ESET Cyber Security for Mac review, manual and guides

ESET Antivirus for Mac^[1] is developed by a cybersecurity company ESET.

The IT security company ESET was founded back in 1992 and is headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia. The company is one of the leaders in the cybersecurity industry and develops advanced, next-gen antivirus and firewall products.^[2]

The cybersecurity vendor is known for its innovative, award-winning ESET detection technology and other security solutions for home and business users. ESET has been awarded to the best Slovak company three times already.^[3]

The company develops security, privacy and optimization tools across all the major operating systems including Windows PCs, Macs, Android and iOS devices.

Today the company has more than 110 million home and business customers around the world.

When it comes to ESET Internet security and antivirus products for macOS, users can choose from three different packages, including ESET Cyber Security, ESET Cyber Security Pro, and ESET.

All of the packages include award-winning Antivirus and Antispyware protection, an Anti-Phishing system, Small System Footprint and more.

ESET Cyber Security is the entry-level security package and the cheapest tier from ESET range for Macs. It starts at $39.99 per year for a single license or $59.00 to protect three devices.

ESET Cyber Security for Mac is a Fast and powerful antivirus for your Mac. Award-winning ESET detection technology gives you fast, powerful anti-malware protection for your Mac, whether you’re surfing, working or gaming online.

Test results

We tested the ESET Cyber Security package for Mac for about two weeks on our test Apple MacBook Airs 13-Inch. The installation and setup are simple and easy. To get the protection started did not take longer than other similar products.

Antivirus protection

The company applies traditional antivirus defenses, including traditional digital signature matching and heuristic monitoring. In addition, by default, ESET Cyber Security connects with ESET LiveGrid online analysis engine.

In order to test the software, we had some infected and malicious files installed on our test Mac.

Once installed, we performed a smart ESET scan which detected most of the virus and malware samples installed. To be sure, be rescanned the device using the full initial scan, which detected all of the malware.

In addition, we wanted to compare our results to independent testing labs, such as AV-TEST or AV-Comparatives. However, the independent testing labs only tested ESET products for Windows and Android devices.^[4]

ESET Cyber Security for Mac also includes Malware Protection Online which is enabled by default. What we really liked that the protections against malware-hosting URLs and fraudulent URLs is not limited to a particular browser and detects a dangerous URLs on any browser.

Additional features

ESET Cyber Security for Mac offers an entry-level feature set which provides the essentials of the security.

The features include:

• Antivirus and Antispyware protect users from various threats such as viruses, rootkits, and spyware.
• Anti-Phishing prevents attempts to acquire sensitive user information.
• Small System Footprint that leaves more power to frequently used programs and extends the lifetime of hardware.
• Removable Media Control features block unknown CDs, USBs, and other media to prevent unauthorized copying of your private data.
• Presentation Mode disallows pop-ups during presentations, videos and other full-screen activities.
• Cloud-Powered Scanning speeds up scans.
• Automatic Update delivers constant level of protection.
• Free Customer Support in a local language.

As you can see, the entry-level package only covers the essentials. If you require more features, such as Firewall, Parental Control, Anti-theft, Protection for Mobiles and Tablets, and Protection for Windows and Linux you have to choose a more expensive security suite from ESET.

System-performance impact

ESET Cyber Security for Mac works quietly in the background. We did not notice any performance hits, lags or slowdowns. In addition, even during the scans, the system was impacted by a minimum.

In addition, customers also have good reviews when it comes to system-performance impact.

I use ESET Antivirus on my PC and Mac at home, work and traveling. It works quietly and behind the scenes. Since switching to ESET several years ago, I’ve not had any intrusions to my machines; a problem I had with several other big-name programs.

Scanning performance

ESET Cyber Security for Mac offers users various types of scans including a smart scan, custom scan, in-depth scan, scan removable media and repeat the most recent scan.

The smart scan took us about 20-25 minutes to complete and it was pretty accurate and informative.

The full scan took about 40 minutes. What we really liked, is that the program does not slow down the Mac or have another negative impact on a system.

ESET Cyber Security offers users to schedule a quick scan at user logon and after any signature update, check for new updates at user logon once per hour. Users have an ability to add own scheduled scans and updates whenever. In addition, it is possible to run daily, weekly scans or at a user-defined interval. As you can see, ESET offers much more scanning settings than other antivirus packages.

Customer Support

ESET Cyber Security for Mac offers free customer support via email or phone in a local language. In addition, the company has a very informative support page at eset.com that includes quick links, FAQs, community forums and more.

User interface

ESET Cyber Security for Mac has a very simple and clean interface. The interface has a side menu bar that includes the main features, such as home, computer scan, update, setup, tools, and help. Users can perform scans or access any feature quickly and easily.

The final verdict

ESET Cyber Security for Mac offers users advanced antivirus protection, quick and flexible scans and settings with almost zero impact on a system. The entry-level package offers security essentials for those, who do not require many extra features but need a reliable and trustworthy security application.