Sophos ships free anti-malware tool for Macs

By Ray Nicolini   Via www.9to5mac.com

If you worry in case viruses appear on the more-or-less virus proof Mac platform, then worry no more — there’s a reputable and free anti-virus solution available for you today, from the security boffins over at Sophos.

Sophos today began offering its Free Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac. This is based on the company’s enterprise security offering.

Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac provides automatic detection against existing and new threats for Mac OS X. The free software also incorporates strong disinfection capabilities, capable of removing malware infections that may already be present on the Mac computer.

The company notes that Macs don’t suffer too much from malware attacks, but adds, “While most businesses recognise the importance of protecting their Mac computers from malware threats, most home users do not,” said Chris Kraft, product management vice president at Sophos. “By offering free industrial-strength security to home users, we aim to protect Mac users against today’s and tomorrow’s Mac threats. Everyone knows that Macs are beautiful computers – Sophos wants to lend a hand to keep them that way.”

Mac users might benefit from the software’s ability to detect Windows and Mac viruses, worms, spyware and Trojans.

Technical Requirements:

- Mac with Intel or PowerPC processor
- 256 MB of memory
- 150 MB of available disk space
- Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
- Supports all Apple Mac hardware including iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and the new MacBook Air