Archive for the ‘Security’ Category
Apple Mac Anti-virus
What about anti-virus on the Apple Mac? My experience is limited, but Sophos seem to have it covered, though costing several hundred pounds for the business market. But see:
- Chester Wisniewski’s Sophos Blog
- Cardiff University seems to have good general advice on Mac security.
- They quote ClamXav as a free virus checker for Mac OS X.
- Apple are selling avast! antivirus Mac Edition 2.74 but I dont know anything about it.
- usatoday blog includes another up to date (Nov 2009) review of security on the Apple Mac.
Anti-Virus Software
Up to date anti-virus software remains essential, and I am still sticking with and recommending AVG.
[ www.kaspersky.co.uk/ comes out ahead in the reviews, but would you want to hand over control of your PC to a Russian company?]
There have been some installation and upgrade problems with AVG, which has jumped to V9.0. You need to remove all traces of other anti-virus software before installing it. Norton is particularly insidious, and you may need to download the Norton Removal Tool.
If you get an error message “invalid Update Control CTF file” after upgrading or installing AVG see the attached Comment for the fix, or else the AVG Support FAQ.
AVG now offer:
- V9.0 Anti-Virus Free,
- Anti-virus (£27.99) and
- Internet Security (£39.99),
see the AVG Product Ccomparison. It is probably worth paying for the Anti-Rootkit, as part of Anti-Virus. If you get a Rootkit infection can be very serious, and you may not be able to clear it. Although you can try for free:
Regards
PS:
A good security blog, not too technical, and associated weekly email list is available from Sophos at http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/ They have a good reputation but mainly address the business market.
PPS:
Remember that you need one each of:
- anti-virus,
- anti-spyware (such as Spybot – search and destroy) and a
- firewall (which is probably part of your broadband ADSL router).
For further details please see my website Internet Security Page