XProtect matches files and applications that have been downloaded to your Mac against a list of known “bad guys”.

Since it is part of the operating system, it’s also very fast and doesn’t cause the usual slowdowns associated with dedicated antivirus/malware apps.Īs Apple is made aware of vulnerabilities and malware, both from “white hat hackers” and security firms, it invisibly patches XProtect to keep your Mac protected. It’s installed by default, runs without user intervention, and is even updated automatically. XProtect runs constantly in the background on OS X and macOS machines. The first safety net keeps you protected from most malware.

First, I’ll talk about Apple’s safety nets, then other precautions that can help keep your Mac safe with minimal fuss. They’re the functions that are constantly monitoring what’s going on behind the scenes on your Mac to keep you safe. So, as a longtime Mac owner and user, a former Mac consultant, and a writer specializing in the world of Apple devices, I’ve usually used my Macs with absolutely no anti-virus or anti-malware software.Īm I just lucky? Not really, because even without a specific antivirus or anti-malware package installed, I take a lot of precautions and Apple has built in a number of “safety nets”. Related article: How to Use Mac’s Disk Utility to Securely Wipe a Drive That includes the early days of Mac when the operating system wasn’t Unix-based with all of its built-in security features. The answer to the question “Do Macs need antivirus or anti-malware software?” is “No, but…” As a Mac user since late 1984, I have never had a virus, and I’ve rarely seen malware that caused an issue for more than just a few minutes. When new Mac owners first set up their new machines, one question they may have is whether or not they’re taking a risk by not installing that same genre of application on their Macs. The other reason? The miseries of the tools that allegedly fix those problems but cause even new PCs to run slowly and crash more often. One reason that many people move from the world of Windows to macOS is because they’re tired of the hassles of having their PCs infected with viruses and other malware.

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