Is my Anti-Virus Program valid?

[DMartin9N-2N]

My computer is an IMAC, bought new several years ago from Best Buy. My anti-virus program is Webroot, from the same store. Lately, I have been seeing screens pop up that look bogus to me, especially when I am using Faceb---. How can I tell if the anti-virus program is working? BTW, the brochure with my Webroot is dated 2013. Any assistance appreciated!

 

[stdsch40]

I would not trust anything that comes over the internet at all. You need a way to verify 'real and true' which unfortunately is now impossible.
An anti-virus program is of no help, vpn's are bogus too. Big tech has us all in their vice grip. Verify by phone if you must. Go only to trusted and moderated sites. The era of the internet being useful is near over. Sorry how it turned out, happened to newspapers first, then radio, then TV, now internet. Its all suspect.

 

[trackrat]

have MacAfee they tried to shaft me on renewal thought i would never get it straight

 

[1948CaseVAI]

Virus protection needs to be updated at a minimum weekly. If you are not getting updates it is not working.

 

[DMartin9N-2N]

Thanks for inputs so far, I will check again tomorrow!
. BTW, I will try to see if Webroot has anything about updating itself, should be something in the dialog boxes that are part of it....

 

[old_bc]

My computer is an IMAC, bought new several years ago from Best Buy. My anti-virus program is Webroot, from the same store. Lately, I have been seeing screens pop up that look bogus to me, especially when I am using Faceb---. How can I tell if the anti-virus program is working? BTW, the brochure with my Webroot is dated 2013. Any assistance appreciated!

This might help.
To update Webroot software, open the application and look for an option to check for software or version updates within the "My Account" or settings menu, often found by clicking a gear icon. Webroot software usually performs automatic updates, including threat definition updates, for continuous protection. You can also view past updates by checking the Release Notes on the Webroot website.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

I have used the AVAST free version anti virus program for many years , it continually asks you to upgrade but if you can ignore this it is a very competent service ; and of course , it's free .

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I've been fine using Malwarebytes free version.

 

[DaveBN]

Malware is not antivirus, it's for malware.
You should get an annual charge from Best Buy if your webroot is still active. Go to Best Buy and ask them.
Dave

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I would not trust anything that comes over the internet at all. You need a way to verify 'real and true' which unfortunately is now impossible.
An anti-virus program is of no help, vpn's are bogus too. Big tech has us all in their vice grip. Verify by phone if you must. Go only to trusted and moderated sites. The era of the internet being useful is near over. Sorry how it turned out, happened to newspapers first, then radio, then TV, now internet. Its all suspect.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

My computer is an IMAC, bought new several years ago from Best Buy. My anti-virus program is Webroot, from the same store. Lately, I have been seeing screens pop up that look bogus to me, especially when I am using Faceb---. How can I tell if the anti-virus program is working? BTW, the brochure with my Webroot is dated 2013. Any assistance appreciated!

Seriously, it would be helpful if you provided more than just a vague "look bogus." What do these pop ups say specifically? Can you get a screen shot? Have you tried to look up the messages you see with google?

 

[will-max dairy]

No.

The moment it is published...it is obsolete.

 

[SkipperII]

have MacAfee they tried to shaft me on renewal thought i would never get it straight

My techy nephew joeks that, McAffee is worse than having the virus!!

 

[TheBartman47]

My techy nephew joeks that, McAffee is worse than having the virus!!

I am an IT professional and agree. McAffee itself IS a virus. And Norton is nearly just as bad.

 

[trackrat]

then whose anti-virus is good

 

[TheBartman47]

then whose anti-virus is good

Malwarebytes is pretty good general-purpose protection. For Windows computers, the built-in Windows Defender is actually decent, and probably good enough if you know not to be clicking on phishing email links and other seemingly obvious things.

 

[old_bc]

I am an IT professional and agree. McAffee itself IS a virus. And Norton is nearly just as bad.

I respectfully disagree with you. I have been using Norton for years with no problems. I use Norton 360 and the paid version of Malwarebytes.
I do agree that McAffee is a mess.

 

[tech5201]

My computer is an IMAC, bought new several years ago from Best Buy. My anti-virus program is Webroot, from the same store. Lately, I have been seeing screens pop up that look bogus to me, especially when I am using Faceb---. How can I tell if the anti-virus program is working? BTW, the brochure with my Webroot is dated 2013. Any assistance appreciated!

D,
The macOS does not need any anti-virus software.

Webroot is difficult to uninstall.
Have your IT source delete it or research how-to.

AdGuard has an excellent ad blocker that is a simple & free Safari extension.

I run the free Malwarebytes scan occasionally, but it's never found anything.

 

[Non-farmer]

The macOS does not need any anti-virus software.

False. The only major operating system that doesn't need anti-virus protection is Linux.

For more than a decade, Apple sold the claim that their system was bulletproof. But for the last several years, that claim has been thoroughly debunked. OSX was never bulletproof (in spite of being derived from Linux), it was simply a case that no one was shooting at them because their market share was too small. Once they became more popular, they were targeted successfully by virus authors.

The only question that remains is - were they dishonest about it, or just ignorant?

https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/can-macs-get-viruses/

 

[will-max dairy]

This is why we should all follow our IT department's advice and use onedrive and SharePoint for everything. The cloud is more secure than a physical storage device.