Antivirus/Malware-I have been using the free Malware and free Sophos-what are your recommendations here? And do you recommend the paid versions of these?
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I do not recommend any antivirus for the Mac. Bad things happen on your Mac when you allow it to. In other words, in order for your Mac to become "infected with malware" most of the time it requires that you grant permission for it to be installed. I see the issue of people falling for the tricks out there every day. Saw it twice today. Bottom line is that when prompted for your password you should be very cautious and understand why your computer is asking for your password.

I have a dedicated section to this question on my answers site that can be found here.

scams | Answers | Sells Consulting
viruses | Answers | Sells Consulting

For more details on how to avoid the scams that are out there I'd be happy to go over things with you via remote session any time. I work with a variety of people across the US remotely using a piece of software called Zoom.