Today's best AVG AntiVirus for Mac deals

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Free antivirus software seems like a great idea, but you always wonder how many corners such a program will cut. For example, AVG AntiVirus for Mac doesn't offer any features outside of malware detection.

But we can forgive it for that, and with good reason. Not only are this AVG product's malware-detection skills among the best you can get without paying, but it also offers the most straightforward and helpful interface we've seen. However, it's edged out among free products by its stablemate Avast Free Mac Security, which has more features. Overall, neither can be called the best antivirus for Mac, a title that goes to the paid Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac, which offers flawless protection.

MORE: Best Mac Antivirus Software

Costs and What's Covered

AVG AntiVirus for Mac is a free product.

It will work with Macs running OS X Mountain 10.8 Lion or later operating systems, including macOS 10.12 Sierra.

Antivirus Protection

AVG AntiVirus for Mac uses a traditional scanning engine that matches suspicious code with digital signatures of known malware. The program also utilizes heuristic monitoring that, among other things, looks for the behavioral attributes of malware to suss out unknown strains.

Antivirus Performance

Austria's independent AV-Comparatives lab tested AVG AntiVirus for Mac's malware-detection skills and found that it provides practically perfect protection.

Nov 13, 2017  Avast Security Pro for Mac is the professional version of the hugely popular AV program. Efficient and comprehensive, the popularity stems from the reliable and trustworthy brand that Avast have created over the years. Avast securuty pro for mac. Download the Avast Security Pro for Mac setup file by clicking the button below and save it to a familiar location on your Mac. Download Avast Security Pro for Mac Double-click the downloaded setup file avast_security_online.dmg and select Avast Security Pro. Jan 12, 2018  Avast Security Pro offers certified Mac malware protection, a network security scanner, and a password manager, but those features also come with the free Avast Security. Avast Security Pro instantly alerts you when someone joins your Wi-Fi network. This helps you keep hackers out, and stops neighbors from bringing your network to. Avast Security Pro for Mac review: Everything a modern antivirus app needs and a little bit more An all-around champion has strong malware-fighting abilities packaged with worthwhile extras.

In AV Comparatives' July 2017 tests, the lab found that AVG detected 99.9 percent of malware, which translates to catching 686 pieces of malware and failing to detect one piece. By comparison, Avast Free Mac Security also caught 99.9 percent (686 out of 687), and Avira Free Antivirus for Mac caught 99.1 percent (681 out of 687).

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac detected 100 percent of Mac malware. (AVG, Bitdefender and Kaspersky also caught 100 percent of Windows malware, which Macs can harbor.)

Security and Privacy Features

Because the program is free, we're not shocked that AVG AntiVirus for Mac comes without any special features, such as parental controls, a firewall, a virtual keyboard or a webcam blocker.

While its competitors pack browser plug-ins to flag untrustworthy search-engine results, it's not a huge deal that AVG doesn't. Those extensions can be downloaded for free from the sites of the companies (Avast, Bitdefender, etc.) that produce them.

Performance and System Impact

AVG AntiVirus for Mac caused more of a system impact than competing Mac software did. We assessed this by running our custom OpenOffice benchmark test, which measures how long a machine takes to match 20,000 names and 20,000 addresses on a spreadsheet. Our test machine was a Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display with a 2.6-GHz Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and 70GB of data stored on a 512GB SSD.

Avast blocks the unsafe websites, unsafe downloads, stop dangerous emails etc. Avast for mac good apple review. Avast security safeguards your photos and files from ransomware attack to ensure that none of your personal memories can be encrypted without your permission. It also scans your system for already-hidden threats.

After we installed AVG AntiVirus for Mac on our MacBook, the OpenOffice test finished in an average of 2 minutes and 25.75 seconds, 3.75 seconds longer than the same system took before the installation. That's a passive system hit of 2.6 percent, which is the second highest we found. By contrast, Avast Free Mac Security Review rated just 0.5 percent. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac rated 2.8 percent (a category high) and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac rated 0 percent (the lowest of any program we tested).

During a full-system scan, the OpenOffice test finished in 2 minutes and 40 seconds, signifying a performance dip of 12.1 percent, the second highest full-scan hit we found. You might notice that kind of slowdown if you're rendering video or playing games. Avira Free Antivirus for Mac's 12.8 percent was the highest we recorded, and Kaspersky's 4.5 percent was the lowest. Avast for mac network hog.

