The Pros and Cons of Antivirus Protection for Macs
A lot of people underestimate the importance of antivirus protection, no matter how safe you think your computer habits are you can still be at risk of getting a virus. Even something as harmless as an e-mail from someone you know and trust could have a virus embedded in it, often unknowingly by the sender.
But what about Macs? Since the majority of viruses are targeted primarily at Windows most people assume antivirus protection isn’t needed on Macs. But are you entirely safe from viruses while using a Mac? Should you get antivirus software for your Mac?
In this article I’ll go into detail on whether or not antivirus protection is needed on Macs and I’ll explain the pros and cons of using antivirus software on a Mac.
Do Macs even need antivirus software?
The short answer is yes, all operating systems can benefit from having antivirus software. Viruses for Macs are few and rare, but they are out there and there will always be a chance that you could pick one up.
While it may seem like a great idea to go ahead and get anti-virus software for your Mac, they do have their disadvantages. It’s up to you to decide if you want to deal with the disadvantages that come with the added security or if you’d rather take the chance on never running into one of the few Mac viruses and never have to deal with using the antivirus software.
The advantages and disadvantages of antivirus software.
Now comes the time for the pros and cons of using antivirus software for Macs.
The Pros:
Antivirus protection – The obvious advantage of using antivirus software, it’ll both help keep you from getting viruses and if you do get them it will remove them for you.
More support – Should anything go wrong virus related you have another company you can call besides Apple for support.
Security extras – Many antivirus protection suites come with added bonuses besides just the antivirus software, such as a firewall or a website scanner to check if the website you’re viewing is safe.
The Cons:
The price – While there are some antivirus software that’s free, a lot of them do cost money.
Resource usage – The entire time antivirus software is running it’s using your computer’s memory and CPU. Depending on your computer’s hardware you could experience lag and slower loading while using antivirus software.
While there are more pros than cons, depending on your personal preference the cons may or may not outweigh the pros.
Conclusion
Despite Mac generally being safer than Windows, it too can benefit from having antivirus protection, but at the same time it does come at a cost.
Hopefully after reading this article you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether or not using antivirus protection is the right choice for you.
Sources:
Apple
Macworld