We are committed to providing fast, efficient, and affordable software solutions that set new standards in the software development industry.
  • Sophos Mac Antivirus Reviewed
Technology Articles > Software > Security & Privacy > Sophos Mac Antivirus Reviewed

There once was a rumor circulating that Macs were impervious to viruses. Recently, many a Mac owner found out that this rumor was simply not true. The Flashback Trojan virus that plagued many Macs recently has caused lots of Mac owner to search for a great Mac antivirus program. This Trojan mimicked the Adobe Flash installer, and caused many problems with lots of reliable Macs (since Macs don’t come with Flash, users must download Flash in order to view certain sites and are prompted to do so).

Thankfully, there are some great anti-virus options available. Not only are there some great options available, but also it’s absolutely imperative that you protect your Mac. If you want to protect your beloved (and expensive) Mac from future virus attacks, the Sophos Anti-Virus program is a popular option, but is this virus protector all its cracked up to be?

Installing Sophos Anti-Virus

After the initial download, Sophos will install an icon on your toolbar. From there, you can choose to Scan Local Drives, start a Sophos Scan, or simply click the Scan Now button. Any of these scans will activate Sophos and your computer will be scanned directly. As with most antivirus programs, once the scan has been completed the program will present you with a quarantine report. From there, you can go through each quarantined or suspicious item and get rid of the items that you do not want to keep any longer.

The whole installation and scan process is very simple using Sophos. If you’ve ever used any other antivirus program, Sophos will likely remind you of those other programs. The main different between Sophos and other Mac antivirus programs it that Sophos comes with a very nice design that’s really easy to use. When tested, Sophos did scan my Mac within moments and did find a few items that were easily deleted. Sophos did not crash mid-scan (as some antivirus programs can do), which was also very nice to note.

If You Already Have A Virus

Apple has taken great steps to ensure that anyone who has contracted the aforementioned Trojan virus remains protected. The best way to find out if you have this virus is to use the program that Apple has set up called Apple Flashback Malware Removal Tool. This tool can be found by conducting a quick Internet scan or by accessing the Apple website. Removing the virus is relatively painless and you’ll find that your system runs much better as a result. Even though Macs have always had a reputation for being the safer alternative to a PC, this latest scare has proven that even Macs are susceptible to attacks.

This reviewer highly recommends the Sophos antivirus for its user-friendliness and ability to scan your Mac without causing any system slowdown or crashes. Sophos will effectively protect your Mac and you will be safe from any impending viruses (for now). There’s always a chance that a new virus will pop up, but that’s simply something that might happen. In short, it’s best to protect your system before a new virus rears its very ugly and harmful head.