How to identify and destroy trojan horses on mac yosemite?

[savemymac]

Hi,

What are the best ways to identify any malware/trojan horses on my Mac Yosemite os 10.10.5? Why would adobe flash installer randomly open in my dock and then disappear? I am very concerned my computer is being monitored or in danger of some kind of hijacking threat.

Symptoms I am concerned about:

mouse going into pinwheel and unusable for minutes at a time.
typing text is lagging
adobe flash player installer opened twice without my consent or allowance
foreign computer mouse showed up on a computer program and was interacting with my program and then disappeared from my screen leaving whatever they were doing to disappear (I have since disabled sharing and remote connectedness to my computer, it has sped up since, but I am concerned).
[added in edit: i was also running avg cleaner regulary to dump files just make the computer usable again and clearing my browser's caches as well.
The computer memory has taken up 222.05 GB out of 249.2 GB (is that to much memory being used or is it fine?]

This is a privately owned computer and I don't network it with any other computer or any one else.

If there is anything I might have left out that would be helpful to know for this please let me know. I appreciate any help.

 

[jbarley]

Download and try the free "Malwarebytes" for mac, maybe it will help and it sure will not hurt anything.

 

[savemymac]

Download and try the free "Malwarebytes" for mac, maybe it will help and it sure will not hurt anything.

How does it compare to avg antivirus for mac or mac safe keeper? (i've heard mac safe keeper recommended some where.) Thank you fore the suggestion.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

You should do a clean install as well to make sure there are no traces of hidden keyloggers and malware.

 

[savemymac]

You should do a clean install as well to make sure there are no traces of hidden keyloggers and malware.

Is that reformatting the hard drive? How do I do that on a mac?

 

[Queen6]

No need to format at this point download Malware bytes for Mac and Bitdefender from Apple Mac Store, scan with both and see the results. Some of the quirky behaviour is likely due to the lack of free space on your drive OS X requires some free space to work efficiently say 20%-30% Once OS X does not have adequate free space it will slowdown significantly and random events may occur.

In short scan your drive with a reputable malware detection application and free up space and you will very likely not have any further issue.

For Bitdefender more detail below

For those of you who don't need or want an "active" solution, try Bitdefender Antivirus Scanner from the App store; it`s free, nonintrusive, and runs only when you want it to. The scanner does not offer much in the line of protection being very much an on demand tool, equally for the majority of OS X users, most just want to validate that the drive is free of malicious code be it related to OS X or Windows. Where Bitdefender`s Scanner excels is detection & simplicity having no daemons or start up agents etc.

You get Bitdefender`s top notch detection in a basic package that you control, however this is not for those who are looking for a set & forget solution, as all scans are manual, and updates only occur when you open the application. That being said an Apple Script, Calendar can easily trigger the application at a given interval. The scanner learns and only scans new & modified files, so in general running a scan for malicious code is swift & painless, once the first pass is competed. Custom scans and Drag & Drop area all present.

Depending on usage/workflow an "active" Malware application is not always the best solution, and there is also the argument that such "active" solutions can be a double-edged sword potentially increasing the "attack surface" against sophisticated threats. Security is very much a multifaceted beast, malware prevention/detection is for both OS X & Windows just one aspect, which is always worth thinking on

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

How does it compare to avg antivirus for mac or mac safe keeper? (i've heard mac safe keeper recommended some where.) Thank you fore the suggestion.

AVG yes, MacKeepr avoid at all costs as it`s basically malware.....

Q-6

 

[savemymac]

AVG yes, MacKeepr avoid at all costs as it`s basically malware.....

Q-6

Thank you for the great insight. I've been monitoring my comp's activity monitor frequently for the past few days for anything suspicious, so far nothing out of the ordinary I don't think, but will take your advice once I get the chance.

I read that downloading the daisy spp deleter was a quick way to get rid of unwanted files and apps. Have you tried it or is it a waste of $10?

 

[Queen6]

Thank you for the great insight. I've been monitoring my comp's activity monitor frequently for the past few days for anything suspicious, so far nothing out of the ordinary I don't think, but will take your advice once I get the chance.

I read that downloading the daisy spp deleter was a quick way to get rid of unwanted files and apps. Have you tried it or is it a waste of $10?

Save your money, Malwarebytes & Bitdefender are free and currently more than good enough for anything malicious . If you want more proactive protection (active scanner) try Avast for Mac it works well and is very light weight. Mostly of use for those working in a mixed environment (Windows, OS X without full control).

For your case best is to free some space and your Mac will return to normal. Most of the unwanted files in OS X are very small. Try OmniDiskSweeper it will reveal what is using disk space, however be careful as this is a powerful application, if unsure post no the forum for advice, or try Ccleaner for Mac that will remove the junk without risk. Fundamentally you need to make space likely removing large media files.

OS X can be hijacked, equally it`s highly unlikely, there are applications to reveal the same, although they do need some understanding of the system.

Q-6