I have been hacked a few times now and wish to purchase a good virus blocking program. Which ones are recommended?
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)
None, a/v programs will not stop hackers
And you may want to read the following, as there are a number of programs that due much more harm than good. http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg/
catherinefromdelta wrote:
I have been hacked a few times now
What makes you say that? What specifically have you seen happen that you believe is due to being hacked? If you can provide details, we can give more appropriate answers relating that particular issue.
Hi Catherine...!!
Anti virus programmes are only meant to work really well with a Windows PC because its inter windows defender antivirus is not capable enough to defend the machine.
Its totally a different case with Macs. People always try to treat Macs like PC’s when it comes to security. They have a false myth in their mind, that if anti virus programmes can protect PC’s then why not Macs.....?? But most are unaware that a Mac is built with an internal anti virus programme within its OS X.
To be honest with you, most of the Anti Virus programmes available will create problems rather than protecting the user’s mac.
If you really really wish to install an Anti Virus programme just for your peace of mind then I will say use this.........https://www.clamxav.com
Please note that none of the Anti Virus programmes will lend you a helping hand to protect your Mac against HACKING.....
The best way to stay away from it is to use your own “ WIT " while working on the machine.
Hope this helps...
I was just on the phone with Apple support and apparently you are the only endorsed outside site. Your link has a lot of information and it will take a little time for this non-computer-literate person to navigate it, but I will look carefully and appreciate your response.
Well the first two times were my fault--I opened an email link and I also downloaded what I thought was a program to give me access to rare movies. I'm learning.
But this late time, I can't link the problem to anything I did. It started with an i-tunes movie I downloaded and the start/pause button was flickering. Then the problems piled up with each time I restarted the computer. When I tried to do a search, the letters skipped. If I got into a site, it immediately went to the bottom of the page. Links didn't work.
I'm aware I may not be using the correct terms for what happened. It might not be 'hacking' or a virus, and so anti-virus programs may not help anyways.
Thank you for your response.
Yes, I'm slowly getting this picture. Thank you for your clear explanation.
Could you please explain what using your "own WIT" means?
Catherine, you should definitely read “The Safe Mac “ site.
That’s Thomas Reed’s work. He’s been a long time contributor in this community forum.....🙂
Sounds like you may have ended up installing adware those first two times. There's currently no Mac malware that I'm aware of that is capable of infecting the version of the system you're running, so it's not true malware, just adware. (Also not a hack, which implies that a hacker has somehow managed to gain access to your Mac, which is very unlikely from what you describe.)
I'm guessing, from the sounds of it, that Apple may have directed you to their page on manual adware removal and/or AdwareMedic for removing the adware in the first two cases, but that same solution isn't working for the problem you're having now. Is that correct?
If so, the symptoms you're having now don't sound much like adware, malware or hacking. One thing that will give us some good information to use for narrowing down variables would be to download EtreCheck:
Run it and post the report it generates here. We'll take a look at it and see if we can identify any obvious problems, like known bad third-party software or possible hardware issues.
If my guess was wrong, and you still haven't fully resolved the issues related to the first two incidents, and you're having a lot of pop-up ads and redirects in your web browser, see my Adware Removal Guide. (Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.) If nothing there helps, let us know.
I meant to say that the best way to stay away from hacking is to stay alert.....🙂
Sorry, but the word “ own” was a typo....😁
catherinefromdelta wrote:
I was just on the phone with Apple support and apparently you are the only endorsed outside site. Your link has a lot of information and it will take a little time for this non-computer-literate person to navigate it, but I will look carefully and appreciate your response.
Not my site (wish I could claim credit!) -- it is actually by thomas_r. who also responded to your post.
EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)
Report generated 4/28/15, 11:40 AM
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012) (Technical Specifications)
MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir5,2
1 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM Not upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported
Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 555 - SN = D862355089ZDKRNAF
Video Information: ℹ️
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Color LCD 1440 x 900
System Software: ℹ️
OS X 10.10.2 (14C109) - Time since boot: one day 23:26:31
Disk Information: ℹ️
APPLE SSD TS128E disk0 : (121.33 GB)
EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 120.12 GB (57.79 GB free)
Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked
Core Storage: disk0s2 120.47 GB Online
USB Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Internal Memory Card Reader
Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/fileshield/unsigned
[loaded] com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]
/Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned
[loaded] com.avast.PacketForwarder (2.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
[running] com.avast.update-agent.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.avast.userinit.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.avast.init.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.avast.uninstall.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.avast.update.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.skype.skypeinstaller.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plugin.AntiTheft.daemon.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.avast.home.userinit.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
[failed] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.9 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version
User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.105 [Click for support]
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
Flash Player [Click for support]
Java [Click for support]
Trusteer Endpoint Protection [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
Auto backup: YES
Volumes being backed up:
Macintosh HD: Disk size: 120.12 GB Disk used: 62.33 GB
Destinations:
Seagate Backup Plus Drive [Local]
Total size: 499.76 GB
Total number of backups: 18
Oldest backup: 2014-10-25 16:31:11 +0000
Last backup: 2015-04-23 22:54:44 +0000
Size of backup disk: Excellent
Backup size 499.76 GB > (Disk size 120.12 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
6% WindowServer
2% fontd
1% mdworker(11)
0% com.avast.daemon
0% notifyd
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
553 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)
539 MB kernel_task
164 MB Safari
49 MB mdworker(11)
41 MB com.avast.daemon
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
76 MB Free RAM
3.92 GB Used RAM
57 MB Swap Used
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
Apr 26, 2015, 12:13:24 PM Self test - passed
Apr 25, 2015, 08:59:50 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.avast.daemon_2015-04-25-205950_[redacted].c pu_resource.diag [Click for details]
Uninstall the following items
MacKeeper
Avast
Trusteer
None of them have any use and all of them can and will cause your Mac to run incorrectly.
They also do not protect you from anything (especially themselves)
Will do. Thank you.
You're welcome, let us know how it goes 🙂
which virus scanning programs are best?
