80 Macworld • October 2019BUYING GUIDENotably, some subscriptions include permission
to use the anti‑malware app on more than
one computer (including Microsoft Windows
computers), which can sometimes add significantly
to the value – all computers within a household can
be protected for one payment.How we tested
For various reasons, quantitatively testing anti‑
malware apps is difficult to the point of near‑
impossible, and for this reason the results of our
testing are intended to be indicative rather than
definitive. For example, we ran a full scan using
each app and our goal was to determine relative
speed and CPU loads. One anti‑malware app
scanned the system in 30 minutes, while another
took six hours. Your own scans might be quicker
than this, or take longer. However, it’s clear that
the former anti‑malware app has a faster scanning
engine compared to the latter.
This is the kind of difference we hoped to identify.
The full scans were run on a MacBook Pro
running macOS Mojave with an i7 2.8GHz CPU,
16GB of RAM and 512GB flash‑storage based
disk, around 400GB of which was occupied. This
Mac effectively has eight CPU cores – four actual
cores and four hyperthreaded virtual cores – and is
used daily for tasks such as email, web browsing,
watching movies, listening to music, and more. As
such, it’s very much a typical system.
In order to test always‑on malware protection
for each app, we downloaded 26 malware samples80 Macworld • October 2019
BUYING GUIDE
Notably,somesubscriptionsincludepermission
tousetheanti‑malware app on more than
one computer (including Microsoft Windows
computers), which can sometimes add significantly
to the value – all computers within a household can
be protected for one payment.How we tested
Forvariousreasons,quantitativelytestinganti‑
malwareappsisdifficulttothepointofnear‑
impossible, and for this reason the results of our
testing are intended to be indicative rather than
definitive. For example, we ran a full scan using
eachappandourgoalwastodeterminerelative
speedandCPUloads.Oneanti‑malware app
scanned the system in 30 minutes, while another
took six hours. Your own scans might be quicker
thanthis,ortakelonger.However,it’sclearthat
theformeranti‑malware app has a faster scanning
engine compared to the latter.
This is the kind of difference we hoped to identify.
The full scans were run on a MacBook Pro
runningmacOSMojavewithani72.8GHzCPU,
16GBofRAMand512GBflash‑storage based
disk, around 400GB of which was occupied. This
Mac effectively has eight CPU cores – four actual
cores and four hyperthreaded virtual cores – and is
used daily for tasks such as email, web browsing,
watching movies, listening to music, and more. As
such,it’sverymucha typicalsystem.
Inordertotestalways‑on malware protection
for each app, we downloaded 26 malware samples