Cox says my computer is infected

Dear Deedle-Doodle: Sounds to me like this is a load of...... let's just say it makes the flowers and grass grow taller and better....

You don't need whatever it is that Cox is trying to sell you on. You also don't need "Clean my Mac", McAfee or anything claiming to fix your mac or clean it from junk. Just regular Malwarebytes I think is fine, once in a while. Throw it out and go have a good cup of coffee...

john b

You should definitely call or chat with the Cox tech support team to get more information about what triggered their message to you so you can figure out if there really is a problem and what & where to look. If Cox saw some type of problematic behavior from your modem, then that is a big deal and needs to be addressed. If the problematic behavior persists and is a danger or if it affects the Cox network, they can disconnect your modem. They can also confirm if the email alert was sent by Cox.

The problem may not be with your Mac at all. It could be a problem with your modem or router or any device connected to your network including phones, tablets, TVs, routers, access points, connected home assistants like the Amazon Echo, any connected home automation system, or even a guest connecting their laptop or other device to your network. People have a lot of devices connected to the network these days. Does Cox provide a public WiFi guest account on their supplied modem/router? If so, perhaps a neighbor connected to the public guest WiFi network hosted by your modem/router and was the source of the problem. If you have kids, then you should definitely check out their computers for issues.

It is also possible this is a scam phishing email from a third party trying to have you call the number in the email or click on the link in the email and get your password and personal information. Or it could be a legitimate message from Cox trying to scare you into using their extra paid services. If it is a legitimate email from Cox, then it is disappointing more detailed information was not provided and you really do need to investigate and confirm if there is a real issue here. Please do not click on any links in the email and do not call any numbers provided in the email. Instead contact Cox support directly from their website from a URL you type in or from information located on your billing statements.

As others here have mentioned, as long as you are careful with the websites you access, the links you click on both on websites and within emails, and you are careful with downloading and running third party apps, you don't need any extra AV software, cleaning software, etc. for a Mac as most of them cause more problems than they solve.

Good luck.

First, have you verified that the source of this email is in fact

a valid Cox Cable address?

Many scams are going around that look so very convincing. Definitely do not click

that link in the email. Only log into your account by using your normal means

of logging in. Then see if there is "verification" there. Clicking that link could take

you to some well designed scam site tat will attempt to a) extract what ever information

they can or b) get you to actually download some malicious app.

I've experienced the same problem and it was easily taken care of:

At that time, I called my ISP and they suggested that I reset my router. The rep explained that when you reset your router (or modem), a new/different IP address is assigned to your account. So, the first IP address might have been known and/or blacklisted, a new/different one would not be. I reset my router (unplug for 30 seconds, plug back in, and simply wait until all the lights stop flashing) and have not had a problem since.

Good for you for keeping at Cox tech support. They should definitely provide you with basic information & details about any security incident without having to subscribe to a package. Now I can understand needing to pay them for support on diagnosing the issue further as it can be an involved process, but it would also be in their own best interest to assist you.

First thing you should do is reboot your modem/router although a full reset is better, but a full reset requires setting the router up again. After power cycling the modem/router, log into the router and make sure to change the router's login name & password (some won't let you change the login name) and make sure to write it down somewhere in case you forget it or you will need to do a full reset to regain access. Then make sure all external public internet access to the router is disabled. If the modem/router was setup by Cox, it may never have been properly secured and could have been compromised. You can also check the modem/router's logs to see if they contain any useful information to assist you. A full reset may erase these logs.

Malwarebytes is usually pretty good about removing malicious items, but it doesn't hurt to contact them for confirmation. Keep in mind the problem could be with a visitor's computer/tablet/phone or other device. If you get another notice from Cox, it might be a good idea to find out the exact date & time of the incident so you can try to determine if you had visitors at the time or what you may have been doing on the computer at the time or if you or another family member or guest turned on or used an internet connected device. It may have no correlation to your own use as the malware could just call home at any time it wants.

While you may have been on legitimate and normally safe websites, it is possible one of the websites is/was compromised. You could try checking your browsers history for the URL/IP address in question just in case.

If you have any Windows computers in your house or if anyone brings one to your house, that would definitely be the most likely source of the problem and they should be checked out for infections.

Hopefully Cox will send you another e-mail if it ever happens again. Hopefully no new notices from Cox means it was a one time incident or perhaps securing and power cycling the modem/router solved it.

Good luck in your investigation.

Call them up and ask them to provide proof that your modem is at fault. Did they provide the modem/router?

Do not forget to mention you are on a Mac, not Windows.

That is the biggest crock of of crap I have ever seen.

I would just delete it and let them rant on. If they get to obnoxious threat to switch to another carrier.