So, I recently got a MacBook Pro and I was just watching youtube videos on Safari when I got a pop-up saying I have 3 porn viruses from Mac Cleaner. The only thing I did was download a decade old torrent (which I doubt had any viruses) and watch alittle bit of porn on porn hub (where I got popups but quickly closed them). What do I do?
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Brand New Mac already has a virus...
- Thread starter greyfly
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You don't have a virus you have malware. Simple solution quit watching porn or download adware medic and adblocker plus.
AdwareMedic is now Malwayrebytes for Mac. Still free, still great.
Try Malwarebytes for Mac next time you think you have adware. It's super fast and free. I noticed it won't find ZipCloud, which will jack you up, too. Don't use MacKeeper, either.
If you get 'locked up', force quit Safari, then launch it while holding the shift key, and that should free you up. Then go to Safari Preferences, delete any extensions you don't know, remove website data until it's clean, and download Malwarebytes for Mac. If that doesn't find anything (or even if it does), keep cleaning the following:
Click Finder, on top of screen, click Go, then hold Option key and select the Library folder.
- Get rid of unknown items in LaunchAgents
- Delete com.apple.Safari.SavedState folder
- While you're in here, might as well delete all files in Caches folder, which most people have full of crap.
Go to Mac HD > Library and delete unknown items in:
- LaunchAgents
- LaunchDaemons
- StartUpItems
Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items
- Highlight any items you don't know or don't want to auto launch, and click '-' (minus) button. If they say (All users), you'll need to unlock the lock first.
Now, restart Mac and first thing after login, delete trash.
Test Safari... no more popups or adware.
Try Malwarebytes for Mac next time you think you have adware. It's super fast and free. I noticed it won't find ZipCloud, which will jack you up, too. Don't use MacKeeper, either.
If you get 'locked up', force quit Safari, then launch it while holding the shift key, and that should free you up. Then go to Safari Preferences, delete any extensions you don't know, remove website data until it's clean, and download Malwarebytes for Mac. If that doesn't find anything (or even if it does), keep cleaning the following:
Click Finder, on top of screen, click Go, then hold Option key and select the Library folder.
- Get rid of unknown items in LaunchAgents
- Delete com.apple.Safari.SavedState folder
- While you're in here, might as well delete all files in Caches folder, which most people have full of crap.
Go to Mac HD > Library and delete unknown items in:
- LaunchAgents
- LaunchDaemons
- StartUpItems
Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items
- Highlight any items you don't know or don't want to auto launch, and click '-' (minus) button. If they say (All users), you'll need to unlock the lock first.
Now, restart Mac and first thing after login, delete trash.
Test Safari... no more popups or adware.
False.
And spreading misinformation like that is why the Mac user base is ripe for the pickings by any semi-competent malware author who actually decides to target the platform.
No doubt you're going to claim "oh no that's not a virus, hurrr" (it's a worm).
Thunderstrike
Thunderstrike 2
to name but two, that can live in your firmware.
Safari has fallen at virtually every pwn2own contest in recent memory
I will grant that there aren't many things active in the wild targeting Macs at the moment, but the cavalier attitude of "you have a mac there are no viruses!" is just asking to be owned, hard when there actually is.
If you're not on the look out for malware because you assume you're safe, you're going to get owned sooner or later.
Thunderstrike
Thunderstrike 2
to name but two, that can live in your firmware.
Safari has fallen at virtually every pwn2own contest in recent memory
I will grant that there aren't many things active in the wild targeting Macs at the moment, but the cavalier attitude of "you have a mac there are no viruses!" is just asking to be owned, hard when there actually is.
If you're not on the look out for malware because you assume you're safe, you're going to get owned sooner or later.
In short: you can't even name a single mac virus ... as to be expected ...
Wait, so you're basing this information on a popup?
Firstly, you don't have a virus. Secondly - you may not have anything at all. It's possibly just a pop-up. Did you install this "Mac Cleaner" application yourself? Because it's certainly not part of the standard install.
Run Malwarebytes for Mac.
Read your install pages when you install 3rd party software. uTorrent actually asks if you want to install adware on your machine. If you just click yes to everything then you've installed the adware yourself. Also, always be wary of any popup advising that you need to download something to watch a video etc. They're almost always dodgy.
While there are no Mac viruses in the wild, there is malware. The good thing is, it can't get on without you actually putting it there in the first place. The bad news is, if you're not vigilant it's pretty damned easy to do just that.
Just because there are no "viruses" currently in the wild for the Mac doesn't mean I am not on the lookout for malware/adware
They are two different things entirely, and I am very diligent not to click links in email, download sketchy files, or use my Admin password to install unknown items
Typically these threads are frequented by fear mongers who have a condescending attitude towards us misinformed and unfortunate fanboys warning us "the end is near" or "the sky is falling".
I have used Macs since an old Mac SE in around 1988 (yes, I am that old)
I have yet to have any virus, worm or anything else infect my computer
The worst thing I have had happen was installing Norton Antivirus which totally effed up my Mac and I had to do a clean install
I am not naive enough to believe there will never, ever be a problem with Macs and software/hardware exploits
Worms are an increasing issue, malware/adware is rampant
But I am not going to piss my pants every time someone gets a popup in their browser saying they have a problem
They are two different things entirely, and I am very diligent not to click links in email, download sketchy files, or use my Admin password to install unknown items
Typically these threads are frequented by fear mongers who have a condescending attitude towards us misinformed and unfortunate fanboys warning us "the end is near" or "the sky is falling".
I have used Macs since an old Mac SE in around 1988 (yes, I am that old)
I have yet to have any virus, worm or anything else infect my computer
The worst thing I have had happen was installing Norton Antivirus which totally effed up my Mac and I had to do a clean install
I am not naive enough to believe there will never, ever be a problem with Macs and software/hardware exploits
Worms are an increasing issue, malware/adware is rampant
But I am not going to piss my pants every time someone gets a popup in their browser saying they have a problem
Just because they don't have cute names...
https://macviruscom.wordpress.com
DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE
In the wild, doesn't rely on user being dumb... no patch from Apple yet.
By that thinking, there are very few PC viruses these days either.
You can play with words if you want, but the thing that matters is whether or not your machine (and/or data) is vulnerable to getting owned. And these days, Macs are also vulnerable to getting owned. You can either accept this and deal with it, or stick your head in the sand until you get owned.
