Mac

Running Windows on Your Mac? Symantec Wants You Covered

Symantec claims Mac owners running Windows are vulnerable to Windows malware

By Filip Truta, Apple News Editor

11th of March 2008, 12:30 GMT

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A screenshot of the Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection in action

Mac and security just don't make good news together, since the Mac is quite safe for the time being (a programming glitch here and there, but that's it). Still, Symantec believes that Mac users running Windows through Apple Boot Camp software, VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop (virtualization software) are likely to be affected by Windows malware and other threats, according to the Yahoo News.

That's why the security company introduced Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection

for Mac on Monday. Mac owners running Windows via the utilities mentioned above will need to fork for $69.95 if they feel "insecure," while the respective software is available either as a download or on CD. Agreeing to pay $69.95 means you're good for one year of use with the constantly updating Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection for Mac.

I get the feeling we'll be hearing a lot of negative responses over this. It is bad enough to own a Mac and run Windows on it, ever more to claim that the machine itself is vulnerable to Windows viruses:

"While many debate the efficacy of anti-virus software for Mac, given the dearth of viruses and malware for the platform, Macs running Windows using Apple Boot Camp software or virtualization software like VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop are indeed vulnerable to Windows-based viruses, malware and other threats," says the report.

It's quite true, nonetheless...

According to the Yahoo News report, the package contains Norton AntiVirus 2008 for Windows and Norton AntiVirus 11 for Mac. The almost identical twins are intended to work with Intel-based Macs who have both Apple's Mac OS X and Microsoft's Windows running on their computers. And yes, it is perfectly compatible with Leopard.

As Symantec confirms, Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection makes its own updates in the background periodically, with scanning and cleaning downloaded files, and e-mail attachments also being performed automatically.

Norton AntiVirus Dual Protection also includes performance and engine improvements which should provide better compatibility, better resource usage and faster system startup, according to Symantec.

Mac system requirements: Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later.
Windows system requirements: Windows XP SP2 or Vista.

TAGS:

Norton | Symantec | antivirus | malware | Mac OS X

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