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The best MacOS antivirus software for home users

During December 2024 we evaluated 8 home user security products for MacOS Sonoma. We always used the most current version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on malware detection, false positives and performance. Further information on the compliance of this test with the AMTSO standard can be found here.

MacOS Sonoma: December 2024

ProducerProducerarrowsCertifiedCertifiedarrowsProtectionProtectionarrowsPerformancePerformancearrowsUsabilityUsabilityarrows
Avast Security 15.9›
AVG Antivirus 20.7›
Avira Security 2.3›
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac 10.2›
F-Secure Total 19.9›
Kaspersky Premium 25.0›
Norton Norton 360 24.11›
Protected.net TotalAV 5.9›
Producer

Producer

Certified

Certified

Protection

Protection

Performance

Performance

Usability

Usability

Evaluation based on a point system

All products can achieve a maximum of 6 points each in the three categories of protection, performance and usability. This means 18 points are the best possible test result.
At 10 points or higher, a product is awarded the AV-TEST seal of approval. Additional details ›

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All tested manufacturers – listed by year/month

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Throughout 2024, our team diligently collected and analyzed data on cyber incidents across Europe, with a particular focus on geopolitical hotspots and regional trends. The annual review of 2024 in its current form highlights the rapidly evolving landscape of cyber threats, emphasizing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and ransomware attacks due to their significant impact and increasing sophistication. These forms of cyber incidents have not only become more prevalent but also more targeted, creating complex challenges for cybersecurity defenses and highlighting the need for advanced countermeasures.

Cyber incidents in numbers in the year 2024

March 19, 2025 | Research

 
In 2024, there was a steady flow of IT security news reporting on how ransomware and info stealers attacked PCs and servers, and encrypted or extracted data. No matter how they ensued, they always ended up with a ransom demand. But could the attacks have been prevented? Can security software detect and fend off today's attackers? The latest ATP test provides answers to these questions, based on 26 security products for corporate users and consumer users. The Advanced Threat Protection test clearly shows how well the security solutions under Windows work and defend the systems. Because in the evaluation, the testers at AV-TEST use current malware samples in the area of ransomware and data stealers, unleashing the attackers on the systems, using the same state-of-the-art attack strategies and techniques. Some products were duped – others remained steadfast without exception.

ATP TEST: 26 security packages fend off ransomware and info stealers ...

February 13, 2025 | Antivirus for Windows

 
The Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) test goes considerably farther than traditional tests: It evaluates security products in 10 realistic scenarios involving ransomware and info stealers, which utilize or combine state-of-the-art attack techniques. In doing so, the ATP test analyzes whether the defensive measures hold up in each step – or where they fail. The 12 tested products for consumer users and corporate users, running on Windows 11, are required to hold their own against techniques such as COM hijacking, reflective code loading, decoupling and low entropy encoding. Many products were up to the task, but not all. In some cases, the last firewall failed, and data was encrypted, stolen, or both.

Ransomware: 12 security packages and solutions for Win11 in the...

January 17, 2025 | Antivirus for Windows

 
Our test lab subjected 14 protection products for consumers and corporate users to hundreds of extremely dangerous MacOS malware attacks on systems running Sonoma 14.6. The lab put all the security packages through tests in the categories of protection, performance and usability. And it was no easy task, as the various malware samples used in the test are some of the most malicious ones when it comes to current cyber threats. The products evaluated by the lab achieved top scores, with only a few exceptions, which leads to a noticeable increase in the security of MacOS systems.

Test: Malware protection on MacOS Sonoma 14.6

December 10, 2024 | Antivirus for macOS