How to check for Malware/Spyware/Virus

[fergusor]

H guys,

I have a mid-2011 27" iMac that has recently started popping up with windows saying that I have malware. Now I'm not sure if these are official mac prompts or windows popping up from the site I'm looking at. I sometimes have to force quit Safari to be able to close the window.

Can someone let me know how I can scan or check my iMac for malware etc? I've never installed any sort of virus protection as I was told that iMac's don't need it.

Thanks for your help.
Richard.

 

[MacVidCards]

Avoid torrent and porn sites.

 

[loekf]

H guys,

I have a mid-2011 27" iMac that has recently started popping up with windows saying that I have malware. Now I'm not sure if these are official mac prompts or windows popping up from the site I'm looking at. I sometimes have to force quit Safari to be able to close the window.

Can someone let me know how I can scan or check my iMac for malware etc? I've never installed any sort of virus protection as I was told that iMac's don't need it.

Thanks for your help.
Richard.

Get Malwarebytes (formerly called The Safe Mac):

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

Don't think it's in the App store, so you might get a prompt it's a program from an internet source, but then go to Settings => Security & Privacy and click "open" and try again.

Did you install something like Mackeeper ? It's notorious malware or more adware. It has been described as a clean up tool for OSX, but in reality it:

- Changes you search engine in Safari to e.g. Yahoo
- Might redirect you to websites automatically
- Installs toolbars
- Shows regular popups suggesting there's something wrong with your iMac
- Might affect performance in general

Speaking for myself, I also have Avira (free) running in the background as virus scanner. Doesn't seem to affect performance too much. Coming from Windows PCs, it was too easy for me to rely on the general opinion that virus/malware doesn't exist for OSX and OSX has built-in protection. Well, Mackeeper is still allowed...

 

[loekf]

Avoid torrent and porn sites.

Too easy, just make sure you have Ghostery and Adblocker installed.

 

[Gogol]

Too easy, change your behavior.

 

[fergusor]

Thanks chaps. Just so you know I'm not visiting porn or torrent sites!!!!

Thanks loekf for the Malwarebytes suggestion, I've downloaded it and run it and it found three items to remove... much better than I was expecting.

So I think all the pop-ups that tell me I had an infection have been trying to get me to call or purchase their products.

Oh, and no I have never installed Mackeeper, and I won't after what you've said.

 

[Fishrrman]

For adware, use Malware Bytes Anti Malware for Mac.

Spyware and viruses?
I wouldn't worry about it, unless you are engaging in behavior that gives you specific concern
-to- be worrying about it...

 

[Cape Dave]

I use Malwarebytes and Bitdefender for scans. Never an issue. Sweet!

 

[rkaufmann87]

I use Malwarebytes and Bitdefender for scans. Never an issue. Sweet!

Cape Dave,

Unfortunately both apps are worthless and will likely cause problems on your system at some point. My recommendation would be to follow the developers instructions for uninstalling both and uninstall them. OS X does NOT require third party antivirus, cleaning or other "maintenance" utilities to run well. There are no viruses for OS X and very little malware, for the small amount of malware out there please use a little common sense meaning:

• Do not download anything from a torrent
• Keep OS X up-to-date
• If you get an ad, pop-up, e-mail or phone call advising your computer has been compromised, these are all SCAMS!

 

[Cape Dave]

Cape Dave,

Unfortunately both apps are worthless and will likely cause problems on your system at some point. My recommendation would be to follow the developers instructions for uninstalling both and uninstall them. OS X does NOT require third party antivirus, cleaning or other "maintenance" utilities to run well. There are no viruses for OS X and very little malware, for the small amount of malware out there please use a little common sense meaning:

• Do not download anything from a torrent
• Keep OS X up-to-date
• If you get an ad, pop-up, e-mail or phone call advising your computer has been compromised, these are all SCAMS!

Neither of these are active. I just scan when I feel like it. I honestly do not think either are doing any harm. I agree 100% with things that clean or otherwise change things. Mac does not need those. I tried Mac Cleaner early on and vowed never to get near that monstrosity again

 

[dogslobber]

• Do not download anything from a torrent

I download Linux distros via torrent. What's wrong with them?

 

[cynics]

Cape Dave,

Unfortunately both apps are worthless and will likely cause problems on your system at some point. My recommendation would be to follow the developers instructions for uninstalling both and uninstall them. OS X does NOT require third party antivirus, cleaning or other "maintenance" utilities to run well. There are no viruses for OS X and very little malware, for the small amount of malware out there please use a little common sense meaning:

• Do not download anything from a torrent
• Keep OS X up-to-date
• If you get an ad, pop-up, e-mail or phone call advising your computer has been compromised, these are all SCAMS!

Malware is too subjective a term to use such a passive approach.

For example you can currently installed DivX and without doing a custom install you'll get advertising Malware bundled in with it.

It might not be the most malicious software in the world but if you just want a codec and player you probably don't want advert software running secretly with it...ie maliciously.

And most people unless they know exactly what every single thing is running in activity monitor wouldn't know it was on their system without Malwarebytes or something similar. BTW DivX claims the detection of this software from anti malware programs is a "false positive" and is what keeps DivX free. I'd rather be charged for it because now I avoid it at all cost...

 

[rkaufmann87]

I download Linux distros via torrent. What's wrong with them?

Easy, many torrent sites are downloading stolen apps that come infected with malware.

 

[dogslobber]

Easy, many torrent sites are downloading stolen apps that come infected with malware.

So you're saying my Linux torrent downloads are infected with malware?

 

[Weaselboy]

So you're saying my Linux torrent downloads are infected with malware?

It is perfectly safe to download a Linux distro over BT as long as you compare the file hash provided by the developer.

For example, go here and copy down the SHA hash for the distro you want. Then follow this and this to compare the SHA checksum of your downloaded file to the checksum provided by the developer. If they match, then you know with certainty the file you downloaded is exactly the same as the one provided by the developer and it has not been altered in any way.