Our test machine was a 2017 MacBook Air with a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i5 CPU and approximately 54GB of data stored on a 128GB SSD. Performance and system impactĪvast Free Mac Security had a moderate impact on system performance, which we assessed by running our custom Excel VLOOKUP benchmark test, which matches 60,000 names and addresses on a spreadsheet. However, Avast Free Mac Security doesn't have any of the extra features offered by paid competitors, such as parental controls, a VPN service, firewalls or webcam blockers. Not only does Avast scan activity on your hard drive and web browsers, but it also monitors POP3 and IMAP email clients, including Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Postbox and Airmail, and scans email attachments as well as email messages.Īvast monitors your computer and its network connections in the background, scans new files upon installation and lets you schedule scans. If you're wary of sites that monitor your actions, the Avast browser extension also displays a counter badge that tallies the number of activity trackers found in a website and provides an additional option to block social network-based tracking. Similar flags will appear next to search results. The Avast extension appears as a button that is green when you're safe and red if a site is potentially harmful. Security and privacy featuresĪvast Free Mac Security includes Avast's Online Security browser extension, which automatically installs itself in Chrome unless you opt out, while Firefox provides a confirmation prompt to make sure you approve the extension. Specifically, it found three email messages in my old, inactive, Outlook database that contained links to phishing websites. Of all the Mac antivirus programs we tested, Avast Free Mac Security was the only one that flagged items already on our system as threats. However, it failed to match Bitdefender, Kaspersky and Norton 360 Deluxe on the AV-Test study, in which all three earned 100% scores. That means Avast tied with Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac on the AV-Comparatives test (both hit 100%). Results from German lab AV-Test were less consistent: 100% of Mac malware was detected by Avast in June 2018 and June 2019, but Avast caught only 96.3% of malware in December 2018. It stopped 100% of malware in tests conducted by Austrian lab AV-Comparatives in July 2018 and June 2019. Antivirus detectionĪvast Free Mac Security's on-demand malware-scanning engine has a mixed record in recent lab tests. It performs system protection scanning in the background, permits both on-demand and scheduled scans, and can scan your router to protect you against DNS hijacking and other threats. It also uses its artificial-intelligence system to apply lessons from its user base to train its software.Īvast also thwarts PC malware on Mac, to prevent it from spreading on networks, and scans unopened ZIP files. Antivirus protectionĪvast Free Mac Security keeps Macs free of malware using traditional signature-based detection by unpacking Mac-specific file formats and scanning them for malicious content. It supports Macs running any version of macOS, as long as they have 128MB of RAM and 750MB of available disk space. Our Web Shield and Mail Shield combine to check the vast majority of incoming data from the Internet, while File Shield scans all programs stored and executed from your hard drive.Īvast Free Mac Security is free. Avast Mac Security offers three shields and on-demand scanning. Detects and removes malware and exposes security vulnerabilities in your Wi-Fi network. Avast Free Mac Security costs and what's coveredĪvast Security for Mac Essential free security for everything important on your Mac. At the end of the day, though, Avast's Mac malware protection rate isn't quite as good as its competitors', which is the most important part of antivirus software. The one major perk of Avast Free Mac Security is that it can identify attacks in your email inbox, a feature that we'd like to see in all Mac antivirus services. Avast Free Mac Security| Optimize, clean & speed up my PC| Avast, Avast Mac. Free Download of Avast Antivirus 2017 for Mac OS X, Best Mac Antivirus 2017: Free and Paid Security Software for Mac. What's new in v12.6 Fixed wrong chest item delete confirm message text (thx for the report - Avast Mac Security 2016-deleting virus chest items nets 'restore' Added the Avast Call Blocker application (iOS) to tools. Fixed crashing full system scans (Pro & Business versions).Macs were more immune to malware threats in the past, but their increasing popularity and greater market share have made them a hot new target for hackers. As is the case with most free software, it does an OK job and - like popular free-to-play games - aims to pull money from your pockets after it's installed. Avast Free Mac Security doesn't break a lot of new ground.
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