> Does my Mac need extra protection?
i’ve just bought my daughter a new macBook air. does she need antivirus protection beyond what’s built in to in macOS?
She would probably be wise to have some, but the most important initial step is performing a risk assessment, however informal. What will her Mac be used for? What will she browse? Is she likely to fall prey to phishing attacks? Will she only use apps from the Mac App Store, or elsewhere?
macOS Mojave includes basic protection against malware, but it may be insufficient for someone who’ll use apps from outside the store, or inadvertently open a malicious link on a website or in an email.
Reputable third–party protection such as Malwarebytes (malwarebytes.com/mac), Sqwarq’s DetectX (sqwarq.com/detectx), and Sophos products (sophos.com) add a valuable additional layer, provided they and their data files are kept up to date, which often requires you to take out a support subscription.
Anti–malware products from the Mac App Store are unlikely to do the job thoroughly, given strict limits imposed on apps sold there.
Those provide good general cover for normal use. Ancillary and specialist tools are also worth considering if your daughter is likely to be at particular risk. For example, will she need to visit high–risk websites overseas as part of her studies? Objective– See’s (bit.ly/mfobjsee) free tools may help provide extra protection, handling ransomware, seemingly innocent apps that phone home, and more.