REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov 08, 2017 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Avast, the global leader in digital security products, today released its 2018 SecurityPro and CleanupPro to address the latest security and performance concerns for Mac users. While the majority of malware attacks target Windows computers, cybercriminals’ interest in the Mac platform continues to grow with its expanded market share. To that end, in 2017, Avast blocked more than 250 million malware threats for Mac users.
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According to Avastdata, Mac users are encountering various malware-related threats, including but not limited to: Trojans, adware, blacklisted websites, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and ransomware. Avast Security Pro and Cleanup Pro provides real-time protection from these malware threats as well as router vulnerabilities. Additionally, Mac users can keep their machines running at peak performance, while deep-scanning macOS to delete what is no longer needed with the new Cleanup Pro.
Two key features include the Avast Security Pro’s Ransomware Shield and Wi-Fi Inspector. Ransomware Shield stops unknown ransomware variants from holding files hostage and any untrusted application from changing or deleting users’ protected photos and files. In addition, the Wi-Fi Inspector feature helps fortify networks by scanning for weak router passwords and vulnerabilities, as well as alerting users when a new device joins their network. Given that ransomware and router-based vulnerabilities are known threats for PCs, and will most likely increase for Mac users, Ransomware Shield and Wi-Fi Inspector will provide Macs comprehensive protection from these emerging threats.
“As Apple’s market share grows, so does the status of its products as a target for malicious hackers,” said Ondrej Vlcek, CTO, EVP & GM, Consumer at Avast. “Users should not take security for granted, regardless of what operating system they’re on. Our data clearly indicates that cyber threats are real for macOS and will continue to increase. The best time to protect yourself from a cyber threat is before it happens, and Mac users need to act now to get a solution that will secure their data and not compromise machine performance.”
With the new Avast SecurityPro and CleanupPro, Mac users will be able to address the growing number of Mac network security threats while optimizing performance. Key security and performance features may be found below:
AVAST SECURITY PRO:
Ransomware Shield
Protects users from ransomware attacks by alerting them when programs attempt to make changes to files or settings.
Wi-Fi Inspector
Monitors users’ Wi-Fi, checking for vulnerabilities in routers and proactively warns when new devices attempt to join home networks.
Scheduled Scans
A feature designed to ensure user security scans occur at specific times. Users may continue to work uninterrupted while the scan runs in the background to ensure both protection and productivity.
AVAST CLEANUP PRO:
Disk Cleaner
Scans and finds leftover data, like application and browser caches or log files, and helps remove them to recover valuable disk space.
Duplicate Finder
Finds and eliminates duplicate files to save disk space and to ensure that users are left with the preferred version.
To enhance security and optimize machine performance, Mac users may download a trial or purchase 2018 Avast SecurityPro and CleanupPro for Mac, available at $59.99 each. Reviewer’s licenses are available. System requirements: macOS 10.9 (Maverick) or later with at least 500 MB of disk space. An Internet connection is also required for automatic security updates.
About Avast:
Avast (www.avast.com), the global leader in digital security products, protects over 400 million people online. Avast offers products under the Avast and AVG brands that protect people from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. The company’s threat detection network is among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Avast digital security products for Mobile, PC or Mac are top-ranked and certified by VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and others. Avast is backed by leading global private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Summit Partners.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171108005770/en/
SOURCE: Avast
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Avast
Jen Bennett, 415-596-6770
PR North America
pr@avast.com
Copyright Business Wire 2017
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.
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.
Avast For Mac Antivirus Free Download 2016
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).
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
Avast For Mac Clean Features Synonym
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.