Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as a means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, password theft, or stolen iPhone backups.
Accordingly, good antivirus software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running.
The package is the first Avast Security package available to Mac OS with a Minimalistic design while not compromising on the plethora of features offered. The complete makeover, a striking feature of the 2017 edition, features abstract art for the home screen along with the details of the latest security status report. Ranjani Bakthavachalam (Avast) Rendell, Thank you for the information, we would suggest you to reinstall your AVG FREE AntiVirus program to resolve the issue. We request you to run the AVG remover tool to remove all the remnants of the older installation.
Antivirus for Mac cheat sheet
Our quick-hit recommendations:
- Best paid antivirus for Mac:Sophos Home Premium for Mac[sophos.com]
- Best free antivirus for Mac:Avast Free Mac Security[avast.com]
Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Our top contenders dominate by posting perfect (or virtually near perfect) scores from security research labs, passing our own malware detection tests with flying colors, offering well-designed interfaces, and even throwing in extra features like a firewall or password manager.
Updated 08/15/19: Added our review of Avira Free Antivirus, a worthy free option that’s easy to use and effective.
Looking for Windows antivirus recommendations? You can read about the best antivirus suites for PC on our sister site, PCWorld.
Best overall antivirus software
Sophos Home Premium has the most extensive and up-to-date approach to fighting malware at an unbeatable price.
Sophos Home Premium has it all: Effective malware protection, ransomware monitoring, protection against potentially-unwanted-apps, and additional features that often require separately licensed software. Its cloud-based configuration and generous licensing (up to 10 Macs and PCs) also make it easy to shield friends and family from threats, no matter where they live. (Full details available in our review.)
Best free antivirus software
Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. However, if you want more advanced protection (like ransomware detection), you’ll need to upgrade to paid software.
What to look for in antivirus software
By our reckoning, antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.
Since you can encounter threats by visiting compromised or malicious websites, receiving virus-laden attachments, or accessing USB drives with malware, good AV software should scan on a continuous basis unless you configure it otherwise. And ideally, files identified as malicious should be quarantined into a special storage area managed by the AV software, with the option to automatically delete files known to be malware or repair normal documents that also carry devious payloads.
Great AV suites also will monitor the filesystem for certain kinds of changes. Ransomware—which is malware that will rapidly encrypt user files like documents and mailboxes and then delete the originals—has become a huge moneymaker on other platforms. As a prime opportunity for attackers, it’s the greatest danger Mac users likely face as a category.
Detecting this pattern and halting it before any files are unavailable should be possible without an anti-malware system knowing the specific innards of a ransomware virus. Sophos, our top pick, includes this feature in the Home Premium version of its 2018 update. Other vendors, like Avast and Trend Micro Antivirus, offer an alternative feature that allows you to whitelist programs allowed to manipulate files in specific directories. So if this particular type of attack becomes rapidly popular, you’ll be protected.
Good antivirus software should also use minimal computational resources. That’s especially the case these days—AV monitoring hasn’t become much more complicated than when it first became available, and faster, multi-core CPUs can easily handle the demands of running AV software in the background without disturbing your active work.
Beyond these primary features, an easy-to-navigate interface and extra features are worth factoring into your decision. Some AV software are full-fledged suites that offer additional options like backup service for essential files, a password manager, parental controls, anti-tracking and privacy modes or options, a more advanced firewall, and the blocking of Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs).
Avast Security For Mac Issues Found
How we test
Each software package is evaluated creating a clean installation of macOS Mojave, cloning it for each AV product, and then booting separately into each one to install a different package. This was to ensure that previous app installations didn’t interfere with new ones—sometimes AV software treats other AV software as an infection.
In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).
The latter doesn’t damage or expose your computer or its files but may consume power and CPU cycles. Because the testing effectively looks at a combination of virus databases and behavior, they remain good gauges even after many months. When an antivirus software package lacks a rating from a known security research lab, we do more extensive testing with real malware.
Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:
- A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
- Ransomware monitoring
- Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
- A high score on Windows malware detection
Privacy concerns
Using an anti-virus product, especially any that includes tools to also improve your online privacy, may lull you into believing you’re safe from personal and private information leaking out. That’s not quite the case. While there’s no reason to panic, you should consider a few reasonable issues.
