antivirus and internet security needed for MAC

[slick1]

Hi all,

My sister just bought a new Mac and she was asking about getting antivirus protection for it and also internet security.
I have installed kaspersky pure on her PC but Kaspersky don’t have an internet security package for Mac. They only have virus protection.

I know there are many other internet security and antivirus software out there but does anybody’s have any good recommendations? Also, is there a good free one or is it best to stay clear of them?

Thanks
Slick1

[tristen]

I use only Windows-based machines for program compatibility reasons so I cannot speak from personal experience with Macintosh computers. However I offer the following observations.

1/. I would think that a Macintosh computer would not be targeted as readily as a Windows machine and so the threat level will be significantly less.
2/. Most anti-virus programs enable both incoming and outgoing e-mail scanning. If Kaspersky for MAC offers such protection, invoke it.
3/. If your sister has an ADSL connection as opposed to dial-up, check any Firewall settings (DoS (denial of service), Port Scan Protection and Service Filtering) in the modem/router in use, and make sure that they are set up appropriately.
4/. I believe that Mac OSX has an inbuilt firewall, so make sure that it's turned on and set up correctly.

I use the ZoneAlarm firewall program on my Windows P.C. and find it to be very reliable. There is a Mac version available.

There are obvious advantages to using the "full" versions of software rather than the "free" versions. A comparison of "full" versus "free" at the various vendor's websites should, hopefully, make this clear. You need to decide whether, in your case, the additional features are worth the expenditure.
If you decide on "free", make sure that the virus definitions and other anti-virus files are updated regularly. In my experience, people fail to do this, and as a result, their computers are much more vulnerable to the problems they are seeking to avoid.

Finally, you will find much of the information you seek by using Google.

In particular, search the many Macintosh forums, where you will find other Macintosh users, both amateur and professional, discussing the very questions you have asked.

Google reveals that suitable forums can be found at and , to name but two, where you will find specialist information.