Posted  by 

Norton For Mac Or Avast For Mac

So..the techie people will get all caught up in arguing about 'definition' of the term 'virus', versus, zero day, versus PUP's and versus PUA's. Followed by comments that you don't need an anti virus program on the Mac because there are no Mac 'viruses'.
The common user does not care, nor should be expected to know, the difference between viruses, PUPs, root, zero-day exploits, etc. Lay people call of this 'viruses', or malware in general. And techies are doing a dis-service by insisting that 'no viruses' exist on the Mac when they hear lay people say they have a 'virus', because lay people then feel that no protection is needed at all.
The truth is the Mac is vulnerable to 'malware' whatever word or definition the techies want to call it. Apple macOS itself includes an engine to scan for known Mac malware, called XProtect. I am constantly helping friends, family, workers, remove PUPs, search engine hi-jackers, you name it. Macs are just as vulnerable to those as Windows. Technically, they are not viruses, but to lay people, that is irrelevant, all they know is, something isn't right, machine is not working as it should.
We in the tech industry need to stop responding to end users when we hear them say 'I think I have a virus' with 'No you don't because Macs don't have viruses'. It doesn't accomplish anything, recognize they are using 'virus' to describe something they can't verbalize otherwise, because 'virus' is the general label that's been around for decades. I use the term malware to cover everything and users seem to respond to that better, in that whatever it is, the intent can be termed malicious, or certainly not in the best interest of the user. It defines the problem as one of intent and mis-behavior ,which lay people can relate too, versus technical definitions over how the problem is installed, transferred, replicated, manifests, etc. , which lay people don't care, understand anyway and eyes just glaze over when techies try to 'explain' it to them.
So, OsloX, do you need a MALWARE tool? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it wouldn't hurt, and doesn't have to be paid version, the free versions are fine, just so long as you remember to scan manually regularly.
1) You share files with Windows users, especially in a business environment (as a good 'citizen' you should help prevent the spread of Windows malware even if it can't harm you..like illness, just because you may not be sick with the flu, you can still spread germs to others and make them sick, so be preventative.)
2) You visit new websites all the time, not necessarily knowing how reputable these sites are. You're not very cautious about just clicking on licks that interest you as you browse the Net, and often end up traversing a long list of sites and links from one site to the next.
3) You are active in social media, and it's not uncommon for you to click on a link to a video, site, news story from a social media post.
4) You use your Mac for work related work, not just personal. IN other words, you take work home with you and work on it on your personal home machine.
Norton, in my experience, is okay but not as good at finding or removing PUPs or PUA's (Potentially Unwanted Programs / POtentially Unwanted Apps). If you've ever had your search engine changed in your browser without your permission, that's an example of a PUP's. If you find you are constantly getting pop ups as you browse to buy something or visit something you don't even know where the pop up is coming from, that's possibly a PUP.
Malwarebytes has been good in my experience removing PUPs and PUA's, especially search engine hi jackers and loggers. NOrton is good at finding Windows viruses, etc embedded in data files you may have received from Windows users. Malwarebytes free version is sufficient, just run it manually on a regular basis. Uninstalls very cleanly if desired, comes with its own uninstaller. Don't use any of those 'app cleaners', they can often do more damage than good. Norton comes with its own uninstaller as well and in my experience, completely removes all traces of itself.

Best free antivirus for Mac: Avast Free Mac Security Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Avast Security for Mac. Think different about Mac security. Download Free. Essential security. Premium security. 30-day money-back guarantee. Avast Security for Mac. Download Free Buy Pro. Your Mac is not immune to threats — yet. Our free Mac antivirus protects on 3 fronts.

Best Mac Antivirus

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac's top-shelf malware detection and barely there system impact make it the best antivirus solution.

Best Free Mac Antivirus

Avast Free Mac Security

Avast Free Mac Security's malware-squashing proficiency, negligible performance impact and included password manager make it the best free option.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offers top-shelf malware detection and protects files from ransomware.

Norton For The Mac

After evaluating eight free and paid antivirus products, we've chosen Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac ($40 per year) as the best antivirus for Mac. It had a nearly invisible impact on system performance, and it caught all malware. What's better than avast for mac.

Avast Free Mac Security is our favorite free option, as it provided nearly perfect malware protection and an easy-to-use interface with an imperceptible performance hit.

