You can find many Mac users fall for the age-old myth that the Mac OS is immune to virus infection. Once you begin using a Mac, you may find the threats less however, they are there.
There are considerably more PC’s in the world than there are Macs in the world. For hackers and cybercriminals, it is all about numbers. They also like what is easy for them to access.
However, for whatever reason, the numbers of Mac users globally is on the increase, and with popularity comes cybercriminals waiting to take advantage and deploy their MacBook virus.
Here, follow us and you can learn more about Macs and a Mac virus, and why you do need to take precautions, regardless of which device you use.
How Do You Know if Your Mac is Infected with a Virus?
If you are a long time Mac user, you may not know the signs of a virus or malware infection.
It is true that an Apple device sets many rights reserved things inside the operating system and for apps in the app store to prevent malware, yet it can still find its way on your machine.
Symptoms you may come across are:
- You end up on a web page you select, and you start to notice aggressive advertising banners popping up that you never saw before.
- You discover that the random text on your web page now suddenly contains a hyperlink.
- Web browser pop-ups appear and strongly suggest bogus updates or misleading software.
- You notice other adware, spyware programs that are unwanted programs, either unauthorized or installed without your knowledge.
Your Mac crashes start to overheat, or the fans are running full speed for no reason. Your system may be working a labour intensive app as a crypto-miner may run on your system, likely installed by a Mac Trojan, malware, adware, or other means.
How Do I Clean My Mac of Viruses?
Macs do come with security features that include the following:
- Malware removal tool: If malware does infect your system, macOS can remediate a minor infection when there are system updates.
- Gatekeeper: If any software, not digitally signed by Apple tries to run; it is blocked by Gatekeeper until you offer authorization to run
- XProtect: Here, the feature blocks known malware from installing. Apple update this continually and even checks your system so XProtect can also update itself for the benefit of all other Mac users.
For all these to be effective, you need automatic security updates enabled. Here are the necessary steps to do this:
- Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen, then System Preferences.
- Open your App Store.
- Make sure the tick boxes alongside ALL the update options are checked.
Malicious Profiles
One way you can become infected is through a malicious profile. If one of these ends up on your system, the Mac malware or browser hijacker can stop you from removing malicious programs from your Mac.
They can also prevent you from changing settings inside your browser to prevent this from happening.
- Here are the steps required to stop this happening:
- Open “System Preferences”
- Search for “Profiles.” You may not see a profiles icon. Carry on regardless.
- If you see a profiles icon, select it and then select the “minus” button to remove it
One of the most prominent browser hijackers currently is Tapufind.
Here are the steps to get rid of Tapufind from your Mac.
- If you see Tapufind on the menu bar, click on it and select “Quit.”
- Open “Finder”
- Select “Applications”
- Search for “Tapufind” and right-click, and then select “Move to trash.”
- Click “Empty Trash”
- In Finder, select “Go” and then “Go to Folder.”
- Type or copy each of these lines one by one and then click on “Go.”
- /Library/LaunchAgents
- ~/Library/LaunchAgents
- /Library/Application Support
- /Library/LaunchDaemons
If you find any files that have names, containing “Tapu,” you can move these to the Trash.
If this seems to be too much, you can make it easier and download one of the leading malware and virus software for Macs.
Malwarebytes for Mac has a free trial version; it can destroy, and scan mac virus to get rid of any malware or unwanted software, other packages miss (such as the built in software).
With this, you have live Mac virus scan; it can check Mac for malware even without installation as it can run from USB. The
There is a lot to like about this software, and it is easy to see why so many other people like it on Windows as well.
Alternatives for Mac Malware Removal
The best ways to stop these viruses and malware are through taking preventative action. Browser extensions are the first thing to install in Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari, as these will update at given intervals with the latest version of virus signatures.
Second and one of the best ways for overall protection is by using an affordable VPN on your Apple Mac.
While you can check mac for malware, it is better to make it even harder for it to find your system. Besides this, if you are infected, hackers will not know your location as a good VPN will change your IP address with that of an outgoing server in another location.
A VPN also offers many other security features such as military-grade encryption, and a kill switch to stop your connection if you lose your encrypted VPN connection.
As a bonus, it allows you to bypass censorship and geo-restrictions to access content that otherwise would not be available.
