Common Signs That Your MAC Is Infected by Malware or Virus – It was well known that MAC is the safest device from viruses, and it still is. I remember how one of my friends was so obsessed with MAC due to its security towards malware or virus infection. He was so confident that MAC was the best because MAC will NEVER be infected by any malware or virus. Well, I agreed with that at that time.
But then, have you ever experienced that your MAC is kind of performing in a weird way. For instance, it becomes slow, popping up an advertisement from an unknown source. In this case, your MAC might be infected by a virus or malware.
As we know, MAC has become so famous and widely used now. Therefore, the possibility of people trying to create malware or virus for MAC is also growing bigger. Why? Sometimes it is difficult to find the reason why, but there are people out there who are doing such a thing without a clear reason.
Example of MAC Malware
As previously mentioned, due to the spread use of MAC, there is always the possibility of Malware in your MAC. What is the example of MAC Malware? Let us discuss one by one.
1. iWorm
iWorm Malware usually is usually going along in the software or application from The Pirate Bay. It infects MAC to become global botnet.
2. Wirelurker
Wirelurker is also spreading through pirated MAC software. Actually, the objectives or purpose of this Malware remains unknown until now.
Wirelurker usually infects an iPhone or iPad from an infected MAC. This happens when you connect your clean device to the infected device. Later on, it will be spreading widely from one platform to another to collect your unique ID.
3. Cointhief
As the name suggested, this mainly aims to steal any bitcoin stored in the infected MAC. Cointhief will camouflage to be a trusted software or application.
If we refer to those above explanations, we can learn that the virus or malware infection in MAC is mostly caused by installing software or application outside of the MAC App Store. Downloading and installing untrusted software is the root cause that may cause malware or virus infection in the MAC. Unfortunately, to remove the malware or virus we cannot do it just by uninstalling the app from MAC.
Hence, there is nothing to worry about as long as you only download and install software from the MAC App Store. The browser and Java-related issues will off course come up. But this will cause no problem as your Operating System is version X and you update your browser there will be no chance for the malware infections.
If you have to download and install certain software aside from the MAC App Store, please do spare time to do research and find a deeper review from other people. You can simply google it anyway. Even if you are downloading and installing software aside from the MAC app store but you do intensive research before installing, there is still a smaller risk for your MAC to be infected by malware or virus.
On the other hand, the risk of malware or virus infection in your MAC will be bigger when you have ever installed any pirated MAC software. Sometimes, there are such pop-ups with a certain offer that is coming along with malware or virus. Please be more careful in opening such pop-ups.
Signs That Your MAC Is Infected by Malware or Virus
So then, how do we identify whether our MAC is infected by malware or virus? Let us discuss the signs of MAC infected by virus or malware one by one in below:
1. Your MAC is becoming slow
Certain malware or virus which is dwelling in your MAC is making your MAC as a part of a botnet. This means that your MAC is subconsciously being used to help another process across the internet network. For instance: bitcoin mining.
Your MAC will be slower as the malware or virus is taking some part of the CPU’s power to do the intended work the malware or virus desired to (example: bitcoin mining).
2. Malware is identified in the scanner; recommended scanner
There is malware or virus scanner you can use to ensure your checking your MAC whether it is infected by virus or malware. We come up with this scanner you might want to try:
a. ClamXAV
This scanner is very famous in the IT world. As some people might not know, ClamXAV is the MAC version of ClamAV. Therefore, as its trustworthiness, this scanner is worth trying for you to use.
b. Bitdefender Virus Scanner for MAC
This scanner is an application that will remind you of any malicious malware or virus threat. But keep in mind that it does not directly or automatically delete the infections.
Though, this will help identify where the source that you need to delete. Therefore, you do not need to seek as the application has already suggested where the point to delete.
c. AdwareMedic
This scanner will be helpful for you. I highly recommend running this scanner when you see too many ads appear. If the tools above do not alert or indicate any threat in your MAC, it means that there is nothing to worry about in your MAC.
There is no malware or virus threat in your MAC. If those scanner does not suit your need, there are some other scanners you may use out there. You can try to search through google.
MAC is safer than any other Operating System?
It is widely known that MAC is the safest operating system from any malware or virus. Why this can be this way? What is brought in the MAC operating system that it is safer to any malware or virus compare to other operating systems?
First of all, whenever we intend to install an application that is not from MAC application store reminder pop up will always appear. By this, we will be well notified and alerted to further check the reliability of the intended software. How this can be? It is because MAC is equipped with Gatekeeper by default.
Therefore, any new software installation intention, as long as it is taken from another developer outside of the MAC application store will always be treated this way.
By seeing this pop-up, the user is expected to research more about the security of the software to avoid the risk of malware or virus infection. But some users disable this feature in order of getting full access and freedom for any desired software installation.
Many MAC users may not aware or notice that another security guard has already been embedded in their MAC device. This starts from MAC OS X since 2009. The program is called as file quarantine or XProtect.
The program runs automatically in the device and unlike any of Windows antiviruses, you cannot manually run or update it. But when threat is identified, it will surely notify or alert you. And one more thing unique from File Quarantine or XProtect is that it will prevent you from opening the infected files.
For some people, MAC might be considered as too strict. Due to the Sandboxing feature embedded, this will limit your access to any broader system. But this is actually beneficial to avoid any broader infection that may cause larger chaos in your MAC device.
One more thing that makes MAC is more secure from Malware or virus is its Obscurity. Undeniably that Windows is a more wide-spread operating system across the globe, unlike MAC.
Hence, more people will focus on Windows in creating Malware or virus aside from MAC. But as MAC’s popularity increases, so do the users, MAC will also be the target for those Malware creators.
Conclusion
Even when it is true that so far MAC is safer than any other operating system, there still a chance for MAC malware or virus infection. Knowing the common signs that MAC is infected by malware or virus, you will be more aware of the security of your MAC devices. I expect that the information gives you more knowledge and makes you more careful.