Anti-virus Options
From Mac OS X Server FAQ
delmontrcn
Contents |
Email Scanning
If you need a good antivirus to take care of your e-mail, then ClamAV is right for you. It is free, open-source and very powerful, though a bit difficult to install. However, AFP548.com provides an excellent method to set up and make this software running.
Installing Virus and Spam protection
Free File Server Scanning
If you are just looking for a easy way to scan your file server or even client machines and the instructions seem over your head ClamXAV is a nice simple GUI utility for virus scanning based on ClamAV.
Commercial Products
The most frequently referred to on the list are:
On the macos-x-server list Sophos generally appears to get the highest ratings from existing customers.
Do I Need Antivirus?
The list seems to agree that mail scanning is a good idea but is divided over the need for scanning your OS X Server or clients. Some argue that because there are currently no known viruses for Mac OS X (as of Jan 2005) that investing in antivirus is a waste of time and money (unless your Mac file server is used by Windows computers). Others argue that it is good citizenship to scan all your files so you do not pass along infected files and good to be prepared for the potential future outbreak.
Scanning email can also be an effective way to reduce the amount of junk mail that shows in an end user's account. Additionally, since you may not control every machine that is on the receiving end of the email that passes through the server it is usually a good idea to enable the virus scanning on the mail server service to prevent a possible infection of your user's machines (who may not have up-to-date AV software on home machine, for example). However, you may notice a high CPU utilization which may slow down message delivery. If that is unacceptable you may wish to disable the virus scanning and run it on the client side.
