Too Many Processes in Activity Monitor and Could my MBP be infected?

[Phyllopteryx]

I have become more conscious about computer security and the importance of being aware of what is running on my laptop. I suspect that my MBP might be infected with malware as there have been empty black boxes slowly coming up on the right side of my browser when I visit various sites. The sites I visit when this occurs are not the same and this happens whether I use google chrome or firefox (and yes, I do have adblock).

Sometimes I notice odd behaviours like all of the windows open on my laptop suddenly moving slowly to different corners of my screen, minimizing as they do so. When this happens, I'm usually in the middle of typing something out or I am not even doing anything. After a few seconds of clicking, it goes back to normal. At times, my mouse would not move. Is it possible that my laptop may be infected? If so, by what and how can I remove it?

Also, I have quite a few processes running when I check my activity monitor. One process that is continuously running and that attempts sometimes to connect to the internet according to my firewall software is usbmuxd although I don't have an iPhone or i-anything nor have I ever connected one to my laptop. Whenever I quit or force quit the process on the activity monitor, it never fails to return within seconds. Also, there are many processes running on my activity monitor. Could any of these possibly be something malicious?

For a better idea of what processes are running on my system, I've included screenshots:

http://imgur.com/0NRZ0vH
http://imgur.com/CTjIGCb
http://imgur.com/XHtcBR8
http://imgur.com/wcBjoz4
http://imgur.com/hX5YhYB

(Blacked out user is the main account on my MBP, the name is very unique and I'd like to remain anonymous hence the blacking out.)

Thank you in advance for your responses.

 

[Intell]

All of those processes are completely normal and harmless.

 

[GGJstudios]

Your processes look perfectly normal. "usbmuxd" is the USB Multiplex Daemon that is responsible for communication between your Mac and your iPhone or iPod Touch over USB and is used for synchronisation and similar tasks. It can be present even if you don't sync iDevices. It isn't anything to worry about.

The empty black boxes when surfing could be ads that are either poorly created or only partially blocked by your adblocking software.

As for your windows moving to corners, make sure you don't have a Hot Corner set up to show Mission Control.

From what you described, there is no reason to suspect malware of any kind is at work here. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

​

Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

 

[Phyllopteryx]

I'm very happy to hear that and I will certainly read up on the FAQs. Many thanks for the replies!

 

[queenkumara]

Could I have a technical eye look over my activity monitor?

Hello,

I am a bit of a computer illiterate and cannot make head nor tail of the entries on my activity monitor on my MAC.

There are a few odd things happening, all possibly innocent but I'd like to be sure. When I log out of my computer, it asks if I want to reopen all windows upon relaunch. I do not have this box checked yet when I turn my computer back on, all the old windows still open. It also seems to randomly shut down rather than sleep after a short amount of idle time - I have not changed my settings.

Would someone with technical knowledge please check that nothing untoward is operating on my computer? I will paste the items below.

Lastly, my administrator password and my login passwords are the same - I cannot find how to change this as I'd like to keep my administrator password private yet be able to share my login password with friends. Unfortunately they're able to have all the same privileges I do when they log in - there must be a way to change it?

Many thanks in advance!

2424 Activity Monitor amy 4.7 4 23.7 MB Intel (64 bit)
2346 AppleSpell.service amy 0.0 2 3.6 MB Intel (64 bit)
2355 bash amy 0.0 1 1.1 MB Intel (64 bit)
2308 codecm_uploader amy 0.0 3 2.4 MB Intel
2318 com.apple.dock.extra amy 0.0 2 11.5 MB Intel (64 bit)
2316 cookied amy 0.0 3 1.7 MB Intel (64 bit)
2267 distnoted amy 0.0 4 2.5 MB Intel (64 bit)
2282 Dock amy 0.0 3 24.0 MB Intel (64 bit)
2286 Finder amy 0.1 5 19.7 MB Intel (64 bit)
2291 fontd amy 0.0 2 4.8 MB Intel (64 bit)
2315 Google Drive amy 0.6 12 93.1 MB Intel
2300 imagent amy 0.0 2 3.5 MB Intel (64 bit)
118 launchd amy 0.0 2 2.2 MB Intel (64 bit)
2242 loginwindow amy 0.0 2 21.0 MB Intel (64 bit)
2367 mdworker amy 0.3 4 16.5 MB Intel (64 bit)
2345 mdwrite amy 0.0 2 3.4 MB Intel (64 bit)
2288 pboard amy 0.0 1 956 KB Intel (64 bit)
2294 PhotoStreamAgent amy 0.0 3 15.2 MB Intel (64 bit)
2462 Quick Look Helper amy 0.0 4 62.6 MB Intel (64 bit)
2360 Safari amy 0.7 15 63.9 MB Intel (64 bit)
2362 Safari Web Content amy 1.9 10 216.2 MB Intel (64 bit)
2285 SystemUIServer amy 0.2 3 32.2 MB Intel (64 bit)
2284 talagent amy 0.0 2 7.5 MB Intel (64 bit)
2351 Terminal amy 0.0 5 17.3 MB Intel (64 bit)
2277 UserEventAgent amy 0.0 3 11.2 MB Intel (64 bit)
2295 warmd_agent amy 0.0 2 1.8 MB Intel (64 bit)
2465 xpchelper amy 0.0 2 4.9 MB Intel (64 bit)

 

[Intell]

All of those process are normal. I suggest you create a new thread for additional help with your user account problems and questions.