Avast Free Mac Security. When it comes to Avast Free Mac Security, Avast and AVG belong to the same Avast family. Avast is one of the largest security companies in the world and protects over 400 million customers in more than 150 countries worldwide. Avast Security for Mac is free and protects against malware, malicious websites, and vulnerable Wi-Fi connections. For the highest level of protection, get protection against: For the highest level of protection, get protection against. I am afraid, that avast do not protect the whole Macintosh machine, but only the Mac OS X partition' I wasn't offended by your post, it's just that I don't see any point to it as you're not asking any question nor does it inform the users.
- Does Avast For Mac Protect Against Fruit Fly Trap Diy
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- Does Avast For Mac Protect Against Fruit Fly
- Pros
Certified by one independent testing lab. Speedy full scan. Excellent phishing protection for Chrome and Firefox. Useful bonus features. Ransomware protection. Wi-Fi intruder detection.
- Cons
Doesn't add much to free edition's features. Expensive. Poor phishing protection for Safari. Password manager includes only basic features.
- Bottom Line
Avast Security Pro (for Mac) adds ransomware protection and Wi-Fi intruder detection to the features found in Avast's free antivirus, but these additions don't merit its high price.
The myth that Macs can't suffer viruses, Trojans, or other types of malware attack is busted. Oh, the situation isn't nearly as bad as on Windows or Android, but Macs really do need antivirus protection. There are free options available, including Avast Security (for Mac), but commercial antivirus utilities offer more features and do better in testing. Looking at what this product adds beyond the features in the free edition, it's really hard to justify the price.
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This product's main window looks exactly like that of the free edition, except for the absence of the upgrade offer. Plenty of white space surrounds a simple security status indicator. The left-rail menu is also the same as in the free edition. The difference is that clicking Ransomware Shield or Wi-Fi Inspector brings up the component, rather than displaying an upgrade invitation. The look is very different from that of Avast Pro Antivirus, which uses a dark gray background with occasional elements in purple and green.
Pricing and OS Support
Like Bitdefender and Kaspersky, Avast supports macOS versions back to 10.9 (Mavericks). If you have an antique Mac that for some reason can't even run Mavericks, consider ESET,
The most common pricing plan for Mac antivirus runs $39.99 per year for one license or $59.99 for three. Bitdefender, ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), Kaspersky, and Malwarebytes all fit this profile. Price-wise, Avast is on the high end, at $59.99 per year or $69.99 for three licenses. That's expensive, considering that the free edition has all the same features except for Ransomware Shield and Wi-Fi Inspector, which I'll detail below.
Shared Features
This utility shares all the features of the free Avast Security (for Mac), and that's saying a lot. I'll briefly summarize those shared features here, and you can should read my review of the free product for more details.
AV-Comparatives certified Avast's Mac malware protection as effective. In testing, it protected against 99.9 percent of Mac malware and 100 percent of Windows malware. AV-Test Institute, the other major lab that tests Mac antivirus, did not include Avast in testing. Note, though, that Bitdefender and Kaspersky earned 100 percent in both tests, and received certification from both labs.
I don't have the same kind of resources for antivirus testing under macOS as I do for Windows. I did try scanning a folder containing my current collection of Windows malware. Avast detected and quarantined 85 percent of the samples, which is quite good. Only Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac), with 86 percent, and Sophos, with 100 percent, have done better. At the low end, McAfee caught 25 percent and Intego just 18 percent.
Avast's full scan finished in 14.5 minutes, which is quite a bit faster than the current average of 24 minutes. The impressive Home Network Security Scanner took less than three minutes to take note of all devices on my network. It found 36 devices and flagged legitimate security problems on two of them.
Phishing websites masquerade as secure sites in the hopes of fooling you into giving away your login credentials. It doesn't matter which browser you use, or which operating system. Avast's scores in my hands-on phishing protection test were extremely poor. The phishing protection systems built into Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer all outperformed Avast, by a long shot.
I learned from my company contacts that phishing protection is fully functional in Chrome and Firefox, but only partly in Safari. The developers are working up a browser-independent version. In a new test using Chrome, Avast scored better than any Mac product except Bitdefender. It tied with Norton and beat out all three browsers. If you're relying on Avast for phishing protection, make sure you use Chrome or Firefox.
The Online Security browser extension marks up search results to flag dangerous links. It also displays a list of all ad trackers and other trackers on the current page, with an option to actively block these. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac includes a similar active Do Not Track feature.
Avast comes with a basic password manager that installs as a separate application. It handles basic functions like password capture and replay, saving secure notes, and generating strong passwords. The app stores
Ransomware Shield
Everything I've described to this point is also available in the free edition. The premium-only Ransomware Shield component simply prevents unauthorized access to files in sensitive folders. By default, it protects the Documents and Pictures folders for the current user. Naturally, you can add other folders if needed. A similar feature in Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac also protects your Time Machine backups.
To test this kind of access control on Windows, I use a small text editor that I wrote myself, something that would never show up on a list of trusted applications. I don't have such a program for macOS, so I had to disable the feature that automatically trusts Apple and App Store applications.
This type of access control is an effective tool for ransomware protection, one used by many security tools both on Windows and macOS. However, it does require vigilance on your part. When you see the Ransomware Shield popup, examine it carefully, and only click Allow if you're absolutely sure the program is legitimate.
Wi-Fi Inspector
As noted, you get the Home Network Security Scan even in the free edition. The premium edition adds a component called Wi-Fi Inspector. Despite the name, the main function of this component is to alert you when new devices join the network. It maintains its own simple list of devices. If you click Deep Scan, it launches the Home Network Security Scan.
