No, you don’t need to use Mac antivirus software, until you do. With ClamXav, free and built with open-source technology, the opportunity cost of running Mac antivirus is essentially zero and it is marvelously customizable. Install it, run it — here’s a ClamXav update — and keep fresh.

• ClamXav 2.6.2 (download)
— ClamAV engine updated 0.98.1
— Added ability to force engine re-installation by holding option/alt key at launch
— Added ability to download additional signatures from ClamXav.com for greater protection

Want automagical ClamXav updates? Then, by all means, get it on the Mac App Store.

And, for you hardcore Clam and ClamXav guys and gals, the standard caveats apply — 1.) If you have edited freshclam.conf and clamd.conf by hand, your old files are inside /tmp (compare the files as clamd.conf is different) and 2.) If you compile your own ClamAV, this requires the RunFreshclam tool.

For the rest of us, ClamXav will continue to just work, day after day finding nothing. Until the day it does find something…

Be prepared.

Related Posts:
— Eric Schmidt: Android More Secure than iPhone
— Mac Security: Flash Player 12 Mac, Java 7 Mac: Scores of Patches
— Mac Malware: Flashback Trojan Still Infects 22K Macs
— Fresh iTunes Phishing Scheme Spotted: ‘Tis the Season
— Adobe Reminds Users to Reset Adobe ID Password