![]() You can schedule a daily, weekly, or monthly scan if desired. But the full scan's settings include those options, and also let you include removable volumes and network volumes, while the custom scan's settings do not. As with the full scan, you can add file locations to exclude from scanning, and configure it to scan Time Machine backups. The custom scan settings confused me, though. There's no predefined quick scan, which makes sense given the speed of the full scan. For comparison, Avira detected 82 percent of these, while Sophos Home (for Mac) wiped out every single one. I scanned a thumb drive containing my Windows malware collection and found that it quarantined 85 percent of them. There's a separate scan for removable volumes, though you can configure the full scan to include them. Norton is the current speed champ, completing a full scan in 10 minutes. The average for recent products is 24 minutes, so Avast proved quite speedy. A full scan on the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch that I use for testing took 14.5 minutes, just a hair over Intego's 14 minutes, and quicker than the 18 minutes required by Avira. ![]() Scan ChoicesĪvast offers several scans to improve your Mac's security. Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Sophos are among the products that received certifications from both labs for Mac malware protection. Having one certification is good having two is better. Like most tested products, Avast received certification from AV-Comparatives for Mac antivirus protection. However, Webroot only caught 75 percent, and Intego Mac Internet Security X9 got just 18 percent. Most competing products also took 100 percent. In the Windows malware test, Avast detected 100 percent of the samples. However, Bitdefender and Kaspersky exhibited 100 percent protection. Why? While a Trojan written for Windows wouldn't run on a Mac, the Mac could serve as a carrier.Īvast managed 99.9 percent protection against Mac malware. 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 one of them.Įxperts 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. It took years to develop my hands-on tools and tests for Windows. But even if no test results exist, I can run my own hands-on tests using real-world malware and malware-hosting URLs. The very best products earn top scores from all four labs. When reviewing a Windows antivirus utility, I report how it scored with four independent antivirus testing labs. The free edition is strictly for non-commercial use in a business setting, you must pay up. The Pro edition adds ransomware protection and real-time notification when new devices connect to your network. Avast Security Pro (for Mac) costs $59.99 per year for one license or $69.99 for three. Like Sophos and Avira, Avast offers full antivirus protection for free. At the other end of the spectrum, Avira, Trend Micro, and Symantec require macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) or better. If you have an antique Mac that for some reason can't even run Mavericks, consider ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), ProtectWorks, or ClamXAV (for Mac) all of which support versions from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) on. Like Bitdefender and Kaspersky, Avast supports macOS versions back to 10.9 Mavericks. It's a very different appearance from Avast Free Antivirus on Windows, which uses pops of purple and green on a dark gray background. The product's spacious main window features a large status indicator centered in an otherwise-empty white region, with a menu down the left side. When you click to activate, you get a choice of signing up for $2.99 per month or starting a 30-day trial. You'll also find Avast's SecureLine VPN on that page, but it's not free like the others. Installation went quickly, though I did find I had to separately activate the password manager and the Online Security browser extension from the Tools page. Avast Security offers Macs protection against malware along with advanced features including a password manager and a network security scanner, all for a cost of exactly nothing. 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 as time goes on we see more and more Mac-specific malware attacks. Phishing protection only works well in Chrome and Firefox, but this free utility is still worth a look.įor years, Mac users basked in the mystique of virus-free computing. Password manager includes only basic features.Īvast Security (for Mac) delivers effective malware protection along with unusual bonus features. ![]() Excellent phishing protection for Chrome and Firefox. Certified by one independent testing lab.
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