- Avast For Mac Review
- Avast For Mac Review
- Avast For Mac 10.7.5
- Avast For Mac Free Download
- Avast
- Avast Mac Download
No paid Mac antivirus program stands out in reviews as better than the free Avast for Mac. Last year's winner, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac (Est. $50 per year for 3 Macs), still sails through tough tests at AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, flawlessly slaying both Mac and Windows malware. Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Avast Passwords. Download Avast Passwords for macOS 10.11 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. Avast Passwords is a free, convenient alternative to committing all your login details to memory.
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- ProsCertified by one antivirus testing lab. Good detection of Windows malware. Clear, simple user interface. Free.
- ConsVery poor score in hands-on phishing protection test. Lacks scheduled scanning, website rating, and other features found in competing free apps.
- Bottom LineThe free AVG AntiVirus protects against Mac, Windows, and mobile malware, but that's about all, and its antiphishing component tanked in our hands-on testing.
'Ok, ok,' you say, 'you've convinced me. I'll install an antivirus app on my Mac. But I'll be goldarned if I'm gonna pay for it!' That's actually quite a reasonable attitude. Sure, you get more and better protection from the best commercial products, but while Mac-centered malware totally exists, it doesn't come close to the wild and woolly jungle of Windows malware. AVG AntiVirus for Mac is one of several totally free antivirus solutions to protect your Macs. It takes care of basic antivirus protection, but its protection against malicious and fraudulent URLs currently leaves much to be desired.
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Since Avast's acquisition of AVG a couple years ago, this product and Avast Security (for Mac) are now, if not siblings, at least cousins. On the PC side, the two free antivirus products are extremely similar under the hood, and my company contacts assure me that the same is true of the Mac products. Note, though, that Avast offers Mac users a lot more than AVG does. In addition to basic antivirus protection, it includes site rating, active Do Not Track functionality, a network security scanner, and even a basic password manager.
AVG's main window is spacious and simple. A large dark grey expanse holds three icons penned in by a darker rectangle: Mac Shield, Web Shield, and Email Shield. Mac Shield refers to real-time protection, scanning new files as they arrive. Web Shield works to divert your browsing away from malicious or fraudulent pages. The third icon, Email Shield, will eventually scan incoming email attachments for malware, but the feature is not yet ready. Don't worry; the moment you attempt to save or launch an attachment, the Mac Shield scans it.
You can use the Scan Mac button at center bottom to launch various types of antivirus scans. Links to view quarantined items and log in to your AVG account round out the window. Choosing File Preferences from the menu lets you tweak a few minor settings. For most users the defaults are fine, with one exception. Like Avast, AVG can scan your Time Machine backups for malware. Out of the box, this feature is disabled; turning it on seems like a good idea.
Pricing and OS Support
Like Sophos and McAfee, AVG requires macOS 10.10 (Yosemite) or higher. Avira and Norton want 10.11 (El Capitan) or higher. If you're a prudent user who always accepts operating system upgrades, this shouldn't be a problem. However, if for some reason you're stuck using an old macOS version, consider ClamXAV, ProtectWorks, or ESET Cyber Security (for Mac). These three can handle versions all the way back to 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
As noted, AVG is completely free. Sophos Home Free (for Mac), Avast, and Avira are among the other vendors offering free antivirus for macOS. However, like Avast, AVG is only free for noncommercial use. If you want to use AVG in a business setting, you must pony up for the business edition.
Commercial Mac antivirus pricing centers on just under $40 per year for a single license. Half of the current products fit that model, and most of those give you three licenses for $59.99 per year. With McAfee, that $59.99 subscription price gets you unlimited licenses, not just three. https://meterhigh-power102.weebly.com/avast-removal-for-mac.html. You can install McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) on all the macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS devices in your household.
Good Malware Protection Scores
When reviewing Windows antivirus utilities, I look at test results from four independent labs, and I also perform my own hand-on testing with live malware. That's not as dangerous as it sounds. I use virtual machines, so if malware wreaks havoc, I just revert to an earlier snapshot. I don't perform that level of testing on macOS, so results from the two labs that test Mac antivirus become very important.
As I mentioned, Avast now owns AVG, so I wasn't surprised to see that the two earned precisely the same scores from AV-Comparatives. Both protected against 99.90 percent of the lab's Mac malware samples, detected 100 percent of the Windows malware samples, and earned this lab's certification.
AV-Test Institute also included Avast in its latest report, but not AVG. Avast detected all the Mac malware and PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications) and most of the Windows malware. We can hope that AVG would have scored the same, but the labs are very clear: results apply only to the precise product tested.
