Macworld - USA (2019-09)

IMAGE: AVIRA OCTOBER 2019 MACWORLD 101

P

erhaps you’re the type of Mac

user who hates the idea of

running an antivirus suite but

recognizes its necessity. If so,

then Avira Free Antivirus for Mac might be

for you. For no money down, this suite

offers real-time protection and a firewall. It

doesn’t include USB scanning, which is a

special feature for the paid version.

What you do get is a solid antivirus

solution. AV-Comparatives gave Avira Pro

for Mac a 99.8 percent protection rate (go.

macworld.com/998p) from 585 malware

samples. Avira Pro and Free use the same

detection engine.

The organization also gave Avira Free

a 100 percent detection rate for Windows

malware on Mac using 500 “prevalent

Windows samples.” The latter is important

since it prevents Macs from becoming

“carriers” of Windows malware and

infecting Windows systems through

sharing infected files.

AV-Test (go.macworld.com/avra) had

Avira Free Antivirus: Solid

protection for your Mac

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is a fairly barebones suite, but it offers highly

rated protection at no cost to users.

BY IAN PAUL