ESET Cyber Security for Mac - PCMag Middle East

Despite years of playing catch-up in security, Windows remains a more vulnerable target for malware than macOS. That doesn’t mean Macs aren’t also a target, though. You need an antivirus app for your Mac to guard against phishing, malicious downloads, and cross-platform threats. ESET Cyber Security aims to fill that role with a combination of strong malware detection, advanced configuration options, and a relatively affordable price. One independent lab backs up its effectiveness, and the software includes some uncommon extras—such as an integrated firewall and device control—that will appeal to technically inclined users. However, despite these strengths, heavyweight competitors like Bitdefender Antivirus and Norton AntiVirus Plus continue to offer more consistently excellent lab performance and a better balance of features, making them our Editors' Choice winners. How Much Does ESET Cyber Security Cost? Like ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Cyber Security costs $39.99 per year for one license and $5 per year for each additional license, up to a maximum of five. In fact, your licenses for this antivirus and NOD32 are interchangeable. ESET’s pricing is on the low side for antivirus software. G Data Antivirus and Trend Micro Antivirus cost about the same for a single license. One license for Bitdefender, Intego Mac Internet Security, or Webroot Essentials costs $49.99, a price that would get you three ESET licenses. You pay $59.99 for one Norton license or for five ESET licenses. ESET Cyber Security works with macOS versions back to 11 (Big Sur), the same as Malwarebytes Premium Security and McAfee Total Protection. Mac users typically stay up to date, but if you’re stuck with an antique macOS version, perhaps due to old hardware, you might consider Bitdefender, ClamXAV, or K7 AntiVirus, which extend support back to 10.10 (Yosemite). Similar Products Our Current Picks for The Best Mac Antivirus Software for 2026 Bitdefender Antivirus Plus for Mac 4.5 Outstanding See It Read Our Review Norton AntiVirus Plus for Mac 4.5 Outstanding $29.99 for 1st Year at Norton See It Read Our Review Avast One Gold for Mac 4.0 Excellent $83.88 for 5-Devices on 1-Year Plan (first year) at AVAST 179.99 Save 53% See It Read Our Review ClamXAV for Mac 3.5 Good Visit Site at ClamXAV See It Read Our Review Intego Mac Internet Security 3.5 Good $24.99 at Intego $49.99 Save $25.00 $24 at Intego Read Our Review MacKeeper 3.5 Good $74.52 Per Year at MacKeeper See It Read Our Review Malwarebytes Premium Security for Mac 3.5 Good See It Read Our Review Total Defense Essential Anti-Virus for Mac 3.5 Good $39.99 at Total Defense $59.99 Save $20.00 $39 at Total Defense Read Our Review Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac 3.5 Good $29.95 at Trend Micro $39.95 Save $10.00 $29 at Trend Micro Read Our Review Webroot Essentials for Mac 3.5 Good $18.00 at Webroot $39.99 Save $21.99 $18 at Webroot Read Our Review McAfee Total Protection for Mac 3.5 Good $34 at McAfee Read Our Review Setup and Interface Installation on the Mac I use for testing went quickly and didn't require a restart. As with the Windows edition, you must decide during installation whether to participate in ESET's LiveGrid online analysis system. You also must actively choose whether the antivirus should detect lower-risk PUAs (potentially unwanted applications). There's no predefined setting, but if you’re smart, you’ll turn on PUA detection. After an initial antivirus signature update, your protection is fully active. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) For many years, ESET’s antivirus protection for Windows featured a picture of the company’s serene blue-eyed cyborg mascot on the main window. On the Mac, two large, monitor-shaped icons represented the security of your computer and your web and email protection, with quick links to launch a scan or update available below. The cyborg has retired, leaving a half-empty main screen for the Windows antivirus. The Mac edition’s display is also sparser now—the default Overview page is practically empty. All Mac users currently see a green banner with the words “You are protected,” along with a note below indicating the date of the last update. The banner turns red to alert you to serious security problems or yellow if some configuration items require your attention. A simple left-side menu completes the display, with items for Overview, Scan, Protections, Update, Tools, and Help & Support. Scanning and Scheduling Whenever you install a new antivirus, run a full scan to detect and remove any malware that may be present. On my test Mac, ESET ran its in-depth scan automatically without my intervention. Checking the logs revealed that it took 62 minutes. That’s just a bit longer than the current average of 48 minutes. In theory, one in-depth scan after installation should be sufficient; after that, real-time protection takes over. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) The custom scan allows you to select specific drives or folders, with options to scan all removable drives, all network drives, and more. You can also select Smart Scan or In-Depth Scan. