F-Secure Safe (for Mac)

Main Window

Like F-Secure’s Windows antivirus, F-Secure Safe (for Mac) features an uncluttered main window with pastel blues and greens on a white background. A left rail menu offers quick access to feature areas.

Tools

The Tools page is where you launch a scan or set preferences. You can also turn the firewall that’s built into macOS on or off.

Choose Device Type

From the online My F-Secure dashboard, you can extend protection to other devices running macOS, Windows, iOS, or Android.

Scanning for Malware

F-Secure scans for both macOS-specific malware and malware that’s aimed at Windows. In testing, a full scan finished quickly.

Harmful Site Blocked

The antivirus steers your browser away from malware-hosting URLs and from phishing websites. Here it has blocked a fake banking site.

Content Filter

You configure F-Secure Safe’s cross-platform parental control from the My F-Secure console by creating a profile for each child and associating that profile with the child’s devices or user accounts. The content filter can block access to pages matching 15 categories.

Time Scheduler

Parents can set a daily cap on device use for weekdays and a different cap for weekends. Time limits aren’t cumulative, so a kid who runs out of time on one device could just switch to another.

Bedtime

Many parental control systems let parents define a schedule for device or internet use on a weekly grid. F-Secure simply defines bedtime, one span for weekdays and one span for weekends.

Family Rules

Your child can open F-Secure for a clear summary of the Family Rules that you defined in the My F-Secure console.

Content Filtered

When F-Secure blocks access to a website, it identifies the content category that triggered the block. There’s a button to allow access, but doing so requires an administrator password.

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My 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.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

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