First, an antivirus product may upload the complete text of files flagged to the cloud, where it can be analyzed by separate tools hosted there. This practice is normal and sensible: Some malware can detect when a running process may examine it, and will then engage in subterfuge. Antivirus software makers also can access their massive databases to examine files with characteristics that trigger their algorithms—certain elements that match known malware. As a result, security researchers discover new viruses, worms, Trojans horses, and the like.
However, helping the greater good means you’ll have to be comfortable with trusting a third-party with your file contents. Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.
Second, this software may also rely partly or entirely on cloud-based checks of URLs, malware, and the like. Accordingly, an AV package might upload every URL you visit, metadata about files, signatures of files, information about your computer’s hardware, a list of running or installed applications, and more. Companies vary on their disclosure of such policies, and may not let you opt out of this kind of sharing. We note issues in each review as available.
Third, anti-virus software makers also get a sense of what behavior is happening on your computer that’s being monitored or blocked, and may use that information for their own purposes. In some cases, you can opt out of this information gathering.
All of our antivirus for Mac reviews
If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.
- Pros
Antivirus received high scores in testing. Robust firewall. Simple spam filter. Password manager. Ransomware protection. Bonus features enhance security.
- Cons
Password manager is limited in features. Many bonus features require separate purchase.
- Bottom Line
Avast Internet Security is a full-scale suite, with an antivirus, a robust firewall, a simple spam filter, and a wealth of bonus features. Depending upon your needs, though, the company's free antivirus might be more cost effective.
What does it take to promote a simple antivirus to security suite status? Firewall and spam filtering are among the popular additions, and Avast Internet Security has both of those. It also adds ransomware protection to prevent modification of important files, and a sandbox feature that experts can use to examine suspect files. However, some users may be put off by the many apparent bonus features that turn out to require an extra fee.
- $59.99
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An Avast suite subscription costs $59.99 per year, or (more practically) $79.99 for three licenses. That's a popular price point; Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro all go for the same. You pay $89.99 per year for McAfee Internet Security, but that subscription lets you install protection on every device in your household.
Astute readers may notice the absence of Avast Pro Antivirus in this discussion. That product is on the outs, and not promoted for new installations—though existing users can renew. When you click a non-free component in the free antivirus, it prompts you to upgrade to this suite.
Appearance-wise, this suite looks almost identical to the free antivirus product. The main Status page features a big notification saying, 'You're protected,' with a button to launch a Smart Scan. A simple menu down the left side lets you view features related to Protection, Privacy, and Performance. The main difference is that suite-specific features aren't locked away.
Features Shared With Avast Free Antivirus
Avast Free Antivirus comes with Avast's full arsenal of malware protection, plus a useful collection of bonus features. It's one of our Editors' Choice products for free antivirus, and naturally this suite includes all the same protective features. You can read my review of the free antivirus for a deep dive on the features shared by both products. I'll summarize my discoveries here.
Lab Test Results Chart
Malware Protection Results Chart
Phishing Protection Results Chart
All four of the independent testing labs that I follow track Avast closely. It earned 17.5 of 18 possible points in tests by AV-Test Institute, and it achieved an Advanced+ rating (the highest possible rating) in all four tests by AV-Comparatives. SE Labs certified it at the AA level, the second-best of five certification levels. And it passed both rigorous tests imposed by MRG-Effitas.
I use an algorithm to map all scores onto a 10-point scale and generate an aggregate result. Like Avira, Avast came in at 9.6 points, with results from all four labs. Kaspersky retains the overall lab-test crown, with a perfect 10 points. Bitdefender came in next, with 9.9 points, though its omission from the latest MRG-Effitas tests means its score derived from just three of the four labs.
Avast earned 8.9 points in my own hands-on malware protection test. That's good, but several products did even better. Tested against the same collection of samples, Cylance, F-Secure, Norton, and McAfee all managed 9.3 points. Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus earned a perfect 10 points, but that achievement used my previous sample set, so it's not directly comparable.
To get insight into how well each product handles the very latest malware problems, I start with a feed of malware-hosting URLs discovered by MRG-Effitas within the last few days. Avast directed the browser away from 62 percent of the 100-odd URLs and wiped out the malware download for another 29 percent. Its total of 91 percent protection is good. However, Symantec Norton Security Premium and McAfee both managed 99 percent protection in this test.
Phishing websites don't attempt to plant malware on your system or subvert vulnerable applications. Instead, they try to trick you, the user, into blithely giving away your precious login credentials. To this end, they imitate sensitive websites such as banking sites, shopping sites, even gaming and dating sites. It just takes one unsuspecting victim to make the whole charade worthwhile.