You do need an antivirus program on your Mac. Recent years have seen more Mac malware and adware than ever before, from Trojans to targeted attacks, supply-chain attacks like the XcodeGhost attack and even encrypting ransomware.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

Latest Security Alerts and Threats

— Google pushed out an emergency patch for its Chrome browser for Windows, macOS and Linux after a vulnerability was found that could let a malicious website take over a computer. ADVICE: Copy and paste 'chrome://settings/help' into your Chrome address bar to make sure your browser is updated to version 76.0.3809.132.

— Apple patched a security hole that let you -- or a malicious website -- jailbreak an iPhone and install any kind of app, including potential malware. (This is not among the flaws that let several websites infect any iPhone.) ADVICE: Make sure your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is updated to iOS 12.4.1.

— Spammers have been sending emails to inject scam or malicious messages in regular people's Google Calendar pages. ADVICE: Follow our instructions to stop phony Google Calendar notifications from happening to you.

How We Tested

To find the best antivirus for Mac desktops and laptops, we evaluate ease of use, interface and performance impact, we installed each AV program on the same Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display running macOS 10.12 Sierra. It was powered by a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7 processor and had 8GB of RAM and 70GB of data stored on a 512GB SSD.

We conducted our own tests in July and August 2017 based on how much each antivirus product affected our laptop's performance. To do this, we used our custom OpenOffice benchmark, which matches 20,000 names and addresses in a spreadsheet. We measured how long it took to run a quick scan and a full scan while the laptop crunched numbers in the background.

Avast security for mac key product. We assessed how easy each program was to use and the number of useful extra features it offered (including free add-on software). To gauge how effective each package was at stopping malware, we used the results of evaluations conducted in May 2017 by AV-TEST, a well-regarded independent product-testing lab in Germany, and results from other tests conducted in July 2017 by AV-Comparatives, a similarly well-respected firm in Austria.

Best Mac Antivirus

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Reasons to Buy
Minimal system impact
Reasons to Avoid

Kaspersky Internet Security is the best antivirus for Macs because it offers both the lowest system impact and some of the best malware-detection rates recorded. It even provides extra security features, including parental controls and options to lock down your webcam and stop websites from tracking your browsing activity. If you're willing to pay to protect your Mac from malware, Kaspersky Internet Security is the best option available.

Best Free Mac Antivirus

Avast Free Mac Security

Reasons to Buy
Excellent malware protection
Password manager included
Reasons to Avoid

Avast Free Mac Security caught 99.9 percent of all malware, packs in a password manager, barely leaves a smudge on system impact and doesn't charge a dime. If only it caught 100 percent of malware, as Kaspersky did.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy
Ransomware protection
Parental controls
Reasons to Avoid
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac
$38.99

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is one of only a few solutions we tested that offers perfect malware detection. Further, its modern, streamlined interface places on-demand scans front and center. Bitdefender has dropped from first place, though, because its system-impact scores don't match the flawless marks posted by Kaspersky.

Norton 360 Deluxe

Norton For Mac Or Avast For Mac Security

Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
Noticeable system impact

Norton 360 Deluxe may offer excellent protection, but it charges more (after the first year) than its competitors do, without offering as many perks. Norton AntiVirus Plus offers similar protection for a single Mac, but with fewer perks. Still, both have always-on-call customer support.

AVG Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy
Free
Reasons to Avoid
Comparatively high background impact
AVG Antivirus for Mac

If you're looking for the best antivirus for Mac without having to pay, AVG AntiVirus for Mac is not too shabby, with its 99.9 percent detection rate and easy-to-use design. Unfortunately, other free competitors provide extras (Sophos with parental controls, Avast's password manager) that AVG does not.

Best for Families

Sophos Home

Reasons to Buy
Remote manageability
Low system impact
Reasons to Avoid

Norton Security For Mac Free

With Sophos Home for Mac's simple interface and low system-performance impact, you'll barely realize the program is shielding you until you need it. Anyone with young children at home will find Sophos' parental controls useful, as they allow for remote scans and checks, and let you block sites by category. Sophos even keeps a log of when users try to reach banned pages. This program's major drawback, though, is its lackluster malware-detection rate.

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy
Solid malware protection
Reasons to Avoid

Once our favorite, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is no longer the best antivirus for Mac. That's because it is a hair shy of perfection in its malware detection, and fell behind in system-performance testing, earning some of the higher performance impacts recorded.

McAfee Antivirus Plus

Reasons to Buy
Familiar user interface
Reasons to Avoid
Unproven detection rates
McAfee® AntiVirus Plus

While McAfee's unlimited licenses mean you can support a whole family of Macs (and PCs and Android devices, too), this program's lack of special features (for a paid version) make it hard to recommend. Further, we don't have malware-detection testing scores for McAfee, so its protection powers are unproven.