MACDefender showed up on my screen in Firefox

[class77]

When I was on a paid Scout(D1 college) site. I hit force quit, then cleaned out my cache and checked in both Finder and Searchlight with no results. Also checked the activity monitor with negative results.

I've restarted the machine and had no problems. Is there anywhere else I should check or an I malware free??

 

[Mal]

If you didn't install it (i.e. entered your admin password), then you're fine. It can't install itself.

jW

 

[GGJstudios]

There has never been a virus in the wild that affects Mac OS X since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some education and common sense and care in what software you install:

Mac Virus/Malware Info​

The first section of that link deals specifically with the MacDefender/MacSecurity/MacProtector issue. I encourage you to read it.

 

[class77]

GGJ, in the linked post, you said "Simply delete the downloaded file, and your Mac is clean. To prevent this from happening in the future, uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in your Safari Preferences." 1)Where was the file to delete? I couldn't find any evidence of it in searches even before I emptied the cache. 2)I was on Firefox, not Safari. Is there a comparable setting on Firefox?

I am not freaking out over this, just trying to figure our how to address this if I encounter it in the future

 

[GGJstudios]

I couldn't find any evidence of it in searches even before I emptied the cache.

It should be in your Downloads folder, or whatever default folder you've selected for downloads to go to in Firefox preferences.

2)I was on Firefox, not Safari. Is there a comparable setting on Firefox?

Since you're on Firefox, there is no equivalent setting. Downloaded files shouldn't automatically open.

 

[class77]

Thanks GGJ. Nothing every downloaded, that's why I was unsure what to do. I couldn't find anything to delete after it showed up on my screen and I was expecting to find something.

I appreciate all your replies