ClamXav Antivirus review

ClamXav is a free antivirus available for Mac. It's been developed starting from the well-known and appreciated Clam Av open-source antivirus engine, with the addition of a graphic interface. It's a very interesting and efficient antivirus for Mac, comparable to other freeware and commercial solutions developed by the major antivirus software companies in recent years, when Mac computers started becoming more popular.
Though most computers around are still Windows-based and most malicious software targets Windows system (more chances to strike home), as Mac computers have become more widely used, some specific malware for Mac has been detected.

Major features

The main interface of ClamXav and a manual update

ClamXav is freeware and its definitions are constantly updated. I've tested it on my iMac and the current version seems to have remarkably improved both performance and stability (it also solved a bug related to the download of definition updates). Compared to previous versions, a complete scan is performed in a relatively short time. ClamXav does well in this regard when compared to competitors like Sophos Antivirus. While ClamXav scanned my system I didn't notice remarkable performance decrease, though it may occasionally occur with larger files. The program interface is very stripped-back. In fact, by default, ClamXav doesn't monitor the computer in real-time and definition updates must be manually downloaded by the user. This configuration can be customized but, though the main functionalities (setup of the scan folders; definition updates; start, stop and pause a scan) are quite user-friendly, the same can't be said for the more advanced settings.

How to optimize the user experience 

Clicking on the Preferences button, you can customize several default settings.
The user can setup a custom quarantine folder to move infected files to, an alternative to deleting them (Fig. 1). The user can also activate the optional Sentry component to automatically monitor the computer in the background (Fig. 2). When Sentry detects a virus, it'll prompt the user to either delete it, quarantine it (if the user set up a quarantine folder) or ignore the alert. From Preferences it's also possible to schedule automatic updates (Fig. 3).

Fig. 1 - Quarantine options

Fig. 2 - Sentry setup (click to enlarge)

Fig. 3 - auto updates setup

Performance and detection capability

Thanks to Clam AV antivirus engine, ClamXav can detect both Windows- and Mac-related viruses based on virus definitions and heuristic algorithms. Though I've read some opposite opinions about it, in my case ClamXav did good, detecting malicious files hidden in my e-mail (probably some worms, see Fig. 4). During the scan, if the software detects a virus, a sound alert notifies the user and a red circle notification is displayed on the program icon in the Dock, showing the number of threats found (Fig.5).

Final considerations 

My final thoughts about this antivirus software can be summed up this way:

Pros

• For being a freeware, ClamXav is very reliable and stable because it's based on a prestigious and well-know open-source antivirus search engine. ClamXav detects most of the malware around, both for Windows and Mac.
• The latest version is much faster in scanning the system and the product is very reliable. If you choose to activate Sentry, ClamXav will monitor your Mac real-time, too, and you can make sure your software is always up-to-date, scheduling automatic updates from Preferences.

Cons

• ClamXav cannot clean infected files. The only available options are putting them in quarantine (if activated) or deleting them (Fig. 6)
• Advanced options aren't very user-friendly; if you want to customize the default configuration, you need to go through several windows, in a way that is sometimes overly complicated. 

For example, to activate and configure Sentry, you first need to add the folders you want scanned by clicking the "+" button and then activate the real time monitor selecting the option "Launch ClamXav Sentry when you log in to this computer"(see figure 2).
The same result could have been achieved way more easily by adding a button "Activate Real Time Protection" in the main program interface, like most antivirus programs do. To schedule automatic updates has equally unnecessary steps. Developers could have made more and better improvements to the user's experience.

Wrap up

ClamXav is very slim, fast and does what it's supposed to do. It’s highly customizable to meet different needs and most of all it's free. Though there are more complete solutions like Sophos Antivirus for Mac, it's a program worth trying. I personally am not big on having a resident antivirus monitoring my iMac because I don't think it's as needed as with Windows desktops, but I warmly recommend using programs like ClamXav. 

If you follow correct security procedures, accept files only from known sources, don't visit shady websites and don’t mess with P2P, warez, cracks, etc. you can be reasonably sheltered from malware.
Of course this doesn't mean you’re one hundred percent secure and that's why a software like ClamXav can be the right compromise between cost and security. 

Fig. 4 - Malware detected (click to enlarge)

Fig. 5- Desktop notification (click to enlarge)

Fig. 6 -Possible actions in regards to infected files  (click to enlarge)