AVG's full scans completed in an average of 40 minutes and 51 seconds, which fell in the middle of the times we recorded. The longest time we saw was 72:45 (for Kaspersky) and the shortest was 1:25 (for Bitdefender). The average for all eight Mac antivirus products tested was 36:30.

Interface

AVG Antivirus for Mac offers one of the simplest interfaces out there. While this program doesn't present a giant 'you're protected' message as its competitors do, it does give enough smaller cues to let you know that nothing's wrong.

From AVG's main screen, you need to click only once to scan your Mac, open a custom scan of a specific file, disable or enable protection, and open the quarantine folder. That's everything most users will need to do, and it's all easy to understand.

Clicking Scan doesn't send you away from this home screen, either. Instead, that section of the screen changes to a progress wheel. There's a Details button that you can click for more information; this will move you from the home screen, but you likely won't need to click it.

In the Preferences window, you'll find options to disable the menu-bar icon and the scanning of archived files (which includes .RAR's and .ZIP's), external files and shared folders. (Scanning of the latter two types is disabled by default.)

MORE: The Best (and Worst) Identity Theft Protection

Here, you'll also find the option to scan for potentially unwanted applications, otherwise known as PUAs — the annoying but legal programs that sneak into your computer alongside other downloads. The final option in this window allows you to tell AVG AntiVirus not to scan certain folders and files.

Our free Mac antivirus protects on 3 fronts. Malware isn’t the only threat to your Mac. Malicious websites and vulnerable Wi-Fi networks can also jeopardize your safety. Avast Security provides essential free protection against all 3 threats, and our new Pro version goes the extra mile to expose Wi-Fi intruders and stop ransomware. Nov 08, 2009  I am afraid, that avast do not protect the whole Macintosh machine, but only the Mac OS X partition' I wasn't offended by your post, it's just that I don't see any point to it as you're not asking any question nor does it inform the users. Does avast for mac protect against fruitfly.

Installation and Support

Clicking Download on AVG's site sends you to a page on Download.com (aka, download.cnet.com) where you'll procure the disk-image file containing AVG's installer. Then, you'll run that installer and have AVG AntiVirus for Mac up after around 8 minutes.

Because it's free, AVG AntiVirus for Mac doesn't include any customized technical support, so you'll be left to peruse the company's databases and forums to get answers to your questions. One of AVG's help pages promotes the company's free consultations, but those serve only as prelude to a solution, as service starts at $79.

Bottom Line

AVG Antivirus for Mac's 99 percent malware-detection rate makes it a good choice for people without money to spend. We also appreciate the straightforward interface.

Among free options, we give an edge to Avast Free Mac Security, because it causes less of a system impact. But AVG is definitely worth considering if you want to shield your Mac.

Today's best AVG AntiVirus for Mac deals

While it's unlikely you'll ever run into malware for the Mac, you may want to consider an antivirus tool anyway—if not to protect yourself, but to protect your Windows-using friends from any malware you may inadvertently send their way. We think that Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac is the best choice, and it's free.

Update: Our previous recommendation for Mac Antivirus was 'nothing.' We know many of you choose to use nothing, but we also know you don't come to the App Directory to not get any suggestions at all. Besides, malware is starting to become a bit more prevalent on the Mac, and even the safest browsing habits don't protect you completely. So, we now officially recommend Sophos as our Mac antivirus of choice.

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Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac

Platform: OS X (10.4+)
Price: Free
Download Page

Features

• Compact, easy-to-use interface that can be used for custom on-demand scans of files, folders, and drives, or scheduled, periodic full scans of your Mac.
• Also scans files on your Mac for known Windows malware, trojans, and viruses, and deletes or quarantines them so you don't risk spreading them to someone else via network share, USB drive, or email.
• Deletes or quarantines known threats, gives you the option to quarantine anything suspicious that may be a new threat or dangerous file.
• Runs quietly in the background, scanning emails, downloads, and any other files on access, stopping you from opening them before they can do any harm.
• Light on system resources while running in the background.
• Installs like any other Mac application, and uninstalls just as easily—no complicated packages or components to manage or configure.
• Sophos' 'Live Antivirus' feature updates your app the moment new threats are detected or found in the wild. The feature also performs real-time lookups to see if files accessed are in the SophosLabs database, even if they're unfamiliar to the app.
• Supports OS X up to 10.8 and back to 10.4, and is completely free for all versions.

