The situation may not be nearly as bad as for Window or Android, but prudence still dictates that you install antivirus protection on your Macs as well. It wasn't true, alas, and we're seeing more and more Mac-specific malware attacks. Apple promoted this dream, with ads claiming that PCs get malware, not Macs.
Best Avast Download It DirectlyYou can install and run the VPN, but when you try to connect to a server you get a choice of signing up for $3.89 per month or starting a seven-day trial.Since my last review, this product's appearance has changed so it's much closer to that of Avast Free Antivirus on Windows. Note, though, that the VPN is not free. I didn't bother with the password manager, since it seems that's not considered part of the product anymore.I did find a link to install the VPN on the Subscriptions page in Settings. The only way I could install the important Online Security extension was to download it directly from the Chrome store. There's no Tools page in the current product, though, and I couldn't find any reference to the browser extensions. As of my last review, these were on the Tools page, along with Avast SecureLine VPN.At the other end of the spectrum, Trend Micro and Norton require macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or better.Like Sophos and Avira, Avast offers full antivirus protection for free. If you have an antique Mac that for some reason can't even run Yosemite, consider ProtectWorks or ClamXAV (for Mac), both of which support versions 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and later. A lock icon on that last item lets you know that the ransomware feature requires an upgrade to Premium.Like Panda and AVG, Avast supports macOS versions back to 10.10 Yosemite. Four large buttons across the bottom give access to Core Shields, Virus Chest, Wi-Fi Inspector, and Ransomware Shield.The very best products earn top scores from all four labs. Good Malware Protection ScoresWhen reviewing a Windows antivirus utility, I report how it scored with four independent antivirus testing labs. The free edition is strictly for noncommercial use in a business setting, you have to pay up. On macOS, the Premium edition adds ransomware protection and real-time notification when new devices connect to your network.![]() ![]() They also evaluate each product's ability to detect Windows malware. Two of the labs I follow, AV-Test Institute and AV-Comparatives, test Mac antivirus, and Avast participates with both.Experts at AV-Comparatives test Mac antivirus products using the latest macOS malware. Hence lab results become extremely important for my Mac antivirus reviews. Most of them don't carry over to the macOS platform. Avoiding an impact on performance is important, as users may turn off an antivirus that causes performance problems. Protection against malware attack is essential, of course. Like most tested products, Avast received certification from AV-Comparatives for Mac antivirus protection.AV-Test Institute rates both Windows and macOS antivirus products on three criteria: Protection, Performance, and Usability. However, Webroot only caught 33 percent, and Intego Mac Internet Security X9 didn't catch any of the Windows samples. In the Windows malware test, Avast also detected 100 percent of the samples, as did most competing products. That's very good, but then, almost all tested products reached 100 percent. Webroot is the current speed champ, completing a full scan in 2.5 minutes.Avast doesn't automatically scan removable volumes as they appear. The average for recent products is almost 40 minutes, so Avast proved quite speedy. A deep scan on the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch that I use for testing took just 20 minutes. Scan ChoicesAvast offers several scans to improve your Mac's security. A score of 17.5 is enough to get it the designation "Top Product." Bitdefender, Norton, Trend Micro, and Vipre Advanced Security (for Mac) earned the full 18 points. Avast took the full six points in Protection and Usability, and 5.5 points in Performance. The custom scan lets you schedule scans and configure details like whether to scan Time Machine backups, run scans even when on battery power, or wake up the Mac for a scheduled scan.Avira Free Antivirus for Mac not only offers scheduled scanning, it defaults to a weekly scan with no effort on your part. You can optionally launch a targeted scan of specific folders. For comparison, ESET Cyber Security (for Mac) detected 93 percent of my samples, while Webroot wiped out every single one.There's no predefined quick scan, which makes sense given the speed of the deep scan. I scanned a thumb drive containing my Windows malware collection and found that it quarantined 85 percent of them, the same score as when last tested with a different malware collection. It did offer the option of switching to a list view. On Windows, Avast displayed my devices in a series of concentric circles, with the router in the middle and the most active devices nearest the center. Rather, it collects information about all the devices on your network and flags any security problems. This scan doesn't look for malware. Network Security ScanFrom the main window, you can launch the Wi-Fi Inspector. If doing so lets you identify the device, you can change the name and select from over five-dozen device types. With both products, I found devices with names like unknown6542990b6483—not much help! Avast's Windows edition lets you view the IP address, MAC address, and vendor name for those unknowns. It's similar to the output of Bitdefender Home Scanner. Smc ez connect g 80211g 108mbps driver downloadThat's a good thing for Firefox users, as Mozilla recently removed this extension from its collection. Excellent Phishing Protection for ChromeAvast Free Antivirus on Windows automatically installs the Avast Online Security extension in Chrome and Firefox, with your permission. Clicking on any device simply brought up the upgrade page. That link no longer exists. It's not a huge concern.Previous editions of the macOS product used to have a link you could click to install this important extension. I go into the reasons for that takedown in my review of the Windows product. For Windows, I've written a small program that launches each URL and lets me record the result with a click. Any effective phishing protection must be able to detect frauds, not just match URLs against a blacklist.I launch each URL in four browsers, one protected by the product under testing on the Mac, and three using the built-in antiphishing of Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on Windows. Once they've been blacklisted, the fraudsters just create new ones. That's important, because phishing sites are ephemeral. I make sure to include some that haven't been analyzed and blacklisted yet. For testing purposes, I installed the extension from Chrome's online store.My phishing protection test uses URLs reported as fraudulent on various phish-tracking sites. Both detected 81 percent of the frauds. Just to see the difference, I reran the test using Safari, which doesn't have a browser extension for protection.When I used Safari, Avast scored the same as when I accidentally tested it on Windows using Internet Explorer, which also lacks a protective extension. When Online Security did the job, it displayed the message "This website is unsafe" in the browser.Sometimes both components reported a fraud, but often enough the only protection came from Online Security. In some cases, it also displayed a note in the browser stating that it fended off an infected website. I also discard any that don't truly fit the profile for a phish, meaning they don't attempt to fool you into giving away login credentials for a secure site.When Avast's browser-independent phishing protection blocked access to a problem page, it reported its action in a popup window. Only a few macOS products have scored higher.
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