Unicorn17

Q: What is this? Trojan or other?

Hello, I am having a now persistent problem with my mini mac(s) and would really appreciate help. I am leading a boring internet life while job hunting (or trying to!) and have always been pretty cautious about the stuff I access and download from sites anyway.

 

I first noticed a problem last week on my new Mac (running Yosemite) when using Spotify, I had some odd noises coming out of my speakers and just thought it was connection trouble with the internet. Next day - slightly erratic behaviour then developed e.g. the webpage on Safari kept resizing and my mouse wasn't clicking accurately. Next thing I know,  +++++ is being typed across anything I try to type on. Restarted my computer, but couldn't enter the password because of the +++ problem (accompanied by some musical beeping). OMG virus on my Mac I thought! Needed to send some e-mails and wanted to find out how to solve the problem, so I got out my old mini mac, which I think has Lion on it - was not on Spotify, used Chrome browser and possibly Thunderbird.  After half an hour, I got some beeps, flickering webpage - I just shut the thing down and haven't opened it since!

 

I spoke to my internet provider and a Mac repairs shop - upshot - changed e-mail password and reloaded operating system on new mac using Option-R boot, loaded Sophos and trashed my downloads and quite a lot of e-mails. It's been fine for a week, but it's gone mad again!!  I got odd noise over my speakers last night when using Spotify- ran Sophos which detected nothing, assumed I was being paranoid, but I have the ++++ problem again. I use Safari to browse, I use Microsoft Outlook for e-mail, but used to use Thunderbird and occasionally access my old e-mails on that.

 

What exactly is this? Where is it hiding and is a total wipe of my hard drives the only answer? Is that the answer, or could/should I do something else less/more drastic? Why isn't Sophos finding it? I have an external hard drive and an iPad, could anything be hiding on these? Is the root of the problem outside of my system and what on earth do I do about that?

 

Just reloaded OS X on my new Mac, but not feeling very optimistic. Very, very, very grateful for advice.

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on May 27, 2016 4:51 AM

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Q: What is this? Trojan or other?

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  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio May 27, 2016 5:01 AM in response to Unicorn17
    Level 6 (17,283 points)
    Apple Watch
    May 27, 2016 5:01 AM in response to Unicorn17

    Why isn't Sophos finding it? Becuse Sophos is anti virus software and there are currently, nor have there ever been, any viruses for OS X. Sophos is less than useless and will only eventually slow your Mac to a crawl. You should at least consider removing it.

    You've likely downloaded some adware/malware. You can try running MalwareBytes http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php or you can try Apples manual removal steps Stop pop-up ads in Safari - Apple Support or Thomas Reeds manual removal steps http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 27, 2016 8:35 AM in response to Unicorn17
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    May 27, 2016 8:35 AM in response to Unicorn17

    Why isn't Sophos finding it?

    For two reasons:

     

    1. There's nothing to find. Your problem has nothing to do with "viruses."

    2. "Sophos" is useless junk, like all other "anti-virus" and "anti-malware" software for the Mac. The first thing you need to do is to get rid of it according to the developer's instructions. Then you need to fix your hardware problem. Probably the keyboard is malfunctioning.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. May 27, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Unicorn17
    Level 7 (30,944 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 27, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Unicorn17

    This is not the result of any kind of malware on your Mac. What it sounds like is a hardware issue. If you are using a wired mouse and keyboard, then the fact that you're having a problem with both would probably indicate a problem with your USB hardware. If you're using Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, then it may be a problem with the Bluetooth hardware. Alternately, if there were some common event that affected both devices, such as a liquid spill, then it could be the keyboard and mouse themselves.

     

    Ultimately, you should contact Apple for assistance. Preferably, you should get an appointment at the Genius Bar at your nearest Apple Store, and take all the affected hardware (Mac Mini, keyboard and mouse) to the appointment for the Genius to look at.

  • by Unicorn17,

    Unicorn17 Unicorn17 May 28, 2016 4:15 AM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 28, 2016 4:15 AM in response to thomas_r.

    Thanks very much for the advice. Malwarebytes now installed, but negative scan as expected. Sophos did slow down my old mac, so have uninstalled it too. I have an old wired mouse and keyboard, which unfortunately are not under guarantee like the Mac. I did consider it might be a hardware issue, but didn't understand how that would fit with the repeated progression from weird noises to flickering web pages and then auto-typing. Had a small spill on the old mouse the other day and I think the keyboard must be well over 10 years old now, so maybe I just need to upgrade! Will get advice from Apple as you suggest. Thanks for your time.