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Where It Excels

Sophos actually has an excellent breakdown of the history of malware for the Mac going all the way back to 1982. The fact that the article exists should remind Mac users that while they're not the primary target for malware authors, they're by no means invulnerable. The size of the article however should issue some confidence that the risk—while present—is by no means critical.

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Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac stands out in a somewhat crowded field of Mac antivirus apps because it doesn't just scan your Mac's files and folders on demand, but it does it quietly in the background without tapping your already precious system resources in the process. The utility also keeps its own constantly-updating database of Windows viruses, trojans, and other threats, so if you inadvertently download a Windows virus or trojan that won't harm you, you don't run the risk of sending it off to someone else by forwarding the message, or you won't infect other computers on your network (or any Windows partitions or virtual machines you run on the same hardware) via shared drives. Sophos is smart enough to tell you 'Hey, this won't hurt you, but we're going to quarantine/delete it so you don't accidentally email this attachment to someone else.' That's a huge benefit—and it keeps you from being that guy no one likes.

Another banner feature Sophos offers that its competition doesn't is its live, real-time access to SophosLabs. 'Live Antivirus,' as it's called in the app, gives you an added layer of protection. The app automatically identifies and quarantines suspicious files, installers, and other packages that may not be well known threats yet, but definitely exhibit behavior suspicious enough that Sophos is looking into them.

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Best of all though, in our testing, Sophos was one of the most resource-light antivirus apps on the Mac, which is impressive considering the features it offers.

Where It Falls Short

Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac isn't perfect, however. Even though it's pretty resource light, it wasn't the lightest in our tests. It just hit the sweet spot between resources and features. Also, support for Mountain Lion came a few months after its launch, so Sophos wasn't exactly right there with those people who upgraded on launch day.

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Sophos For Mac

The Competition

ClamXav 2 uses the open source ClamAV virus scanning engine. It can also detect both WIndows and OS X malware, scan on demand or on a regular schedule, and it's probably a bit more lightweight and easy on system resources than Sophos. It's compatible with OS X 10.5 or higher. The only trouble with ClamXav is that its definitions come a bit more sporadically than we'd like (daily, usually, sometimes, if they feel like it) and while performing scans is easy, tweaking all of the settings and getting the app scanning proactively is a little more effort than I'd like to see. Still, it's an excellent alternative, and one of the first you should check out if Sophos isn't cutting it for you.

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Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac is the Mac version of our current favorite for Windows, and for good reason. The researchers at AV Comparitives found that Avast detected 100% of the Mac malware that went through it, an honor that few other utilities won (they didn't test Sophos, unfortunately). It's free, it works, it's lightweight, but the only catch is that it only scans for Mac-specific malware, which won't matter to you if you're in an all-Mac ecosystem, but if you, like most of us, share the world with Windows users, thinking of them doesn't hurt.

Avira is another free utility worth a look. It also picked up 100% of the Mac malware that passed through it with no false positives. Avira's UI and options are perfect for non-technical users, and it offers strong protection against known Mac threats. Again, there's no Windows protection in the app, and both the scheduling and custom scan options are a bit anemic, so power users may want to shy away from it. If you're installing it on your non-technical friend or family-member's Mac however, it's a great option.

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For more suggestions, make sure to check out AV Comparitives' full 2012 report on Mac antivirus tools—there are more in there we didn't list here.

We're not trying and settle the antivirus-versus-no-antivirus debate; it's been raging for years and isn't going to stop now. For a great and thorough perspective on the issue, check out my old colleague Neil Rubenking's take at PC Mag's SecurityWatch blog, and The Safe Mac's approach to the topic.

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Avast For Mac 10.8.5

Whatever you do though, it's probably not necessary to plop down money for a Mac antivirus suite. The threats don't warrant you dropping money on software to keep you safe, and too many of them do more harm than good (especially the ones looking to get your money). They're just not worth it, especially when there are more effective, robust, free options like the ones above available to you.