Unfortunately, the invulnerability of MacOS to malware such as ransomware, Trojans and the like is and will remain just a rumor. The AV-TEST laboratory tested 4 security packages for companies and 10 protection packages for individual workstations in the laboratory against new and dangerous malware.
Again and again you read in the headlines that new malware also causes considerable damage to Macs. For example, attackers can slip through the browser, find a way through an application update, or end up in the Mac via email. After all, the statistics platform AV-ATLAS.org already knows almost 1 million different attackers for the Mac!
Mac solutions for businesses and individuals
The market offers many products to protect private Macs or work devices in the company. In the current test, AV-TEST examined 4 business solutions from Bitdefender, Crowdstrike, Sophos and Trellix. The test was run in March 2022 on the macOS version Monterey 12.2. The test included 10 packages for private users from Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Clario, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Norton, Protected.net and Trend Micro.
The results in the table show how well the security packages and solutions protect against a wave of attackers. But not only the protective effect of each product was checked. The system load and usability were also checked in the test. The last point is mainly the test for false alarms caused by incorrectly identified software. For each test section, a package or a solution can get up to 6 points. 18 points are the best value in the test.
In the Mac solutions for companies: provider Crowdstrike secures the full 18 points and the other 3 solutions very good 17,5 points. Some products are rewarded with a full 18 points for the single-user versions. 8 out of 10 achieve the best value and another 2 products achieve very good 17,5 points.
Very good test values
🔎 The best security packages for MacOS Monterey (Image: AV-TEST).
The test for the protective effect is of course one of the highlights of the test. Every enterprise product and solution must detect, quarantine, and delete hundreds of pieces of malware. In the packages for single users, 8 out of 10 packages do this without errors for all attackers: Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Clario, Kaspersky, Norton and Protected.net. Only Trend Micro has small problems with the recognition and achieves a very good 99 percent, F-Secure recognizes 98 percent. Thus, 9 of the 10 packages get the full 6 points and F-Secure still gets 5,5 points.
For enterprise solutions, Bitdefender and Trellix block all attackers 100 percent. Crowdstrike and Sophos have tiny issues - 99,5 percent each. All 4 packages get the full 6 points.
More at AV-TEST.org
About AV-TEST AV-TEST GmbH is an independent provider of services in the field of IT security and anti-virus research with a focus on the identification and analysis of the latest malware and its use in comprehensive comparative tests. The fact that the test data is up-to-date enables the quick-response analysis of new malware, the early detection of virus trends, and the investigation and certification of IT security solutions. The results of the AV-TEST Institute represent an exclusive information base and serve manufacturers for product optimization, specialist magazines for the publication of results and end customers for orientation in product selection.
The company AV-TEST has been operating in Magdeburg since 2004 and employs more than 30 people with profound specialist and practical experience. The laboratories are equipped with 300 client and server systems in which more than 2.500 terabytes of self-determined test data of harmful and harmless information are stored and processed. Further information can be found at https://www.av-test.org.