Norton Internet Security for Mac

Do you need security software for the Mac? This is a subject of ongoing debate with some recent developments. Many Mac users ignore such products, but many don't.

Now Symantec thinks there is a market and/or a need for security software on the Mac and they are releasing Norton Internet Security 4.0 for the Mac today. There really is malware for the Mac and some users do get attacked by it. How many is "some"? Probably not a lot, and if malware were really a problem it would obviously be a problem.

Could it develop into a more serious problem? Absolutely it could, and that's a reason to be prepared. NIS4Mac isn't the first or only anti-malware for the Mac; some, such as Intego VirusBarrier, specialize in the Mac, and there are more than a few users who take measures to protect themselves.

But even if you scoff at the notion of anti-malware for the Mac, NIS4Mac has many security features that would be beneficial for you. Symantec argues it has the best firewall on the Mac, adding features that aren't available in other products. There are location-based network rules which set different rules based on where you are connecting from (home, office, Starbucks, etc.). You can set rules for which applications can access the Internet and log that access. Symantec integrates blacklist data gathered from their worldwide DeepSight network to block access from known-malicious sites. The firewall also includes an IDS of sorts with signatures for vulnerability-based attacks in the Mac and 3rd party apps on the Mac.

There's no reason to think Mac users get phished any less than Windows users, so NIS 4 the Mac includes phishing protection based on blacklists and heuristics. Norton Confidential lets you define text or files that is sensitive, such as bank account numbers and records, and which shouldn't be sent out to the Internet without explicit consent. File Guard encrypts sensitive files.

Are you a techie Mac user? Like the command line? NIS for the Mac has a terminal interface for doing scans, manipulating firewall features and other functions of configuring the product.

Do you run Windows in a VM on your Mac? Then Norton Internet Security for Mac Dual Protection could be a bargain. It adds a copy of Norton Internet Security 2009 for Windows for your VMs and a 1 year license for it for $10 more. Many of the features in NIS 4 the Mac seem innovative there, but old news on Windows, and that's natural. In some cases the Mac doesn't implement a Windows feature; NIS on Windows updates itself very frequently with short updates because of the level of activity on that platform. But on the Mac updates are much less common, as little as once a week. If more become necessary they’ll do more. That will be good news for them, bad news for users. (story Link)