As of now, there are only phishing, and botnet (from iWork/Photoshop) – which isn’t a virus and needs user interaction (push a button or install the app).

I use both systems, and a common courtesy amongst Mac users would actually use antivirus apps just to check files they’d get from Windows users to clean it, before sending it back. That’s how Mac users would need the antivirus – as courtesy, and not for protection.

rolly · 17 years ago

yuga, first there is convoluting phishing and viruses (they are entirely two different things, the latter only exists in Windows and has to have a public appearance in a Mac – the botnet from iWork is from pirated copies, and needs user intervention, they deserve it – stupid ***)

Second, you said it yourself that viruses are needed because Macs run Windows. What is the root cause again?

I’d always take all posts here with a grain of salt since I’m not entirely sure if these are not FUD. my 2 cents.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

Exactly, that’s why the hardware (i.e. Mac, Macbook, iMac) is not safe anymore from viruses because it no longer just runs on OSX but Windows as well. I would have agreed with you about FUD had the title said “Anti-virus for OSX” (as in if you run OSX on a Dell machine, you don’t need anti-virus for it).

Then again, it points to the core of the question — why have vendors like McAfee been selling antivirus for the Mac for years now if there’s nothing to defend against? If they are able to continue development and sell these anti-virus, would that mean Mac users are continuously buying softwares they don’t need at all? Or is it all for the “preparation/defense” of an upcoming public virus?

john · 17 years ago

mac can’t recognize .exe files..

Gwapito.com · 17 years ago

As the market for Macs increases so does the viruses, malwares.

Scammers, spammers, hackers and cyber terrorist will always find a way.

Macs will never be virus free. Period.

Adrian · 17 years ago

mac is based from BSD OS. So there is no need for anti-virus for mac. have you heard that there is a visus for BSD? I dont think so.

BSD is a hardcore OS even compare to linux.

People who needs for antivirus are the one who uses windows

ian · 17 years ago

“Macs are virus free”

NOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

lol

jomar · 17 years ago

Yuga, oks na link bait ah. Welcome back dvorak!

hehe
jomar

macs rule!

sky · 17 years ago

There’s a conspiracy theory on that.

Paolo · 17 years ago

Just a though, does anyone think that anti-virus companies make viruses themselves? You think thats possible?

jojo · 17 years ago

the future has arrived.. good for anti virus makers and virus makers too

cris · 17 years ago

there goes the so-called virus-free Mac! hehe

Darren · 17 years ago

I hope symantec offering their price more reasonable cause I’m considering buying a iMac. LOL

biliPH · 17 years ago

I agree. With the increasing market share of Apple, we’ll see more attempts from malicious coders unleashing viruses on the Mac. I hope Apple takes these virus and malware threats more seriously.