Bitdefender and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac are the big winners, as far as lab results go. They received certification from both labs, earning 100 percent protection against Mac malware in both cases.
Scan Choices
If you just click the big Scan Mac button, AVG scans the most likely places for malware traces. On the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch I use for testing, this scan finished in less than four minutes. Clicking the gear icon next to Scan Mac lets you choose a Deep Scan of the entire system, or a File Scan looking just at certain files or folders. Even the Deep Scan only took 15 minutes, just a hair longer than Avast, and well below the current average of 24 minutes.
Avast, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, ClamXAV, and several others include the option to define a scan schedule. AVG, like Sophos, Malwarebytes, and a few others, eschews the scheduled scan, figuring that real-time protection should handle any new threats. I suggest that you run a Deep Scan immediately after installing AVG, to root out any hidden nasties.
Almost all the Mac antivirus utilities I've reviewed include the ability to detect Windows malware as well. True, malware designed for Windows can't run on a Mac, but eliminating it means there's no chance of it somehow leapfrogging to a Windows system on your network. AVG promises to detect and remove Windows and mobile malware, in addition to malware aimed at macOS.
Avast For Mac Review
To test AVG's skills against Windows malware, I copied my current malware collection from a thumb drive to the desktop. AVG immediately started wiping out the samples, leaving just a handful. A File Scan on the folder eliminated a few more, for a total of 86 percent. Interestingly, I tested Avast with my previous malware collection and it weighed in at 85 percent, almost the same. Sophos has the best score this test, with 100 percent of Windows malware eliminated.
Poor Phishing Protection
While viruses, Trojans, and other typical types of malware necessarily target a specific operating system, phishing attacks are totally platform-agnostic. If you log in to a fraudulent site, thereby giving the fraudsters your credentials for the actual site, it doesn't matter if you did it on a PC, a Mac, or a browser-equipped refrigerator. Whatever the platform, you've lost control of that account.
My phishing test starts with hundreds of suspected phishing URLs, scraped from websites that specialize in tracking and reporting on them. To test a Windows-based product, I set up five browsers, one protected by the product under test, one by phishing champ Symantec Norton AntiVirus Basic, and one each by the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. I wrote a simple program to launch each URL simultaneously in all five, and record with one click whether it blocked or missed a fraud, or whether the URL turned out not to be a phishing fraud after all. Alas, my handy program runs strictly on Windows, so my antiphish testing on macOS is a manual cut and paste affair.
In my testing, I've learned that while phishing frauds themselves are platform-independent, defense against phishing is not. Symantec Norton Security Deluxe (for Mac) scored quite a bit lower in this test than the comparable Windows edition.
Many phishing protection systems replace the fraudulent page with a warning message in the browser, explaining that proceeding to the site would be dangerous, but allowing the user to override the warning. AVG's Web Shield works quite differently. It pops up a window reporting that it secured a threat, leaving the browser to display a simple error message.
When I finished the test and ran the numbers for AVG, I was a bit shocked. AVG's detection rate was 39 percent lower than Norton's, and all three browsers beat it handily using their built-in protection. Among Mac antivirus products, only Avira has done worse, running 47 percent below Norton's detection rate. On the plus side, this is significantly better than the score earned by AVG AntiVirus Free.
Then I remembered that I had a similar experience with Avast. Initially it scored 32 percentage points behind Norton, which is in the same ballpark as AVG's 39 points. At that time, my Avast contact explained that Safari gets protection only from the Web Shield component, while browser extensions offer enhanced protection in Chrome and Firefox. When I repeated the test using Chrome, Avast tied with Norton and beat all three browsers. Only Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac has done better, outscoring Norton by 5 percentage points. Bitdefender on Windows did even better, 12 points above Norton.
Alas, browser extensions for AVG's Mac antivirus aren't yet ready, so phishing protection totally relies on the less-effective Web Shield component. Is avast security for mac a good thing. I'll revisit this review when the browser extensions come out.
What's Not Here
AVG covers the basics, with protection against Mac, Windows, and mobile malware. It offers a modicum of protection against phishing frauds, though this component isn't very effective. And that's about all. Other free Mac antivirus utilities bring quite a bit more to the party.
With Sophos, you get full remote management of up to three installations, so you can fix Uncle Ernie's antivirus without driving across town. It also includes a simple content filter for parental control.
Avira rates links in search results, so you don't accidentally visit a dangerous page. By default, it runs a scheduled scan every week. It brings along a raft of other security-related components, some free, others free trial.
