I found two Flash Plugins on my desktop that I don't recall downloading.

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Hi everyone,

This morning I see my computer was on in sleep mode. I was surprised because I could have sworn I turned it off for the night. Okay, perhaps my iMac did not turn off. But then I found two Flash Plugins on my iMac's desktop that I do not recall downloading. I ejected them and ran a malwarebytes scan after updating it, and did not find any problems. Just wondering if anyone else ran into a situation like this and if I should be concerned whether nor not my computer was hacked. I know I'm probably over reacting.

Yesterday I did spend a few hours burning DVD backups of my files, but I doubt that has anything to do with it.

Is there anything else I should do in order to make sure my computer is not being threatened? I have the firewall on.

iMac 27 inch, Mid 2011
macOS Sierra Version 10.12.6

Thanks for your help. :)
 
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...I found two Flash Plugins on my iMac's desktop that I do not recall downloading. I ejected them and ran a malwarebytes scan after updating it, and did not find any problems. Just wondering if anyone else ran into a situation like this and if I should be concerned whether nor not my computer was hacked.

In the past 33 years, after hearing from thousands and thousands of Mac users, I've yet to hear a single believable instance of someone's real-world Mac being hacked. *Not a single one.* That despite the fact that most Mac users seem to run without their firewall turned on. I can almost guaranty you that you haven't been hacked.

There have been instances of Flash installers that were malicious. Here is what I recommend that you do to make sure that you are in good shape:

Uninstall the copy of Flash that you have installed with this uninstaller:
Uninstall Flash Player for Mac OS

Download the full Flash installer from this Adobe site:
Adobe Flash Player End of Life
Use it to install a fresh copy of Flash Player.

Now...FROM NOW ON, there are only two ways that you should EVER normally update Flash. (YOU SHOULD NEVER UPDATE FLASH FROM A POP-UP THAT APPEARS ON YOUR SCREEN):
1) Via the Flash Player pane (under the Updates tab) in System Preferences on your Mac
or
2) Directly from Adobe:
Adobe Flash Player Download

If at any time you are wondering if you already have the latest version of Flash installed, you can check in the Flash preferences pane, or you can find out which version of Flash you currently have installed, and what the latest version is, here:
Adobe - Flash Player


Is there anything else I should do in order to make sure my computer is not being threatened? I have the firewall on.

The overwhelming majority of Mac users do nothing. Yet you can check this Web site and see that no one is reporting that their Mac is infected with anything. But if you are paranoid, here is an excellent free anti-virus program:

VirusBarrier Free Edition (free)
Intego Launches VirusBarrier Scanner — Free Mac Antivirus | The Mac Security Blog
‎Intego VirusBarrier Scanner
(This is a full version of Intego's anti-virus program VirusBarrier [usually $40/year] minus some [but not all] of the automated scanning features in the commercial version. For those who don't know, Intego's VirusBarrier is the only anti-virus [AV] program that comes from a company that only creates software for the Macintosh, and it consistently wins all the believable comparison tests [there are lots of shill sites on the Web].

Do you need AV software? No, the Mac has it's own built-in, and there is very little malware for the Macintosh in the wild to be concerned about. The value in having this free AV program is that if you are the paranoid type, you can now use the best program available to satisfy yourself that you aren't infected with something. Also, this free version is sandboxed and it isn't deeply embedded in your system, like other AV programs, so it shouldn't impact your Mac's overall performance as just about all the other AV programs do.)
 
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But, and correct me if I'm wrong, a virus scanner for macOS doesn't really do anything, right? There are no virus definitions to look for.
 
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But then I found two Flash Plugins on my iMac's desktop that I do not recall downloading.


Adobe released a Flash update yesterday so there is a good chance if you have automatic update enabled, that is how the installer files got downloaded to your desktop.


- Patrick
======
 
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But, and correct me if I'm wrong, a virus scanner for macOS doesn't really do anything, right? There are no virus definitions to look for.

Once every 6 months or so I used to run ClamXav on my Mac... all it ever found were macro viruses inside Word files sent to me by Windows users LOL.