Avast's web-based protection really went to town on my freshly gathered phishing sites. It correctly identified 98 percent of them as frauds, steering the browser to safety. AVG scored exactly the same (no surprise, given that it uses the same engine); ZoneAlarm and Trend Micro Internet Security also managed 98 percent. However, even that estimable score doesn't receive the antiphishing prize. Bitdefender edged out Avast with 99 percent, while Kaspersky and McAfee managed 100 percent protection.
Other Shared Features
Clicking the Smart Scan button on the main window launches a multifaceted system scan. It checks browser add-ons, scans for active malware, identifies performance issues, seeks out for network security problems, flags software that lacks security patches, and warns about weak passwords. That scan took about 10 minutes in testing, while a full system scan for malware needed more than two hours to complete, which is a good bit longer than average.
The Wi-Fi Inspector crawls your network (Wi-Fi or wired) and lists all found devices. In a modern household, full of Internet of Things devices, the list can be quite long. It displays its findings visually, with the router at the center surrounded by concentric circles. Devices that have connected most recently show up in the innermost circles. And it flags any possible network security problems. This feature works in much the same way as the free and separately available Avira Home Guard and Bitdefender Home Scanner utilities.
Implemented as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, Avast's password manager component handles all the basics. It captures credentials as you log in to secure sites, and offers to replay them when you revisit those sites. It handles multiple sets of credentials for the same site, and two-page login forms don't give it trouble. Avast doesn't offer a complete form-fill system, but it will fill credit card data in web forms. You won't find advanced features like secure password sharing or two-factor authentication, but it takes care of the essential tasks of a password manager.
The Online Security feature, also implemented as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, adds another layer of defense against malicious and fraudulent websites. It marks dangerous links in search results pages. You can use it to actively block ad trackers and other trackers from gathering information about your online activities. Its SiteCorrect feature kicks in when you misspell a popular domain name, keeping you safe from typosquatting sites.
You've heard again and again how important it is to install all security updates. But keeping everything up to date can be so frustrating! When you launch an app, you want to use it, not spend time on a suggested update. Avast's Software Updater component works in the background to locate apps with missing security patches; you can also manually run a scan whenever you like. Just click the button to automatically install all found updates. Easy!
Of course, it could be even easier; if you turn on Automatic Updates it all happens totally without user interaction. But there's a catch; turning on that feature requires an upgrade to the Avast Premier mega-suite. This component is just fine without full automation.
Still Some Extra-Cost Options
Even though you've paid for a security suite, quite a few of the components still require an additional fee for full functionality. In a couple cases, you really don't need the Pro edition. As noted, you don't get fully automated software updates without upgrading to Software Updater Pro, but the free edition does almost everything. A Pro subscription for the password manager component adds only minor goodies, among them 24/7 tech support, fingerprint login on mobile, and breach notification.
Other components just don't work without an upgrade, however, and some of them reserve this news until you've already invested time in them. For example, when you launch Cleanup Premium, it scans your system for useless and erroneous items that it can delete to free up resources. It's only when you click the button to resolve problems that you learn about this component's separate license fees. As with Cleanup Premium, the upsell for Driver Updater doesn't appear until after you've gone through the scanning process, which is frustrating.
On the Privacy page you'll find an icon for Avast's SecureLine VPN utility. Flipping the VPN's switch to On reveals that you don't yet have full access to this feature. You can enable a 60-day free trial, which is nice. But eventually you must pony up a substantial extra subscription to use the VPN.
As noted earlier, the Online Security component includes the option to actively block ad trackers and other trackers that try to profile your online activities. AntiTrack Premium goes beyond the basics, but I'm not yet sure just how. Clicking Learn More simply brings up a page showing that you must upgrade to Avast Premier in order to use the feature.
A couple more features are also locked behind the same upgrade requirement. Going for the Avast Premier mega-suite unlocks the Data Shredder, which deletes files securely, to foil even forensic recovery. It also lets you use the Webcam Shield spyware protection tool.
Robust Firewall
So, just what do you get by upgrading from the free antivirus to the full security suite? For starters, the suite adds a robust two-way firewall component. That's the heart of most suites—antivirus plus a personal firewall.
For firewall testing, I use a physical PC that's configured to connect through the router's DMZ port, which effectively connects it directly to the Internet. When I challenged the test system with port scans and other web-based tests, it correctly put all the ports in stealth mode, so external attackers can't even see them. This is no great feat, given that Windows Firewall alone can do it. It's only relevant if a product fails to do what the built-in firewall can.
