One reason that people offer for buying anti-virus (AV) software for Macs is that we should take pity on our Windows brethren and not pass Windows viruses on through our email. There are a couple of problems with this idea.

First, I’ll admit that I also run a Windows computer and can categorically state that no Windows user who is connected to an outside network like the internet should be without very up-to-date anti-virus software running with automatic updates. Period There really are no safe exceptions. It’s not difficult to install this software and not unreasonably expensive so it should be there.

With well over a hundred thousand known viruses, many of which do not require the end user to download or open any files to infect a computer it is criminally negligent to not run AV software on Windows. And that’s the absolute minimum security measure.

If a Windows based computer is connected to the internet without active, current anti-virus protection the question is not whether or not it will be infected but rather how badly it is already infected.

One of the problems with current anti-virus software is that new infections often happen so quickly and broadly that updates don’t catch them before they are widespread. And that’s with highly motivated programmers focused on keeping absolutely current.

Now we switch to the Mac. I can’t believe that the Mac anti-virus software publishers at Symantec or Intego are focused enough to be really on top of things right now. It’s hard to stay sharp when there have been no threats for so long. I believe that when the inevitable Mac virus get out that it will just laugh at current anti-virus software and the few programmers assigned to work on Macs will take too long to issue patches to stop an infection from becoming widespread.

As to intercepting windows viruses and not passing them on, I believe that’s an empty argument. I get several updates every day on my windows box. There’s no way that Macintosh anti-virus software, that is maybe updated weekly, is going to keep up like that.

Simply put, the windows AV software is always going to be more up to date than any Mac version making Mac AV protection for PC’s redundant at best. If you use a CPU hog like Norton you’re actually hurting your self without helping anybody else. Can you say martyr?

I would add to that a good software firewall and probably a hardware one, like NAT, are necessary for PC users. Throw in at least one and preferably two or three competent spyware stoppers for good measure. Running windows without protection makes as much sense as pulling dish out of a 400 degree oven with bare hands. If you don’t use protection you’re going to get burned. The little that Macs can help by running AV is so pitiful that doing so can only be considered a token gesture. It may give a warm fuzzy feeling but won’t make any measurable difference.

There are only two exceptions I can think of:

One is in an office environment in which people often share Word Macros. For those few, Mac anti-virus software may help. But the windows computers, as well as the company servers, still need their own protection as well.

The other instance is where you might offer public computer access, as in an Internet Cafe or library. There you might want to include Mac AV software, not because it will do any good, but for liability reasons. I don’t know if it would actually work, but it can’t hurt. It might also give some protection from macro viruses that the user imports onto the public computer.

Possibly related:

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 11:31 am and is filed under Best Practices, Internet Facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.