ClamXav 1.0.8

ClamXav is a very useful tool, a freeware virus checker for Mac OS X. It uses a slightly modified version of the tried, tested, and very popular clamav open source antivirus engine as a back-end.
Back in the days before OS X, the number of viruses which attacked Macintosh users totalled somewhere between about 60 and 80. Today, the number of viruses actively attacking OS X users is...NONE! However, this doesnt mean we should get complacent about checking incoming email attachments or web downloads, for two reasons.
Firstly, theres no guarantee that we Mac users will continue to enjoy the status quo, but more importantly, the majority of the computing world use machines running MS Windows, for which an enormous quantity of viruses exist, so we must be vigilant in checking the files we pass on to our friends and colleagues etc.
For example, if youre a wise person and youve turned MS Offices macro support off then youre not going to notice that virus which is hiding inside this months edition of Extreme Ironing.doc which your friend sent you. If you then forward that document to a less wise person who has not turned off the macro support, then you have most likely just sent him a shiny new Pandoras Box with a sign saying "Open this end"!
Flippancy aside, Im sure you get the idea: check the file before opening and/or sending it on to someone else. This gives you the opportunity to avoid the file altogether or at least copy and paste any vital information into a new document and send that instead.
Dont forget, if you run VirtualPC you can still become infected and lose valuable data on your Mac even though technically youre running Windows inside a sandbox. VPC will run any application you tell it to, virus or no virus, it doesnt know the difference. You can protect yourself slightly by not using VPCs "shared folders", but thats a useful feature which you shouldnt have to be without.
NOTE : Must NOT be installed on Mac OS X 10.4 Server.
Enhancements:
- ClamAV 0.90.3 included
- Fixed an issue causing long delays at startup if using a newer engine than the one bundled with ClamXav