Wi-Fi Inspector's device list doesn't identify security issues the way the security scan does. On the plus side, it lists the MAC address and IP address for each device, along with the name. For many devices, the name is a clear identification, like
I did encounter a serious problem with the device list. It found 36 devices on my network, but I couldn't scroll down to see more than the first bunch of devices. My Avast contact confirmed this as a bug. It's not such a big problem, as you can see all your connected devices in network scanner.
The real point of Wi-Fi Inspector is to alert you when a new device connects. Just after installation, you'll probably see quite a few of these, as devices that were turned off during the initial scan wake up. Once you get past that shakeout period, you should pay close attention to the new-device notifications. If you don't recognize the device, it could be a neighbor mooching your Wi-Fi, or even a hack attempt.
If you determine that the new connection isn't legitimate, there's not a lot you can do about it. Wi-Fi Inspector offers notification, but no direct way to act on that information. Your best bet is to snap a screenshot of the notification and then find a friend who's a network whiz. Your buddy can use the info from the screenshot to log into your router's settings and ban the device from the network.
Doesn't Add Enough
Avast Security Pro offers certified Mac malware protection, a network security scanner, and a password manager, but those features also come with the free Avast Security. The Pro edition adds ransomware protection that works by banning untrusted applications from modifying your files. It also adds real-time notification of new connections to your
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac has certification from two labs, excellent phishing protection, an anti-ransomware feature much like Avast's, and more. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac also has two certifications, and it comes with a full parental control system, excellent anti-phishing, protection against webcam peepers, and more. These are our Editors' Choice products for macOS antivirus, and they both costs $20 less than Avast.
Bottom Line: Avast Security Pro (for Mac) adds ransomware protection and Wi-Fi intruder detection to the features found in Avast's free antivirus, but these additions don't merit its high price.
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Six months after it was discovered, the first Mac malware of the year is still causing a stir.
The recently discovered Fruitfly malware is a stealthy but highly-invasive malware for Macs that went undetected for years. The controller of the malware has the capability to remotely take complete control of an infected computer -- files, webcam, screen, and keyboard and mouse.
But despite its recent discovery, little is known about the malware.
Given how rare Mac malware is, especially one with all the hallmarks of what could be a nation state attacker, Patrick Wardle, a former NSA hacker who now serves as chief security researcher at Synack, got to work.
Apple released security patches for Fruitfly earlier this year, but variants of the malware have since emerged. The core of the malware is an obfuscated perl script using antiquated code, with indicators in the code that suggest the malware may go back almost half a decade or more, the security firm said. Nevertheless, the malware still works well on modern versions of macOS, including Yosemite. Fruitfly connects and communicates with a command and control server, where an attacker can remotely spy on and control an infected Mac.
But what it does, and why, aren't widely known.
'It's not the most sophisticated Mac malware,' said Wardle in a Signal call last week, but he described it as 'feature complete.' Like others, he wasn't sure what the malware did exactly on first glance.
Instead of reverse-engineering the malware's code to see what it did, he took a novel approach of creating his own command and control server to interact directly with a sample of the malware in his lab.
'I had to figure out how to create a command and control server that could speak the 'language' of the malware,' he said. That let him fully deconstruct what the malware did simply by 'asking' the malware the right questions, giving him an unprecedented view into its capabilities.
He found that he could take complete control of an infected Mac, including its keyboard and mouse, take screenshots of the display, remotely switch on the webcam, and modify files. The malware can also run commands in the background, and even kill the malware's process altogether -- likely in an effort to avoid detection.
'The most interesting feature is that the malware can send an alert when the user is active,' said Wardle, so that the attacker can then avoid interfering with the computer to remain stealthy. 'I haven't seen that before,' he said. He even found that some commands supported additional parameters. What he called the 'second byte' to each command would offer more granular options. He explained that he could take screenshots of the display of varying quality -- a useful feature for low-bandwidth connections or trying to evade network detection.
He noticed that the malware was communicating out to primary servers that were offline. But some of the backup servers were available.
Armed with his Python-based command and control scripts, he registered some domains, and fired up his servers. And that's when his screen began to fill up with victims' computers connecting to his servers, one after the other.
'I thought -- 'f**k!' -- I have to be responsible here,' he said. When the malware connects, you get the IP address, name of the user, and the computer name (which is typically the full name of the user). 'I just logged the connections and parsed the computer names, then closed the connection,' he said.
The early analysis was that as many as 90 percent of the victims were in the US, with no obvious connection between the users, he said. 'It was just a general smattering of users.'
But questions remain over where the malware came from, and what purpose it performs.
Wardle said based on the target victims, the malware is less likely run by a nation state attacker, and more likely operated by a single hacker 'with the goal to spy on people for perverse reasons.' He wouldn't say how many were affected by the malware, but suggested it wasn't widespread like other forms of malware.
He also wasn't sure on the exact delivery method of the malware, but suggested it could infect a computer through a malicious email attachment.
Wardle has since informed and is now working with law enforcement on the matter, handing over the list of victims and command and control servers.
Does Avast For Mac Protect Against Fruit Fly Trap Diy
'You have to realize that this kind of re-exposes the fact that you can be an ordinary person and still be victim of a really insidious attack,' he said. 'This is just another illustration that Macs are just as vulnerable as any other computer.'
In part for that reason, Wardle spends his spare time developing free-to-download Mac tools to protect against this kind of attack, including Oversight, which notifies users when their microphone or webcam becomes active; essentially protecting against some of the features of this malware.
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'It's not surprising that this malware wasn't detected for five or more years, because current Mac security software is often rather ineffective,' he said. 'Most don't even look for this kind of activity.'
Wardle is set to talk about the malware in more detail at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Does Avast For Mac Protect Against Fruit Fly
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
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