mmarchione

Q: How do I get rid of malware on my iMac???

HELP I HAVE MALWARE.

APPLE IS QUICK TO SAY I SHOULDN'T HAVE BUT NOT HOW TO GET RID OF IT!!!!

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 7, 2014 6:52 PM

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Q: How do I get rid of malware on my iMac???

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,Apple recommended

    Kappy Kappy Apr 7, 2014 6:54 PM in response to mmarchione
    Level 10 (271,291 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 7, 2014 6:54 PM in response to mmarchione

    What makes you think so?

     

    Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

     

    An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

    Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

    See these Apple articles:

     

              Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

              OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

              OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

              About file quarantine in OS X

     

    If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using Dr.Web Light from the App Store. It's free, and since it's from the App Store, it won't destabilize the system. If you prefer one of the better known commercial products, then Thomas recommends using Sophos.(Thank you to Thomas Reed for these recommendations.) If you already use Sophos, then be aware of this if you are using Mavericks: OS X Mavericks- Sophos Anti-Virus on-access scanner versions 8.0 - 9.1 may cause unexpected restarts

     

    From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:

     

    The facts are:

     

    1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.

    2. There is no anti-malware that can detect anything targeting the Mac because there

         is no Mac malware in the wild, and therefore, no "signatures" to detect.

    3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that

         the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering

         techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.

    4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on

        your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a

        protection against malware.

    5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware

        from which they purport to protect you.

    6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.

    7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.

    8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something

        you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.

    9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.

  • by thomas_r.,Apple recommended

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Apr 8, 2014 4:28 AM in response to mmarchione
    Level 7 (30,924 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 8, 2014 4:28 AM in response to mmarchione

    mmarchione wrote:

     

    HELP I HAVE MALWARE.

     

    What specific symptoms are you seeing that lead you to believe you have malware?

     

    Most of the time, when someone says they have malware on a Mac, they are seeing symptoms that are not actually in any way related to malware. Thus, knowing exactly what those symptoms are is important to solve the problem.

     

    If the problem you are seeing is that you have ads popping up in your web browser where there should not be ads, or something similar, you probably either have some kind of adware installed or have a network problem. See my Adware Removal Guide for help identifying and fixing the problem.

     

    For more information about Mac malware, and how to protect yourself from it, see my Mac Malware Guide.

  • by csneal,

    csneal csneal Feb 5, 2016 11:47 AM in response to mmarchione
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 5, 2016 11:47 AM in response to mmarchione

    Apple iMac newly wiped at Apple Store and running 10.11.3

     

    Reinstalled office from disks

     

    Still getting a pop up box - “An unknown service (port 3325) is starting on your computer”   I have Norton 5.3 and a firewall on and check deny access.

     

    This time also said - “Allow … Microsoftword.app to accept incoming applications”

     

     

     

    Do you have a way to get rid of this?

     

     

    Thank you

  • by MrHoffman,

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Feb 5, 2016 2:23 PM in response to csneal
    Level 6 (15,627 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 5, 2016 2:23 PM in response to csneal

    Easiest way to get rid of that is to remove Norton.   (It's not very effective, per the folks that make Norton.)    But these incoming connections are longstanding behavior of Microsoft products, whether Norton has noticed or not.  Your choices here are to either authorize the access, or to remove Norton, or to remove Microsoft software, or maybe see if the code-signing mechanism mentioned in that last link might resolve this.

  • by csneal,

    csneal csneal Feb 6, 2016 6:26 AM in response to MrHoffman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 6, 2016 6:26 AM in response to MrHoffman

    Apple iMac newly wiped at Apple Store and running 10.11.3

     

    Reinstalled office from disks

     

    Still getting a pop up box - “An unknown service (port 3325) is starting on your computer”   I have Norton 5.3 and a firewall on and check deny access.

     

    This time also said - “Allow … Microsqoftword.app to accept incoming applications”

     

     

     

    Do you have a way to get rid of this?

     

     

    Thank you, Ms. Neal



    I was not clear.  Norton was not on the computer when this occurred.   Will a system restore by the Apple Store work?


  • by MrHoffman,

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Feb 6, 2016 11:28 AM in response to csneal
    Level 6 (15,627 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 6, 2016 11:28 AM in response to csneal

    At least some versions of Office normally open up a port for their own entertainment.

     

    Which version of Office, and is it patched to current?

     

    The question is what is generating that pop-up.

     

    Is Little Snitch around?   If so, remove it. 

     

    Is the firewall set to disallow signed applications access?    > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > unlock the padlock > Advanced.  Either add the Microsoft applications to the list, or allow signed apps to open ports.

     

    Then if that all fails...  ring up Microsoft and ask for assistance.

  • by NortonSupport,

    NortonSupport NortonSupport Feb 12, 2016 1:54 AM in response to csneal
    Level 1 (91 points)
    Feb 12, 2016 1:54 AM in response to csneal

    Hi,

     

    You are running an old version of Norton. Please visit https://updatecenter.norton.com/ to upgrade your Norton on your mac.

     

    Harini

    Norton Support

  • by we04ndy,

    we04ndy we04ndy Feb 13, 2016 7:48 AM in response to mmarchione
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 13, 2016 7:48 AM in response to mmarchione

    I recently installed the free Avira malware/viral protection software and feel it is working very well. Picked up something in my mail and automatically quarantined. Reviews of the software have been excellent.