I don’t know where this widespread myth originated from. The myth that Macs do not get viruses. Macs are computers, and like any computer, they can have vulnerabilities, and there are always people who want to get into your computer and steal your data. And they will always find ways to infect devices, including Macs, with malicious software.
Free Antivirus for Mac gets first place for malware detection. Free Antivirus for Mac was pitted against 35 other antivirus products designed for Mac OS, including plenty of pricey solutions, and came out in first place for detection of malware. Compared to Windows, Mac users have been relatively free from malware attacks. Here, too, Avast received high marks earning 100 percent malware protection from 585 samples of Mac malware. It also had a 100 percent detection on 500 samples of Windows malware.
However, it is true that the quantity of malware programsfor Macs created every year is significantly lower than the same amount forPCs.
Every day, the AV-TEST Institute registers over 350,000 new malicious programs (malware) and potentially unwanted applications (PUA).
In 2019, there were 89.68 mln malware programs developed for Windows and 3.17mln for Android. For comparison, there were only 60K malware programs for macOS: about 1500 times less than for Windows and 52 times less than for Android.
So, while macOS is much safer (because it is being targeted less), there are still 60K programs being created to harm Macs every year.
My point is Macs do get viruses, and the question is, what should you do to protect them?
There is a significant list of antimalware solutions available for macOS. Among them, ClamXAV, Bitdefender, Intego, Norton, Malwarebytes, and Avast. If you don’t know how to choose from a such variety check my post on how to do it properly.
In this post, we will do a full review of Avast Security forMac, both free and paid versions.
But before we move forward, let’s address the safety and trust questions.
Is Avast Security for Mac Safe?
According to multiple antivirus testing labs (AV-Test,AV-Comparatives), Avast for Mac is considered as a legitimate antimalwareprogram. So, it is safe to install either free or paid versions. However, therewere reports that Avast was selling user data to various organizations.
Does Avast Sell Your Data?
Avast was selling the data about user’s behavior on the internet (including Google searches) since 2013 when they acquired the company called Jumpshot.
They claimed that the data was anonymized before being sold to interested parties, but the damage to the reputation was already done. Some tools even decided to label Avast as spyware. Mozilla and Opera browsers removed the software from their bundles.
After the data collection practices were discovered, the company decided to shutdown Jumpshot. However, it is not clear if they stopped collecting user data or not.
So, at this time, the company is not selling data, but nobody knows what can happen in the future. And it’s up to users to decide whether Avast can be trusted or not. To learn more, read the Privacy policy on their site.
Is Avast for Mac any Good?
To answer this question, let’s check the testing reportsfrom two independent research labs. I could’ve read user reviews, or base theresearch on articles from bloggers (Avast affiliates), but I only trustcompanies which perform AV testing professionally.
There are multiple AV testing labs, but only two providetests for Macs.
Is It Good According to AV-Test?
AV-TEST GmbH is an independent IT security research institute from Germany. They do not recommend any products but produce the test results free of charge, and it’s a job of a consumer to decide which AV is the best.
The latest Avast product review can be found here: Avast Home User Products.
AV-Test tests security programs in three categories:Protection, Performance, and Usability. The highest score in each category is6.
In the latest test, Avast was given the highest score in protection against malware infections (viruses, worms, and/or Trojans). It was able to detect 100% of threats in the test samples, higher than the industry average of 99%.
In the Performance test, which gauges the impact of the product on the system, Avast was also awarded the perfect score of 6.
The effect of the antivirus on the speed of downloads, installing and launching apps, and copying files, was between 1-4%, which is lower than the industry average.
And finally, Avast excelled in the Usability test, whichmeasures false positives (false detection of legit software as malware, ordisplaying unnecessary warnings).
However, it is helpful to see things in perspective. Whilethe last results were impressive, over the years Avast did not consistently getgood marks in some of the tests:
Is It Good According to AV-Comparatives?
AV-Comparatives is an antimalware testing lab based in Austria, and the certifications it awards are globally recognized.
According to the AV-Comparatives, in the latest tests, Avast received an Approved Security Product award along with products such as Avira, Bitdefender, CrowdStrike, F-Secure, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro.
In the lab’s main test, Real-World Protection Test, Avastwas able to achieve Advanced level, which is higher than Standard, but lowerthan Advanced+.
I have to note that Avast Security program performance inAV-Comparatives tests has also fluctuated over the years.
So, if you read this article two-three years after its publication, I suggest checking the latest results from both labs, so that you have freshest data.
Did someone else test Avast?
Well, I did. I was lucky to find a place with hundreds of malware targeting Mac users. And I was dumb enough to download all of them on my MacBook and test 13 antimalware products.
What did I find? I found that Avast is not the best in the class. It missed a few malware samples.
I also found two (or strictly speaking only one) antivirus programs which detected and removed all viruses, including trojans, worms, adware and ransomware.
A link to the post with the results of my test and the name of the winners is down below in Conclusion.
Avast Security for Mac Review
Installation
Anti Malware For Mac
The free download of Avast Security for Mac is availablefrom the company web site avast.com.
- On Mac, the install media will be saved as a DMG file in the Downloads folder.
- Just run the installer from there.
- Double click on Install Avast Security.pkg file and keep clicking on the Continue button where appropriate.
- Agree to terms of the software license.
- Hit the Install button. The software will download the latest virus definitions.
- Enter the password when the installer tries to install new software.
- At the end of install Mac’s System Security will pop up a message if you want to install System Extension.
- Open System Preferences, click on the padlock icon and then click Allow.
- While you are in System Preferences app, click on the Privacy tab, select Full Disk Access on the left pane, then find Avast in the right pane and check the box next to the app name.
