Sophos Antivirus for Mac Home Edition is a complete antivirus solution for your Mac, and it gives you the ability to review files identified as threats before they are removed. With this free program in place, you can have confidence that your Mac is not vulnerable to threats from most viruses and malware. Pros Straightforward interface: Through this app's streamlined interface, you can easily see how your scan is progressing and what threats the program has detected. And when the scan is complete, you can view a list of quarantined items and decide whether or not to delete some or all of them. Decent detection: Sophos did detect several legitimate threats through scanning. They were clearly displayed in the Quarantine Manager, and we could view the results of scanning even while the scan was still in progress. Cons Long scans: The program takes a long time to scan.

Your guide to the best antivirus and security software for Mac 2018 for your peace of mind. Sophos Home is mercifully minimalist, with absolutely no application window included. Instead it uses notifications from the menu bar icon to enable you to commence virus scans or monitor the scan. Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent.

In fact, our initial testing scan wasn't even halfway done after 20 minutes, which seems excessive when compared to other similar programs. Freezing issues: The app froze several times during testing, usually when it was close to finishing a scan.

Since the scans take so long to begin with, this was especially frustrating. Bottom Line Sophos Antivirus does its job even if the process isn't always terribly smooth. It does do a decent job identifying threats, and results are clearly displayed in the Quarantine Manager. The program is free to use without limits.

Sophos Home protects with both signature based and signature-less/behavioral-based (zero-day) detection including on-demand malware scan, on-access malware scan, malicious URL blocking, phishing protection, and potentially unwanted app detection. Users of Sophos Home can easily manage security settings for computers located anywhere from any web browser. Add computers in seconds, manage policies, and perform scans on any computer under management.

The management tools are tamper-resistant with auto-logout and password protection. And there are no ads, pop-ups, or prompts to enter credit card information.

Sophos Home protects users from online threats and unsuitable content. Users can block access to sites that may contain inappropriate content or malicious software. Web Category Access lets you control access to certain types of websites, deciding what to allow, warn, or block, customizable for each computer. As a free product, Sophos Home is supported by our Sophos Community. Through the Sophos Community, users can ask questions and receive answers via moderated forums.

They can also find answers to questions using Sophos Home FAQs and knowledge base articles.

If you keep a Mac up to date on the latest available operating system, you don't need anti-virus monitoring; in fact, something like that causes more problems than it prevents. Malwarebytes AntiMalware for Mac (formerly AdwareMedic). However, is a different story. It's recommended by Apple support procedures as a good adware/malware removal tool. I can count on one hand the third party software that Apple Support specifically has recommended / currently recommends for customers experiencing certain issues (in this case, adware or malware) and AdwareMedic / MalwareBytes AMfM is one of those pieces of software. Marine navigation apps for windows. Malwarebytes as traditional anti virus programs aren't needed as much with the way most programs install on OS X and the built in protection. The benefit with MB is it is quick and doesn't hinder your system.

I have an AppleScript I can run that automates the whole process even and closes it immediately if nothing is found. The whole process takes about 10 seconds. While MB probably won't find any big viruses, it sniffs out adware and malicious browser plugins that may not even be active very well. If you're safe with your computer but just want some reassurance, go that route.