There's lots to look for... just nothing that affects macOS.

Malwarebytes is pretty much the only thing I ever run anymore... and that's just out of boredom.... nothing *ever* comes up (on my system - on friends' systems, particularly those who don't understand the concept of "phishing", it occasionally finds a Yahoo adware thing or something like that)
 
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But, and correct me if I'm wrong, a virus scanner for macOS doesn't really do anything, right? There are no virus definitions to look for.

There *has* been malware for the Macintosh. No actual "viruses" (defined as self-perpetuating malware) in the wild, but there have been a number of Trojan Horses. See:

The Safe Mac : Mac Malware Guide

(The above catalog stopped being updated about 5 years ago. Since then there have been about three or four new pieces of malware introduced into the wild every year. You just about never hear about them because Apple patches the Mac OS [by sending out Security Updates] well before any of them become a common threat.)

The thing is that the Mac has been patched against just about all of the malware in the above catalog (the Mac has several levels of anti-malware software built-in), and much of the malware that has existed is now extinct in the wild. So there are a good number of "definitions" for AV software to look for, just very few common active threats.

Of course, new, very effectively malicious malware could pop up in the wild at any moment. Apple typically takes a few weeks to patch the Mac OS when that happens. Intego (makers of Virus Barrier), on the other hand, are extremely diligent about getting new definitions out *immediately*. Usually they push out a new definition for new malware the day after new malware is discovered in the wild! So if you need or want the ultimate in protection, having Virus Barrier installed isn't at all silly. However, in practice it may not be at all necessary either.

I'm an attorney and I am obligated to do everything in my power to safeguard my clients' data. So I've been running Virus Barrier for the past 18 years. That said, in all that time it has never "saved me" from anything that I truly needed saving from. If I had just relied on Apple to patch the Mac OS as needed, and supplemented that with some common sense (e.g. don't open e-mail attachments from dubious sources), I would have been fine without Virus Barrier. So, if I weren't obligated to make "best efforts" to safeguard my clients' data, I wouldn't bother with Virus Barrier.
 
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DVD burning for backups? I use to do this many years ago, not anymore. :)

it would be easier to get an external USB hard drive and use carbon copy cloner..... each time you backup you only backup files that have changed, and it does not take hours after the initial backup. I do backups manually with carbon copy cloner. Plus with a CCC cloned drive you can boot from it should your main drive not boot for some reason. Just makes backups much easier than using DVDs...

Or you can keep using DVDs if you like its just more of a hassle in my view.
 
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chscag

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Or you can keep using DVDs if you like its just more of a hassle in my view.

Depends on what you backup to the DVDs. Backing up Photos for example, lends itself to using DVDs, assuming you're going to keep them for the long haul. But I agree with using CCC for daily backups and can't imagine using DVDs for that. I would need a case of DVDs. :smile
 
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I like the ease of time machine, set it and forget it. but it backs up every hour which is overkill for my needs. if they had a setting where It would back up once a week, id consider using it. CCC works well for me.
 

IWT


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I like the ease of time machine, set it and forget it. but it backs up every hour which is overkill for my needs. if they had a setting where It would back up once a week, id consider using it.

There are at least two ways of getting round this difficulty.

Firstly, you can schedule Time Machine Backups using an app such as Time MachineEditor: TimeMachineEditor

Secondly, you can disable Automatic BUs - System Preferences > Time Machine > Uncheck "Backup Automatically". This requires that you remember to click on the TM icon in the top menu bar and choose "Back Up Now" when it suits your convenience.

Both methods reduce the number of Local Snapshots that can use up storage space on your Mac.

Just a thought.

Ian
 

Rod


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I like the ease of time machine, set it and forget it. but it backs up every hour which is overkill for my needs. if they had a setting where It would back up once a week, id consider using it. CCC works well for me.

My wife was using an app called Time Machine Scheduler which enabled you to turn Auto Backup off on TM and backup weekly or whatever. It also notified her if a backup had been missed.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums
 
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I use Backup Scheduler, so there are several options.
 
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