What’s interesting about the installation is that it didn’task for my email or any other information like almost all other free apps.
Scanning
Once the antivirus is installed, you should run the scan.
If you didn’t give Full Disk Access during installation, theapp would ask it again during the scan. This is expected from any antimalwareprogram.
How long does it take to finish the initial scan depends onthe size of the disk. Just minimize the app and keep doing what you were doing.Avast does take some CPU resources, but do not slow down other processes on Mac.
On my MacBook Pro Avast scanned 159095 files in 10 minutesand 45 seconds with default settings.
It classified one of the Mail attachments as a threat andoffered to resolve the issue by moving it to the Virus Chest.
Virus Chest
Avast uses a special isolated space called Virus Chest tocontain the infected files. The files get automatically moved there during thescan.
You can also add files manually.
Sometimes, the file can be placed in Virus Chest by mistake.In this case, you can restore it by opening the Virus Chest from the mainwindow, scroll and find the file. When the file is selected, you can see thetrash icon and three dots next to it.
To restore the file, click on three dots, and in thedrop-down menu, select either Restore or Restore as action. Restore as actionlets to restore the file in a user-specified location. Both actions requireentering the admin password.
Is it safe to delete files from the Avast virus chest? Clicking on the Trash icon in the chest deletes the file permanently. It does not go to MacBook Trash, so they will be gone forever. The only option after removing the file is to try special tools such as Disk Drill, but the results are not guaranteed.
Core Shields
Several protection components in the app block malware in real-time. They are called Core Shields, and they include File, Web, and Mail.
File Shield
This is the main layer of protection, and this is the core functionality you expect from any antivirus to do in real-time. Every time any file gets saved, copied, modified, it gets triggered.
It also scans the files when they get opened or executed. If malware detected during a file scan, the shield protects the Mac from being infected.
Web Shield
As the name suggests, it protects a user when she browsesthe internet from downloading malware or executing malicious scripts.
Mail Shield
This is the final component. It scans incoming (andoutgoing) messages in the email clients, such as Mail.app or Microsoft Outlook.It does not scan Gmail when the user accesses it from the browser. Browser, asI mentioned above, is protected by Web Shield.
By default, all shields will be enabled, but they can bedisabled at any time.
For instance, the Mail Shield had problems with the MacMyths.com mail server.
Basically, Avast told me that I might be connected to a server that pretends to be my mail server in order to get confidential information. And all my accounts went offline.
I had to turn off Mail Shield and turn all accounts backonline.
Configuration
It is possible to use the antivirus as is with the defaultsettings, but I suggest to check some configuration settings anyway.
Click on the Menu button in the top right corner of the appscreen, and then click on Preferences.
General
In this section, make sure that the following settings areenabled:
- Turn on automatic updates
- Open Avast Security when computer starts up
Personal Privacy
Remember how the article about the company selling data?Usually, when I download an app, it asks me if I allow sharing my data, but notthis program. All three checkboxes in the Personal Privacy were enabled bydefault. So, go ahead, uncheck all of them.
Core Shields
Enable all settings in this section. Additionally, it ispossible to exclude certain files or web/mail servers from scanning. It isuseful for test servers if you are a developer or the files that you know arenot malware.
Scans and Wi-Fi Inspector
Leave default settings as is.
Ransomware Shield
It’s a premium feature, not available in the free version.
Premium Features
As you know, Avast is not a charity company. It’s afor-profit corporation, and they make money only when users buy their premiumproducts. They are not making a single penny from their free software.
So, I don’t understand people who complain that the company is aggressively promoting Avast Premium Security.
For instance, at the bottom of the main screen of the free app, you can see a bar with a message “You are not protected in 3 areas”. Clicking on the Resolve button brings another screen with an offer to:
- Protect primary folders from Ransomware
- Monitor Wi-Fi
- Protect from DNS hijacking
All of those features are part of the Premium package, which costs $69/year.
Is the package worth the money?
The only feature, interesting to me, is Ransomware protection. If you don’t know what it is, it’s malware that encrypts the entire computer disk and then asks money in order to decrypt it again.
One of the examples of Ransomware attack happened in Baltimore when all computers in the city government were compromised, and the city lost all its data.
Malwarebytes Anti Malware For Mac
The best prevention against such attacks, however, is periodic backups. If you keep backing up the Mac, it is easy to restore it later in case of malware attack (assuming the backup drive was not encrypted either).
So, to conclude, I wouldn’t pay for Premium. In my opinion,the free version is pretty good. It performs very well in malware detection andremoval, and it does provide real-time protection.
Uninstalling Avast antivirus
Since Avast gets access to the various system folder, do noteven try to delete the app by moving it to Trash. That won’t work.
To remove the program completely, click on Avast in theApple menu bar. In the drop-down menu, select the Uninstall Avast Securityitem. Enter the admin password if needed. The uninstall process will start, andin the end, all you need is to click on the Quit button.
In case you don’t trust Avast to clean up after itself, you can try CleanMyMac or AppCleaner. Both apps will remove the app without leaving any traces.
Conclusion
The free app from Avast is an excellent antivirus approved by independent testing labs. It is safe to use Avast; however, there are still some concerns about their user data collection practices.
Avast For Mac Os
While both Avast is a good free product, in my experience, it does not catch all viruses.
How do I know? I tested them myself along with a dozen other antimalware products. I intentionally downloaded 117 malware samples to find out which software is best in scanning and removing viruses.
Malware Mac Free
Needless to say that I was surprised by my findings. Enough, to say that Avast removed 98.3% of samples after multiple scans.
Avast For Mac Free
Only one antivirus product was able to detect and remove 100% samples. Check here to find out which one is the best: