Virus?

Please post the EtreCheck output as a "Reply" to this thread

<https://itunes.apple.com/app/etrecheck/id1423715984?ls=1&mt=12>

Click on the Share icon and select "Copy Report"

And then Paste the report as a "Reply" to this thread using an "Additional Text" box.

EtreCheck is a tool that helps Apple Support Community volunteers debug problems without any access to the troubled computers. Debugging problems can be a difficult task even when the machine is in front of you. Attempting it via a discussion forum is extremely difficult. EtreCheck is a great help that regards.

I ran across this in another topic. Specifically, the message is generated by the scamware, MacSecurityPlus. Yes, the linked site stupidly calls it a virus, but it's not. It's a Trojan, something YOU installed it in some manner.

Do not even think about clicking the green buttons on the site I linked to. Virtually 100% of such tools are worse than for what they claim to do. The manual instructions are intentionally difficult to follow, and almost never work. The reason for that is to try and encourage you to click the button. The link is only to show what malware you installed.

The only choice regular members here will recommend to remove such garbage is MalwareBytes for Mac. It's free to use and easily uninstalled from its menu when you're done with it.

dona214 Said:

"[...]I force quit it, but it reopens, although a window never does. I don't have it set to open at login and it won't let me remove it from the dock. This started happening at the same time as the "low memory" message appeared."

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You are Welcome.

Try performing a Dock Restart.

This is performed in in Terminal.

I. Open Terminal:

1. Hold Down: command
2. Press: the spacebar
3. Type: Terminal
4. Open: Terminal

II. Use the Command:

1. Type this Command: killall Dock
2. Press: return

III. See if this Works:

1. Log: Out
2. Log: Back In
3. See If: you can now remove Terminal from the Dock. By dragging it to the Trash.

Screenshot of dragging Safari to the Trash, to remove Safari from the Dock:

Self propagating Viruses do not exist for macOS

Anything malware/adware macOS gets is when the user is tricked into installing it.

MalwareBytes does an excellent job of removing them, so if MalwareBytes is happy, then you are good.

Low memory could refer to 2 things.

Your boot disk storage is very low, so macOS cannot expand the /var/vm/swapfile(s)

or you have an application (or several applications) that have requested more virtual memory than macOS can manage in the RAM on your Mac. Virtual memory requires kernel based page tables. The more virtual memory the applications request, the more page tables that have to be created. Eventually the kernel decides that there is so much page table space taking up RAM that there is no longer room for applications code and data. Then macOS issue a message such as you saw.

Causes for apps asking for lots of virtual memory.

• App with a memory leak (ask for memory, use it, forget to give it back, ask for memory, use it, forget to give it back, wash, rinse, repeat)
• Apps such as image and video editing that are working with very large files, or lots of files that add up to lots of memory. Note it does not need to be image/video apps, it could be any app that works with very large files.
• A web browser that has a gazillion tabs open, with each tab consuming lots of RAM
• Just running lots and lots of reasonable memory using apps concurrently. Not 5 or 10, but say 50, 100, etc... It adds up.

dona214 Said:

"Virus? I'm using Mac Yosemite. Suddenly, when turning on computer, I get error message stating 'Your computer is low on memory. To free up some memory, please close a few applications.'"

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This is No Virus:

First Off, you will never get a virus on your Mac. So, put that aside.

What to Try:

Rid of Login Items:

I would check to see if there are any Login Items that automatically open and run after each login. Rid of whatever is not need be. Once Removed, log back in and see if you no longer get this error message after you log in. So...

1. Go to: System Preferences
2. Select: Users & Groups
3. Select: [Your User Name]
4. Click: Login Item tab
5. Rid of: Unneeded Items (Click: "-")

Here's an excellent explanation I found explaining what MacSecurityPlus does. Bold text is mine.

When MacSecurityPlus is installed, it displays a fake system window stating that the Mac computer is low on memory and suggests users free-up memory by closing opened/running applications. The pop-up window hides another window beneath it, a system window in which the MacSecurityPlus app requests permission to control the Google Chrome or Safari browser. This is to gain access to documents and data stored on the browser and perform various actions using it. By closing the previous pop-up window, people are tricked into clicking the "OK" button on the hidden window and involuntarily giving permission for MacSecurityPlus to control the browser. It also displays these windows when users try to delete it. We have provided instructions about how to remove this adware-type app below. [Yet another attempt to get the reader to download a crap cleaning tool.] Other problems with having apps such as MacSecurityPlus installed are display of pop-ups ads and tracking of users' browsing activity. Typically, ads displayed by adware are annoying and conceal underlying content of visited websites. People who click them are usually redirected to various untrustworthy, potentially malicious websites. Some of these ads might be designed to run scripts that download and install even more unwanted apps. Furthermore, apps such as MacSecurityPlus collect IP addresses, entered search queries, URLs of visited websites, geolocation and other browsing-related data. It is very likely that developers share all gathered information with third parties who misuse it to generate revenue. Note that some of these people might be cyber criminals.

You're welcome. 🙂