The other major task for a personal firewall is making sure programs don't abuse their access to your network and internet connections. The firewall components in Norton and Kaspersky configure permissions for known programs and keep an eye on unknowns, making their own security decisions. I approve; relying on the user to make important security decisions is a bad idea. Other firewalls handle unknowns differently. For example, adaware antivirus total defaults to just allowing all traffic. Panda allows outbound connections but blocks unsolicited inbound connections.
For program control, Avast defaults to a mode called Auto-decide, meaning that (like Norton) it makes its own decision about each new program. For testing, I tried switching to Ask mode. Doing so didn't result in a spate of popups about internal Windows components, because Avast had already created rules for those components in Auto-decide mode.
When I tried to get online using a browser that I coded myself, Avast first ran a quick analysis on the never-before-seen program. After vetting the program as safe, it asked whether to allow or deny its access to the internet. Avast, unlike many competitors, defines five levels of network access, but only a true firewall expert should consider switching away from the default level the firewall suggests.
If you click deny when you meant allow, or vice versa, you can open the full list of applications and correct your mistake. This list also shows all the application rules that Avast's Auto-decide mode created on its own. If you dig deeper into the firewall's settings, you can find extremely complex rules that even I wouldn't consider editing. Leave these alone!
Protecting against network-based attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in the operating system or important apps is not precisely a firewall function, but it's often included. Exploit defense isn't something Avast attempts, as I verified in past reviews.
As part of my firewall evaluation, I check to make sure a malware coder couldn't simply turn off protection. I couldn't find any chinks in Avast's armor. It protected its Registry settings against modification, and when I tried to terminate its processes, I got the message 'Access Denied.' The same happened when I tried to disable its essential Windows services. Neither could I simply stop the services; doing so triggered a confirmation popup that required user permission.
Although it doesn't block exploits at the network level, this is a sturdy firewall. If you leave its program control components in Auto-decide mode, it will do the job without a plethora of popups.
Ransomware Shield
Any time malware slips past your security product's real-time protection, it's bad. However, in most cases the malware doesn't enjoy its freedom for long; the antivirus company quickly pushes out an update to smack down the zero-day offender. But that's no help if the malware has already encrypted your important documents. Like many competitors, Avast offers an additional layer of ransomware protection. The Ransomware Shield component blocks all unauthorized modification of files in protected folders, and you can bet a ransomware attacker isn't on the authorized list.
By default, Ransomware Shield protects the Desktop, Pictures, and Documents folders for all users. You can add or remove folders from the protected list. You can also add to the list of protected file types, useful if your important data files don't fall among the default types.
When a program tries to modify any protected file, Ransomware Shield checks it against its cloud database of known clean programs. If the program comes back as unknown, you get a notification, and you can choose to block or allow the app. That means you can easily give the go-ahead if Avast blocks the brand-new photo editor you just installed. But if the warning is unexpected, you should block the app, and run a full scan for malware. Bitdefender Internet Security and Trend Micro offer similar protection against unauthorized file changes. Panda takes the concept farther, blocking unknown programs from even reading data in protected areas.
For a sanity check, I tried modifying text files in the Documents folder with a hand-coded text editor. Avast leapt into action, warning of an unauthorized change. It also blocked file access by a very simple ransomware simulator that I coded myself.
Next, I turned off all protective shields except Ransomware Shield, isolated the virtual machine from the network, and experimented with a half-dozen actual, real-world ransomware samples. Naturally it didn't detect them as malware—I turned off that protection. But it successfully prevented them from harming my files. Two of them displayed their ransom notes, claiming they encrypted my files, but they lied; the files weren't encrypted.
Spam Filter
Just about every early-days security suite included some form of spam filtering, because back then it was important. Nowadays it's a rare user who doesn't get spam filtered by their email provider. All the popular webmail providers do a good job, and business email tends to get filtered at the server. Having a local spam filter is unimportant to enough users that Avast doesn't even install the antispam component until you request it.
The spam filter checks your incoming POP3 and IMAP email traffic, marking spam and phishing messages by modifying the subject line. If you're using Microsoft Outlook, it filters any type of email account and automatically moves unwanted messages to the spam folder. Those using some other email client must define a message rule to divert the marked messages.
If you just click the component on the Privacy page, you get a very simple sensitivity slider. At the default Strict mode, it handles most spam but lets you decide on uncertain items. Slide it back to Relaxed and you get more spam, but need not worry about missing valid mail. Going the other way, to the No Mercy setting, you may find some valid mail tossed in with the spam. Your best bet is to leave this slider at the default middle setting.
The full set of spam configuration options still isn't very complex. There's another chance to set the sensitivity level, here described just as Low, Medium, and High. You may want to check the box that tells it to whitelist the recipients of your outbound emails, so you don't accidentally block valid responses. There's also an option to whitelist the entire domain when you send an email, but I'd leave that one disabled. Do you want to whitelist the entirety of gmail.com? You can also manually whitelist or blacklist specific addresses or domains, for example to ensure mail from pcmag.com never winds up in the spam folder.
That's about it for settings. It's quite a contrast with the eight pages of antispam settings in Check Point ZoneAlarm Extreme Security. Since most users aren't likely to mess with the settings, keeping them simple makes sense.
Other Suite-Specific Features
As you peruse the Protection and Privacy pages, you'll encounter a few more features unlocked by upgrading from free antivirus to this suite. Real Site is a tough one to see in action. Going beyond protection against phishing frauds, it aims to foil DNS poisoning attacks. This sort of attack hijacks the DNS servers that translate human-readable domains like PCMag.com into machine-friendly IP addresses. In effect, it creates undetectable phishing sites.
Antivirus researchers can't just peruse the disassembled code of suspected malicious programs. They really need to let the shady file execute and watch what it does, but without letting it do any real harm. Their solution is to run the file in a sandbox, a virtual environment that lets the malware run but prevents permanent changes to the file system or Registry. You can run a file in this suite's Sandbox just by dragging and dropping it. And you don't have to be a researcher; the program points out that since files executed in the Sandbox leave no traces, 'you can run a file without anyone knowing, or play games without having to worry about auto-saving.'
In theory, Avast's on-demand and on-access malware scans should eliminate anyt have a lot of data files, nothing like your own home or office computer, so I wasn't surprised when the scan turned up nothing on the virtual or physical test machines. I went to my workaday computer and copied over a raft of sensitive documents. These included tax returns, forms for setting up a trust, an application for a Home Equity Line of Credit, and other finance-related forms. Even with this trove of sensitive data sitting temptingly in the Documents folder, the Sensitive Data Shield scan found nothing. I'm left not entirely sure of what it's meant to do.
No Performance Drag
As noted, this is a full-featured security suite, integrating almost all of the expected suite features and then some. One might be forgiven for expecting such a product to suck up system resources and slow down performance. One would be wrong; Avast had no measurable effect in my hands-on performance tests. I ran scripts that measure boot time, the time to move and copy a big file collection between drives, and the time to zip and unzip that same file collection repeatedly. Averaging multiple runs before and after installing Avast, I didn't find that it slowed things down at all.
Webroot, Bitdefender, and adaware also exhibited no slowdown in my simple tests. Averaging the results of the three tests, quite a few suites came in under 10 percent. Few modern suites dare to slow down system performance by much, but I'm still impressed with no performance drag at all.
Not the Best Avast Suite
Avast Internet Security is a full-scale security suite, with antivirus, firewall, spam filtering, password management, and more. However, this suite shares a significant number of features Avast Free Antivirus, and it lacks full access to many of its apparent bonus features; Avast reserves those features for the top-of-the-line Avast Premier. If the free antivirus covers your needs, it's a good deal. If you want everything Avast offers, with no holding back, look instead to Avast Premier. This suite is, unfortunately, stuck in the middle.
Bitdefender Internet Security and Kaspersky Internet Security represent the entry-level security suite for their respective companies. Both earn fantastic scores from the independent labs, and in some of our hands-on tests. Both go beyond the minimum features for an entry-level suite, and do include parental control a common feature that Avast omits. And we've named both Editors' Choice for entry-level security suite.
Sub-Ratings:
Note: These sub-ratings contribute to a product's overall star rating, as do other factors, including ease of use in real-world testing, bonus features, and overall integration of features.
Firewall:
Antivirus:
Performance:
Privacy:
Parental Control: n/a
Avast Internet Security
Bottom Line: Avast Internet Security is a full-scale suite, with an antivirus, a robust firewall, a simple spam filter, and a wealth of bonus features. Depending upon your needs, though, the company's free antivirus might be more cost effective.
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