In their recent study — which was held in September 2017 – both software were awarded the highest “ADVANCED +” award, but Bitdefender received a better impact score of 4.1, as opposed to Kaspersky’s slightly heavier 8.1. Kaspersky Total Security helps protect your family – when they surf, shop, socialize or stream. Plus, extra privacy protection securely stores their passwords & key documents protects files & precious memories and helps safeguard kids from digital dangers.
One of the original, unique selling points for the Mac was that historically there had been almost no requirement to have antivirus software installed. Mac’s operating system (MacOS) was built to withstand the barrage of malicious attacks that the internet would open them up to. It also helped that the average person would choose a Windows PC over any of the other alternatives.
As both operating systems are designed quite differently, malicious software could not target both MacOS and Windows at the same time. So naturally, 99% of all malicious attacks were against Windows users. Apple hardware has boomed in popularity in the last decade, and unfortunately for the Mac, it’s impenetrable days are long gone because of this. The next time you hear someone speak about how safe owning a Mac is, as was the meta argument against PC owners during the 2000s, you can now kindly educate them.
I have tested and evaluated some of the top antivirus software that’s available for the Mac, to help you with your decision. Performance impaction, ease of use and interface design, were all taken into consideration. Norton Security Deluxe will set you back $80 a year and will allow you to install it on up to five different devices at once. This license isn’t restricted to Macs and is eligible to be used on Windows PCs and Android devices. Protection and security Norton Security Deluxe continuously scans your computer, and its connections, while it is running.
It also scans archived files like ZIPs and RARs. With a constant live feed to the latest threats, due to its LiveUpdate ability, your devices should always be protected from the most recent malicious threats. Performance Norton products have always had a bad reputation for being performance heavy, and the Norton Security Deluxe is no exception. This software slowed down our system roughly 28% when doing a full scan. However, when idle, there was no noticeable performance loss. Interface Although the interface was user-friendly and easy to navigate, we felt that there were too many unnecessary menus to navigate through. The main menu has easy access buttons for all the key features that you’ll be interested in, as well as showing a large tick to confirm that you’re protected.
Kaspersky Internet Security For Mac Kaspersky charges for a single Mac or $59.99 for up to three. The minimum requirement for installation is OS X 10.9 and 1GB of RAM. Protection and security has a few unique features that many products do not offer. One of the most reassuring is the webcam blocker. This will return an error to any application, or person, trying to access it. On top of that, it also can disable website trackers, which are used for ads and social networks.
Performance We recorded less than a 1% dip in idle performance after installing Kaspersky Internet Security For Mac. Although this is less impressive than the 0% Norton accomplished, Kaspersky makes up for it by having a very well optimized full-scan. Just 6.34% performance loss was recorded, which is incredibly low. Interface Well designed and clear, the user interface is not a problem to use. The screen shows a very clear message letting you know whether you’re protected or not.
Even though the scan buttons are located under the dedicated scan page, we feel like a quick scan button on the main page would have been a good quality of life option. AVG Antivirus Although there is a free version available, with limited capabilities, the will cost you roughly $60 per annum. OS X 10.8, or later, is required.
Protection and security In the latest annual security test that all antivirus software has to take part in, AVG Antivirus is one of the only four that managed to detect and intercept 100% of the malware thrown at it. To stay on top of the growing threats, AVG Antivirus also has cutting-edge automatic updates.
Performance Unfortunately, AVG Antivirus has a much larger impact on idle and scan performance than some of the other options available, but when you can boast about 100% security, then we feel like that’s a decent compromise. Interface The user interface uses a darker skin, with white text that makes the options stand out. It’s easy to navigate and has a scanning button right on the first page. Also, you can drag a file or folder onto the interface, and it’ll start scanning it.
ESET Antivirus For Mac A single Mac will cost just short of $40, making this one of the cheaper options available. OS X 10.6 and above is required for installation. Protection and security Similarly to AVG, ESET’s Antivirus scored a 100% success rate in threat detection. One of the nice features from ESET is that they have a social media scanner. This gives you extra security from accounts posting untrustworthy links. Performance The performance was a little better than AVG’s, although we still stand by the statement that as long as you’re hitting a 100% detection rate, it’s acceptable to take a little more processor performance.
Interface ESET Antivirus For Mac has a pretty basic user interface. Most antivirus software attempt to reinvent the wheel, but they’ve just opted a standard looking window. On the home tab, you can clearly see whether your computer and internet is secure, as well as having a button for a quick scan. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is our choice for the best security option available for your Mac. It offers 100% protection, has an excellent user interface and requires a minuscule amount of processing power. Protection and security Bitdefender is another gold medal winner, with its 100% threat detection rate, from the most recent antivirus test. It uses its standard malware detection properties alongside behavioral pattern recognition.
This all gets linked up to their cloud database, which allows them to be at the pinnacle of malicious threat detection. Performance During an idle state, the software had a zero effect on performance. When running a full scan, performance dropped by less than 10%. This is the second best performance of the software we tested, with only Kaspersky beating it. However, a full scan lasted roughly only half a minute. On average, other software scan times averaged at the 12-minute mark.
Interface We believe that Bitdefender for Mac has the best-designed user interface out of all of the other software. Its main page gives easy to read information regarding the state of security, as well as easy to click scan options.
It also has a plethora of options to look through, which most others just don’t have. Final thoughts If you came here to find out what the best antivirus for Mac is, then we hope we have helped. Although there are always free options available, if you want the best protection and security for your Mac, you have to spend money. Bitdefender for Mac has the best (although, equal) detection rate, one of the lowest system drains and the fastest full-scan time, we believe that this is your best option.