A Guide to Stay Protected from Mac Viruses

Sad but true, Mac’s security is being compromised by viruses. Since ages, Windows has been a personal favorite of these malicious attackers, but in recent years Mac seems to have caught the unwanted attention.

Worried? Don’t be, we bring to you a complete guide to prevent yourself from being a victim and remove the infection. In this blog, we will focus on malware and viruses.

What is malware?

Malware is a malicious software, which is disguised as a legitimate one. This makes it different from other viruses. It can get into your system through a website advert, an email which may trick you into installing a program or other means.

Once installed, it starts to gather your personal information like bank, credit card and other financial details to share with other nefarious individuals.

To make things trickier, often mac malware(s) is disguised as antivirus or antimalware software. Hackers take over a legitimate website and redirect you to a fake one which pretends to scan your Mac. In doing so, it makes you believe that a malicious software is detected (which is a big lie!) and convinces the user to download the malicious program. It gets worse when it asks user to enter the credit card details to fix errors.

Also Read: How To Get Rid Of Malware On Mac

Avoid being a victim

Most important, never enter your card details to remove a threat, even if a program or website claims to fix your machine don’t make this mistake. You don’t need to pay to eradicate mac malware. Also, if you receive any anonymous call, which claims that they have spotted a malicious program on your machine don’t trust them, disconnect the phone. It’s another way to lure you.

This is all about what you should not do. Let’s discuss about what you should do? For that, follow the steps below:

1. Immediately exit the web browser if you receive any such message by pressing Command and Q.
2. Head over to the Downloads folder and delete all unknown downloads or files.
3. Empty the Trash by choosing ‘Empty Trash’ option from the context menu.

If you assume that your system is already compromised, follow the following steps:

1. Check the name of the opened app.
2. Next, quit the app window.
3. Now open the Utilities folder by pressing (Command-Shift-U).
4. Next, open Activity Monitor and choose All Processes.
5. Look up for the app in the step 1 or for an unknown app and Quit Process.
6. Open the Applications folder look for the app you just stopped the process for and drag it to the Trash.
7. Lastly, empty the Trash.

How to guard your Mac machine

Hope you have successfully been able to remove suspicious software from your Mac. To ensure that your machine doesn’t become victim in future, use the following tips.

1. Always keep your Mac up to date. To check and download updates open the App Store app and click Update All.
2. Go to System Preferences and click App Store to turn on automatic updates. While doing so ensure both Install macOS Updates and Install System Data Files and Security Updates are selected.
3. Check your system’s security and ensure that only apps from trusted developers are downloaded. Go to System Preferences > Security and Privacy > General. Make sure option under, ‘Allow Apps Download From’ is set to either Mac App Store or Mac App Store and Identified Developers. If it’s not, click on the Lock icon, enter your password and change it to the above-mentioned options.
4. Always download software from either Mac App Store or from trusted developers.
5. Install Mac antivirus software.

These steps will help you Mac stay protected and remove the infections. However, it is advisable to be cautious rather than worry later about an infected system.

Meta: If you suspect your Mac is compromised follow these simple steps to remove them. This the simplest way to stay protected.