For Mac antivirus, I necessarily rely more heavily on the independent testing labs to know which products are effective. I don't have anything similar in hand for the macOS platform, as my many hand-coded testing tools are Windows-only. Sophos support runs back to Mountain Lion When evaluating Windows antivirus utilities for malware protection, I use a wide range of tests that I've developed over the years. Avira requires macOS El Capitan If you're using an old operating system, you may need to consider a different Mac antivirus. You do need a modern operating system to use this antivirus. Like Sophos Home for Mac, it's totally free.
Editors' ReviewĪs for Avira, you don't pay a thing. Granted, these two are security suites, going beyond what a simple antivirus utility offers. There's a big range of prices for Mac-based antivirus support. However, this component simply controls the built-in macOS firewall component.
Seeing the label Firewall, you might get the impression that Avira includes a firewall component, like Intego, McAfee, and Norton. You can add more scheduled quick or full scans, on a daily or weekly basis. Scheduled scanning is enabled by default, once per week.
