Adware, or advertisement-supported software, is also a problem. That number is all but guaranteed to rise, with new threats like and FakeFileOpener cited as significant disruptors in the macOS world. A report from Malwarebytes found that Mac malware saw an increase of over 400% between 20 (Opens in a new tab).

So it's terrifying yet not that surprising that Mac's malware problem has not just caught up to, but outpaced the PC infection rate (Opens in a new tab). Huge in fact when virus protection is essential for all. They know that population isn't paying attention. They also know that most Mac owners are under the impression that their laptops - or iPads, which have surged Mac OS's prevalence big-time - are invincible, and therefore might not bother to arm their Mac or iPad with any type of virus defense.

Hackers have zeroed in on this so you're going to need malware protection among other features.

They're the cool laptop to have and flaunt like a cool bag or pair of shoes, especially for students getting their first laptop. Just like TikTok warns that the chances of your cat killing you are few but never zero, the chances of hackers deliberately going after Mac users are few, but never zero. Even antivirus for Android phones is needed now thanks to their extensive popularity, so Macs are fine, right? Fewer Mac owners, fewer targets for criminals, right? Hackers are obviously more likely to create malware that'll affect more people's computers rather than spend extra time working around a tricky OS that fewer people have installed. Apple's been chomping away at the market share, but still, fewer people own Mac devices. It's been a handful of years since Apple revealed (Opens in a new tab) that PC has it beat popularity-wise (by about four times, or 300 million active users). That's why we've taken a look at the best antivirus for Mac so that you're protected from online threats. Antivirus software is still a worthwhile purchase for any Mac user. Apple's closed-loop system (Opens in a new tab) simply makes holes smaller and harder to infiltrate.īut that doesn't mean Mac's security is hole-free. That's because Apple does everything in-house, while Windows operates on hardware from a handful of manufacturers. Windows does tend to have more security vulnerabilities which is why there are so many great antivirus programs for Windows 10. The idea that Macs are generally more secure than a Windows PC isn't totally off-base. You've probably heard that Macs don't need antivirus software.

Macos free antivirus