Malwarebytes: Mac has viruses!

In case it's not completely obvious what you received is an advertisement intended for the sole purpose of frightening you in a pathetic attempt to sell you something you don't need. You don't have to play that game. Read Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

Mac malware is nothing new, but there has never been a macOS virus. To its (paper thin) credit, that advertisement does not in any way support the title of your Discussion "Malwarebytes: Mac has viruses!" That is not what it said. Promulgating lies benefits no one.

Direct link to the blog article without the "marketing campaign" parts of that URL.

MalwareBytes Blog – No “Apple magic” as 11% of macOS detections last year came from malware (March 5, 2024)

That blog described several malware threats – none of which appear to have been viruses, per se. A virus is a type of malware that works by spreading from one executable file to another. You run the virus, it modifies applications (or system code) on your computer to contain more copies of itself. Run them, and they try to spread it further. We call computer viruses that because they act like biological viruses – which commandeer the machinery of a victim's own cells to manufacture more viruses which in turn infect and take over more cells.

The blog described a couple of specific malware threats:

• LockBit – a type of ransomware. Ransomware attacks your data, encrypting your files so you can't use them. In some cases, if you pay the criminals, they give you keys to unlock your data. In others, even if you pay criminals, you never get your data back. Ransomware typically doesn't rely on infecting all of your applications, virus-style, though I suppose that it would theoretically be possible to develop a hybrid "ransomware virus."
• AMOS – a password stealer. Password stealers also are not viruses, although if you are tricked into installing one and the criminals subsequently get the passwords to your online banking accounts, you could be in for a bad day. Criminals tricked users into installing AMOS by building malicious Web sites that appeared to offer useful things – but that in fact were offering the AMOS malware.

Macs are not completely immune to those kinds of attacks. Nor are they immune to "phishing" attacks, where the criminals send deceptive e-mail, Web notifications, etc. and count on you to click on their links or call their number to deliver yourself straight into their "tender", "loving" hands.

It does pay to be careful – but the biggest "virus threat" to Macs usually comes in the form of "phishing" messages that claim that your computer has been infected by a "Trojan virus", or by "1034 viruses!!!", or that your memory is "34% damaged" and that your computer will be "permanently damaged" if you do not contact "help" (actually, the criminals) within the next 120 seconds.

The criminals know that such messages will frighten a lot of recipients, and that's what they're counting upon.

John Galt wrote:

Mac malware is nothing new, but there has never been a macOS virus.

There were a few Mac viruses in the pre-Mac-OS-X days.

I remember a free anti-virus application called Disinfectant that could detect and remove a half-dozen or more of them. It had a great About box. A bunch of virus names would march out, and align themselves into a column on the screen, to the music from the opening of the Monty Python TV show theme. (I think a computer rendition, not an actual recording.). Then a giant foot would come down and squash them all …

MacWorld recently published what they claim to be a "complete" list of recent Mac viruses, malware, and trojans. The only viruses on the list were Microsoft Word macro viruses, made possible by Office 2011, which added back macro support that was absent in Office 2008. Another piece of malware that was on the list (MacDefender) was something that claimed to be a virus scanner (!!!) but that was actually part of a Trojan Horse "phishing" scam.

MacWorld – Complete list of Mac viruses, malware and trojans (August 2, 2023)

OS X which includes macOS ≠ the various unnamed Macintosh operating systems that preceded them.

nVIR and its variants were propagated via floppy disk. These were pre-Intel; even pre-PowerPC.

Took me a while to find it, but https://tidbits.com/1995/04/10/new-nvir-clone-targets-disinfectant/

Of course the links are long dead, as well as Apple's Support document that recommended Disinfectant, but you can find an archived version here.

One of the best defenses against scammers is to know how to recognize a scam (so you can avoid engaging with the scammer and becoming their victim).

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

FTC – How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams

FTC – How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams

FTC – Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams

If you see a bunch of scam notifications pop up in the upper-right-hand corner of your Mac's screen, those would probably be Web site notifications. Here's how to block them, if you're using Safari. (The idea would be the same for other Web browsers, although the specific controls to change would be different.)

Stop unwanted Notifications - Apple Community