Avast For Mac Review
AVG's cousin Avast also rates the safety of search result links. Its active Do Not Track component prevents advertisers and other trackers from building a profile of your online activity. The network security scan lists all the devices on your network and flags any that have security problems. It even includes a basic password manager.
You Can Do Better
As you can see, AVG Antivirus for Mac suffers by comparison with other free Mac antivirus utilities. Lab tests show that it does its essential job, protecting against malware, but it's not effective at blocking malicious or fraudulent URLs. Its biggest virtue lies in its extremely simple, streamlined user interface.
Those willing to pay for Mac antivirus protection can get significantly better protection. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac both cost $59.99 for three licenses, and both earn top ratings from the independent labs. Bitdefender took the top score in our antiphishing test, and its ransomware protection feature prevents unauthorized apps from modifying your important files. Kaspersky goes beyond the basics with an effective parental control system, protection against webcam spyware, a network attack blocker, and more. As in the Windows realm, free antivirus tools for Mac handle the basics, but commercial ones do much more.
Bottom Line: The free AVG AntiVirus protects against Mac, Windows, and mobile malware, but that's about all, and its antiphishing component tanked in our hands-on testing.
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Review of Avast Free Antivirus for Mac
Avast is one of the most popular free antivirus programs, and they have a version for Mac OS X. Avast Free Antivirus for Mac offers most of the same features, is free to download, doesn’t include advertisements, and is generally unobtrusive. But, how well does it work? We’re reviewing Avast Free for Mac to find out.
What Is It?
Avast Free Antivirus for Mac is a free antivirus program with a virus scanner, firewall, and various features that you can turn off or on. The program is free, but will request payment for some features, which means that you can’t expect everything in the features section to be free.
Features
Avast Free Antivirus for Mac offers numerous, configurable features. The free features include an antivirus scanner, a firewall, reports, and that’s it.
Scan – Avast offers a free antivirus scanner that you can use to scan files, folders, hard drives, and your computer. This is actually a very versatile scan because you can use it to scan your full system, removable volumes, custom files, folders, or drives, or your network. This makes it extremely useful for finding network based viruses which are on another computer and spreading to your own. Interestingly, the network scan will also tell you every device currently on your network. If you find a virus on your computer, you can also upload it to Avast’s online database.
What’s the catch? The full system scan isn’t as accurate as some of it’s competitors, and it can take a very long time to do a full scan, even when you don’t have much on your computer.
Shield – Shield (Not S.H.I.E.L.D.) is Avast’s firewall and it works to protect you from the web, files, and email infections. The firewall is passive, meaning that you don’t have to run it, doesn’t require a great deal of system resources, which makes it a great choice.
Virus Chest – The Virus Chest is simply your system quarantine
Reports – You can see an up-to-date log of all system scans, infected files, etc.
Avast For Mac 10.7.5
Configuration
One of the best things about Avast is that it is highly configurable, and you can update everything from the notificaitions to the Firewall. Use what you want, and nothing else. Under ‘Preferences’ you can find a number of configuration options. For example, you can disable any one of the firewall settings. You can also change popups or even turn them off, set your updates to how you want them, and even remove the Avast Icon from your toolbar.
Extras
Avast Free for Mac includes what is essentially an advertisement for Avast’s premium software. You have a “tools” section which includes a VPN and Avast Online Security. You will have to pay in order to use these features. You will also occasionally see popups or reminders about these features. However, if you do want them, they work well.
Review of Avast Free Antivirus for Mac
Avast Free Antivirus for Mac has a lot to offer for those who want a low-system impact, don’t necessarily need maximum quality protection, and who want customization. The program is slow for full scans, but you will rarely need a full scan, which means that this doesn’t impact the program too much. However, Avast doesn’t detect as many viruses as other programs like AVG or Bitdefender, which means you will be sacrificing some quality. That aside, Macs aren’t a huge target for viruses anyway, so you’re likely still safe without maximum protection.
Avast For Mac Free Download
Should you get it? If you’re worried, AVG still makes a better option, but Avast is well worth trying out. If you’re looking for customization and light system impact, it could be the way to go. To help you decide before you buy it, we recommend that you try the trial version of Avast. It’s good for 30 days which should be long enough to feel it out. Let us know what you think of it if you have it or you try it!
Avast
Avast Free for Mac works well, offers a lot of features for a free antivirus, is highly configurable, and has a very light system impact.
Avast Mac Download
The antivirus scanner isn't as good as some free competitors, takes some time to perform a full system scan, and offers features that aren't available unless you upgrade to the premium version.