Malware Infection

If you suspect map ware has been loaded onto your Mac, what should you do to find and remove it?

Since somewhere around 99% of the stuff people post here suspecting malware on their Mac has nothing to do with any malware, why don't you instead start off by describing what issue you have.

Suspected Malware

Thanks for your response. I opened an e-mail that looked like it came from a friend. It had a link in it, which, in retrospect, I shouldn't have clicked. It didn't seem to connect to anything. That was yesterday. Today, I clicked it again and an ad to lose belly fat came up as a post on a BBC website. I contacted the friend whose name was on the e-mail, and he said he had foolishly opened a link that had infected his computer. He said it had raided his e-mail contacts and that several other of his other friends had also been contacted this way. I am concerned that my passwords might get stolen or that financial files might be vulnerable.

Delete the email.

Did you get an application window requesting your password to install it?
No - you're not infected.

You can always grab ClamXav and do a scan.

Is your friend using a MS Windows OS? I think most Windows installers use a .exe file extention. These will not run on Mac OS, therefore it should not infect your computer. But you can forward the file to other Windows computers and infect them via email. My opinion is to delete the tainted email and all traces of it and empty the trash. In the future, be mindful of the actual address of your incoming email and definitely do not casually open any included link(s).

Thanks!

I don't remember being asked for a password. Guess I'll have to have faith. However, it would be nice to know how I could check for such things. Any suggestions? I had Norton Anti-virus at one time, but it slowed down my computer so much, I un-installed it. Now it won't work on my new OS X. I've upgraded, first to Snow Leopard and now to Mavericks.
Thanks for your help and advice.

Thanks for the suggestion, Dogbreath. I have e-mailed my friend again to see if he was using a PC or a Mac. I'll have to wait for his response.

JHunterDunn said:

I don't remember being asked for a password. Guess I'll have to have faith. However, it would be nice to know how I could check for such things. Any suggestions? I had Norton Anti-virus at one time, but it slowed down my computer so much, I un-installed it. Now it won't work on my new OS X. I've upgraded, first to Snow Leopard and now to Mavericks.
Thanks for your help and advice.

Click to expand...

Hello - you've already received excellent advice - just as a suggestion, you might want to read some on malware and the Mac OS; some useful discussions: Link 1; Link 2; and Link 3 - Dave

RadDave,
Thank you! I've made bookmarks for your links.

AV software for a Mac usually causes problems that did not exist before installation with the exception of ClamXav which usually just gives previous Windows users peace of mine.

You did not supply your password so don't worry about it. Just enjoy your Mac. Keep the operating system up to date via Software Update and that will take care of many threats.

Thanks!