How do I check my 4 year old Mac for Malware?

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Level 1

4 points

How do I check my 4 year old Mac for Malware?

I have a 20" Desktop iMac, Version 10.5.8 that I bought in '08. My mac was re-installed with Leopard O.S. in 2009.

My email account was hacked. I reset/cleared my Safari of cookies & history, and then I changed my mail password. Now Yahoo won't let me send emails, even though I can sign in and recieve them. I got 1 spam after changing my password.

People on Yahoo Answers told me to check for malware, and so did Yahoo mail's articles about Abuse & Spam. However, when I bought my Mac 4 years ago, the Apple store told me all Macs will always be "virus proof".

Do I need to check and clear this 2008 Mac for malware? If I do, then how do I this quickly, simply, and for free?

Also, how do I check my security settings and what should I look for and change them to?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Apply My New Preferences in Pages

Posted on Dec 18, 2012 9:22 PM

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Answer 1

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thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Dec 19, 2012 6:12 AM in response to ArunaAdvaney

I posted the following response to the same question you posted on another topic:

I'm just really concerned, because my email was hacked, and the Abuse & Spam articles are telling me I need to check for malware. But Apple told me that my Mac would always be "virus proof".

I think that you're misunderstanding what you were told. Either that or the person you spoke to at Apple didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Nobody can ever guarantee that a system will always be "virus-proof."

Still, your e-mail account getting hacked is not related to malware of any kind. SeeSomeone is sending messages from my e-mail address!. For more information about this topic, see my Mac Malware Guide.

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Answer 2

ArunaAdvaney Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 19, 2012 5:16 PM in response to thomas_r.

Thank you for the Mac Malware Guide.

It wasn't one specific person who told me that Macs are virus free. When I was shopping for a computer 4 years ago, I remember hearing that from computer sales people at Best Buy, as well as the staff at the Apple store when it was purchased for me. I was under the impression that the software updates and the built-in virus protection would cover the life of the product, even after the three-year phone technical support would run out.

I don't remember being informed that Apple would stop sending me software updates, and that my Mac could catch a virus. I don't know if there is a virus, and just wondering if I should be worried now.

I did read your Malware Guide up to here:

"Mac Malware

Almost all of the malware that affects Macs lies firmly in the trojan category...For the most part, there’s very little to be concerned about. Most are rare, to varying degrees between very and extraordinarily, and half of them either never were or no longer are a threat. Almost all of the ones that are real threats can be handled by anti-malware features in versions of Mac OS X starting with 10.5 (Leopard)."

I took that ^ paragraph to mean that I'm okay, but I'll probably read the rest of it.

My Mac is the 1st and only internet tool I ever owned. I was led to believe that I had lifetime software updates that would keep it current and protected, and that the upgrades and new O.S. were a luxury option.

Thanks for the information.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Dec 19, 2012 5:43 PM in response to ArunaAdvaney

My Yahoo account has been hacked several times - as mentioned, that has nothing to do with any malware. All it takes is a computer savvy whiz to get past your (or any of your friends') password. Among other things, they are after email addresses. In my case, my Yahoo email address has probably been sold several times and it is now being forged onto spam emails supposedly being sent from me.

Changing your password is good; however, your email address is already being sold and used for sending out spam, so unless you want to delete that Yahoo account and establish a new one, there isn't much you can do. Just about everyone falls prey to these people.

I was led to believe that I had lifetime software updates that would keep it current and protected, and that the upgrades and new O.S. were a luxury option.

Who told you that? The OS will be updated for a while; however, if you really are on 10.5.x, that OS has long been "archived" since the new 10.6, then 10.7, and now 10.8 has been released. Other software is also continuously upgraded in order to be compatible with the latest OS. There are very few (none?) companies that will give you lifetime updates - they want to sell you a newer version.

Keeping an OS current and upgraded is the best way to keep your Mac safe - getting upgrades will cost money though; I don't believe Apple has supported your OS version for some time now. They still support 10.6, but I would guess that this will not last much longer since we are two major OS releases away from that already.

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