Q: How to detect blackshades Trojan horse
Today's news about a crackdown on the use of the Trojan horse malware called Blackshades has me worried my Mac might be already infected/affected. How can I find out if this malware is present on my Mac and if it is how can I remove it?
Posted on May 19, 2014 2:04 PM
HotJohnnieNYC wrote:
Is there anything like it that can affect a Mac?
There is malware that can affect the Mac. Although this has not always been the case, at this time, all Mac threats require you to open some app in order to become infected. Generally, this happens by tricking you into opening it.
Once you open malware, most of it actually will not ask for any kind of permission. You will typically see the "this was downloaded from the internet, are you sure you want to open it" warning and that's it. It's actually quite rare that malware will request your admin password, as there are ways to infect the user account that are every bit as effective as gaining root access to infect the computer as a whole.
Most malware is blocked directly by Mac OS X, but not all is. You cannot assume that Mac OS X will protect you. Similarly, if you install anti-virus software, you cannot assume that will protect you. No such protection is, or can ever be, 100% reliable.
For more information on what the threats are and how to protect yourself, see my Mac Malware Guide.
(Fair disclosure: The Safe Mac is my site, and contains a Donate button, so I may receive compensation for providing links to The Safe Mac. Donations are not required.)
Posted on May 20, 2014 5:27 AM