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) Many Mac antivirus programs skip the concept of scheduled scans, assuming that real-time protection should handle any malware that appears after the initial full scan. Bitdefender and F-Secure Internet Security are among those that don't bother with scheduling. Those that do let you schedule scans typically offer a simple choice of daily, weekly, or monthly scans. ESET schedules a weekly scan automatically, with an option to add additional scans. For each scheduled event, you choose a scan profile, such as Smart Scan or In-depth, and further refine where and how the scan should proceed. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) Like most Mac antivirus programs, ESET aims to eliminate Windows malware that may be lurking on your macOS devices. True, there's no direct danger of infection by a Windows threat, but your Mac could become a carrier. I copied the current Windows malware sample set to a USB drive for a simple test. ESET requested permission to scan the drive when I mounted it, and the scan removed 84% of the samples. That’s well above the 78% median score achieved by Sophos Home Premium, but getting to full elimination of threats was a bit awkward. ESET showed quite a few samples with the status “could not clean,” which required me to tediously set the status for each item to Delete. Even then, it did not delete those files from the drive. I opened Quarantine, selected all the files, and deleted them, but the files remained on the thumb drive. Finally, I noticed that most files on the drive showed a size of zero bytes. When I deleted those, the results were as expected. Whew! Others have detected and eliminated a considerably higher number of Windows malware samples. Webroot, at the top, eliminated 99% of them. Avast One Basic and McAfee came close, with 97% and 96% respectively. Lab Test Scores For my Windows antivirus reviews, I supplement hands-on testing with test results from five independent testing labs. If the results don't jibe, I give more weight to the lab results. Results from the two labs that cover macOS antivirus software are even more important because my hands-on testing tools are strictly for Windows. After a hiatus of several years, ESET’s Mac antivirus is back on the testing rolls at AV-Test Institute. This lab rates antivirus apps on three criteria: protection, performance, and usability. An app loses usability points if it wrongly identifies a valid app or website as dangerous. With six points possible in each category, the maximum possible score is 18 points. Like most apps in the latest report from this lab, ESET received a perfect 18 points. Get Our Best Stories! Stay Safe With the Latest Security News and Updates Sign up for our SecurityWatch newsletter for our most important privacy and security stories delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for our SecurityWatch newsletter for our most important privacy and security stories delivered right to your inbox. Email Sign Me Up By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. ESET also received certification from AV-Comparatives in the past, but it doesn’t have recent scores. This lab rates apps based on the percentage of macOS-specific malware they detect, with secondary scores for the detection of PUAs and of Windows malware. Avast, AVG AntiVirus, and Norton scored 100% with this lab, and these three also earned 18 points from AV-Test. They’re the big winners based on lab scores, but ESET’s perfect score from one lab is still impressive. Well over half the products I track don’t appear in reports from either lab. Phishing Protection When it comes to protecting against attacks that come in via the web or email, ESET works behind the scenes, independent of any email client or browser. It blocks any malware that tries to enter the system via POP3 or IMAP email and replaces dangerous web pages with a warning. You don't need a browser extension like you do with Avira Free Antivirus, Bitdefender, McAfee, and many others. On Windows systems, I challenge the antivirus with a selection of recently collected malware-hosting URLs, typically just a couple of days old. The antivirus gets credit for blocking access to the URL or for detecting and eliminating the malware download. That test doesn't translate well to the Mac because all the sample URLs relate to Windows malware. On the other hand, phishing sites aren't tied to any specific platform. If you log on to a fake page masquerading as PayPal from the browser in your internet-aware easy chair, you've lost your account just as thoroughly as if you made that mistake on a Mac or a Windows box. Sure, if you're sharp, you can spot the frauds yourself, but it's nice to have some help from your antivirus. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) The phishing protection test starts when I scour the web for newly reported possible frauds. I make sure to include plenty that haven't been analyzed and blocklisted yet. Using a hand-coded test utility, I simultaneously launch these URLs in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, relying on each browser's built-in phishing protection. For a Windows-based test, I use that same utility to test the antivirus; on the Mac, it’s a matter of copying and pasting URLs into the browser. In past years, ESET has consistently performed poorly on this test. Its 36% detection rate when last tested came in lowest among any Mac antivirus apps I’ve tested, though it beats ESET’s 10% score in the review before that. Whatever problem caused those dreadful scores appears to have been fixed. This time around, ESET diverted the browser from 100% of the verified phishing pages, just as ESET’s Windows antivirus did. ESET isn’t the only app to pull a perfect score in this test. AVG, Avira, McAfee, Norton, and Webroot all reached 100% in their own most recent phishing protection tests. A Simple Set of Tools When I last reviewed this app, its Tools page was skimpy. You could view and manage quarantined malware items, as well as view log files from various security components, including computer scans, firewall events, and device control (discussed below). That was it. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) In the current version, the list of running applications is now available again. Similar to the Windows feature, it relies on ESET's LiveGrid database to display the risk level and number of users for each process, as well as how long ago ESET first detected the process. On the Mac, you also get a summary of internet usage by each app, divided into uploads and downloads. Secrets in the Settings Click Protections in the menu, and you reach basic settings that turn top-level security components on and off, much like clicking Setup in the Windows edition. But if you choose Settings from the Mac edition’s system menu, you get a near-overwhelming collection of choices. Don’t be frightened off by the nearly two dozen icons on the Settings page. You can ignore most of them, but a few of ESET’s advanced features are most easily accessible through Settings. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) Many security companies reserve firewall protection for their security suite apps, but ESET integrates it directly into its antivirus. You can configure it by launching from Settings or by finding it in the Network Access section of the Protections page. By default, it allows all outbound connections but blocks inbound connection requests unless they’re connecting to Apple applications. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) With many personal firewalls or firewall components, you have the option to enable an interactive mode for application permissions. When an unfamiliar program attempts a connection, the firewall asks what to do. With ESET, you do have the ability to define permissions on a per-app basis, but it’s a manual process. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) Each time you connect to a new network, ESET asks whether it’s private or public. Public is the default, and comes with restrictions. If you set a network to private, ESET becomes more lenient, allowing inbound connections. And if you make a mistake classifying a network, you can easily correct it by selecting Network Profiles from Settings. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) New since my last review, ESET on the Mac includes the full, powerful, complicated device control system found in its Windows counterpart, with some limitations. The Windows version lets you choose from 10 device types, including CD/DVD, Bluetooth devices, imaging devices, and more. On the Mac, you can only control removable drives and CD/DVD drives. (Credit: ESET/PCMag) I was surprised to find that device control comes with a predefined rule in place that blocks all access to removable drives. Enable device control, and that rule takes effect. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out why my test Mac no longer recognized any removable drives. In addition to blocking all access, you can make a device type read-only. Unlike the Windows version, there’s no option to just warn that use of an unapproved device will be logged. Just as on Windows, you can define different permissions for individual devices. The most likely use case would be to disable the use of removable drives, but create exceptions for one or more known and trusted devices. You can also tie a rule to a specific user or user group. For example, on a family computer, you could ban the use of removable drives in general but make an exception for yourself. Choosing a user is significantly easier than on Windows. As a tech nerd, I’m impressed with this feature, and I might well use it as I’ve described above. But for the average consumer, it’s probably too complex and technical. If you have strong technical skills, give it a try. Final Thoughts (Credit: ESET) ESET Cyber Security for Mac 3.5 Good ESET Cyber Security has improved since my last review. It has certification from one testing lab, it aced my hands-on phishing protection test, and its advanced device control component now rivals its Windows equivalent. It’s worth a look, especially if you’re using ESET on your Windows PCs. However, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus and Norton AntiVirus Plus, both certified by two labs, remain our Editors’ Choice winners for macOS antivirus protection. GET IT NOW See It STILL ON THE FENCE? ESET Cyber Security for Mac Appears in This Story: ● The Best Mac Antivirus Software for 2026 About Our Expert Neil J. Rubenking Principal Writer, Security Experience When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces. Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link. In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions. Areas of Expertise Antivirus Malware Protection & Removal Ransomware Protection Security Suites Spyware Protection Latest By Neil J. Rubenking The Best Antispyware Software for 2026 The Best Security Suites for 2026 The Best Antivirus Software for 2026 Free vs. Paid Antivirus: Is Paying for Protection Really Worth It? The Best Identity Theft Protection Software for 2026 More from Neil J. Rubenking Read Full Bio