Dedicated Mac virus section was added to 2spyware

Apple users are overcoming an increasing number of Mac viruses and infections

The number of Mac viruses has been increasing lately as Apple computers are becoming more and more popular nowadays. When reading the daily news, we used to find out about numerous cyber infections affecting Windows users and damaging their computers. However, the situation is changing a little and that is why we have decided to write an entire text about a new category named Mac viruses.

Mac viruses can be categorized in various groups. However, the most popular ones are:

• ransomware;
• trojans;
• potentially unwanted applications (adware, browser hijackers, scamming apps).

All of these programs are distributed by using illegal techniques and can cause various damage or perform unwanted activities daily until you get rid of the cyber threat permanently. Some of these viruses, including ransomware or trojan infections are very dangerous and might cause big damage, when others such as browser-hijacking applications, ad-supported programs, or tech support scams are less dangerous but still can perform a wide range of unpleasant activities.

If you are keen on finding out how these applications operate, how they enter the PC, ways to avoid and remove them, you should keep on reading the text. We are going to describe each Mac virus closely and introduce you to its abilities.

Ransomware and trojans are one of the most dangerous viruses

According to cybersecurity experts, ransomware infections and Trojan horses are the sneakiest and most dangerous of all. Talking about ransomware, these cryptolockers enter the computer thru rogue email messages and their dubious-looking attachments. If the user accesses the hazardous payload, he/she might get the computer system infected slightly.

Once installed, the ransomware virus performs the encryption process by using specific algorithms such as AES, RSA, SHA. These keys allow blocking all files that are found on the infected computer and turn them unusable until the decryption is performed. Usually, the ransomware virus adds a specific appendix to each encrypted document and displays a message called ransom note which urges for a particular price in exchange of the decryption key.

Victims are often urged to pay a particular amount of money by using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, it is not recommendable to show any contact to the crooks or transfer the demanded price as victim often get scammed by such people. We recommend searching for other methods to unlock your files.

Furthermore, Trojan horses are such infections which do not show any specific signs. Once installed, the trojan infection can be used for collecting sensitive information that can relate in identity theft, mining cryptocurrency, or injecting other malware. You can spot this kind of virus from these symptoms:

• random processes are running in the Task Manager;
• your CPU power is being overused;
• programs are crashing or not responding;
• your antivirus bombards alerts.

Potentially unwanted applications can perform annoying activities

Less harmless but still annoying are potentially unwanted applications. For example, adware applications and browser-hijacking programs are very similar to each other. The main difference is that the browser hijacker modifies the default search engine, main page, and new tab URL when the adware program changes just the homepage and new tab section.

These programs can come bundled together with other free software or downloaded from rogue links that you might find placed on insecure web pages. Once installed, these PUPs perform unpleasant activities such as modifying web browsers, injecting rogue extensions to them, producing numerous advertisements, redirecting to suspicious-looking pages, collect browsing experience-related data, and so on.

Also, there is another PUP called scareware. These types of programs use similar distribution techniques and are created to threaten gullible users. If you ever overcome such application in your computer, you will notice it from fake alerts that it provides. False system tools are created to trick users by providing messages about “numerous computer infections found” when there truly are no similar problems. All this is done just to convince the user to purchase the full version of the program which should “fix all problems”. Examples of scareware programs:

• Advanced Mac Tuneup;
• MacPerformance;
• MacPro;
• Mac Optimizer.

Get rid of viruses manually or automatically

If your computer is infected with a potentially unwanted application such as adware, browser-hijacking, or scamming program, you can perform the removal in two ways. First, you can clean infected web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, or Explorer by yourself, and also remove rogue content from the Mac computer. However, if you find this process too difficult for you, we recommend trying automatical cleaning tools which will perform the work for you.

However, if you are dealing with a more serious infection such as a ransomware virus or Trojan horse, you should rely only on reputable anti-malware tools for the removal process. Note that manual elimination can bring only more damage as some malware-laden components might be too hard to detect and erase. Download and install an expert-tested computer fixing program and terminate the threat properly.