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Malware Spigot

Hi all,


I was pretty sure that MacBook Pro doesn't need any antivirus for past 8 months. But yesterday i was taken back on seeing spigot malware in macbook. So I installed Sophos AV in my MacBook Pro . It cleared the malware soon. Is sophos a good AV for OS X platform. Can I trust that Antivirus ? Please help me fellas..

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), Early 2015 Model

Posted on Feb 13, 2016 11:09 PM

Reply
6 replies

Feb 14, 2016 4:18 AM in response to Vignesh Jeyaveerapandian

1. Disable Extensions and test.


Safari > Preferences > Extensions


Select extensions, uncheck boxes beside “Enable Extension” and test.

Enable Extensions one by one and test.

To uninstall any extension, select it and click the “Uninstall” button.




2. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :

Select your preferred search engine.


3. Safari > Preferences > General > Homepage:

Set your Homepage.


4. Use free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac/ AdwareMedic to remove adware


http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php


Download, install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.


or


Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

Feb 14, 2016 4:36 AM in response to Vignesh Jeyaveerapandian

Hi Vignesh:


Most people on this forum will tell you you don't need Antivirus software and will tell you to uninstall Sophos Antivirus.

I am running Sophos and am not having any problems.

I came from a Windows background where it was hammered into you that you must use Antivirus software.

From reading all the posts, I also believe you don't need Antivirus software.

If my computer were to slow down or have problems, I would probably think about uninstalling it, but it seems to be running fine.


So it sounds like what you had was not a virus but just Adware or Malware.


A lot of people on this forum will recommend MalwareBytes to remove any malware. I have not used it on my Mac, but I have used it on my PC without any problems.


You could also try downloading EtreCheck http://etrecheck.com/ and post the results here. If there is any malware it will show up.


Kim

Feb 14, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Vignesh Jeyaveerapandian

You could easily have removed "Spigot" without the need for any software. You don't need, and should not use, "Sophos" or any other "anti-virus," "anti-malware," or "cleanup" software. To avoid being infected with malware is easy. Just don't download and run unknown software that you don't need, merely because some stranger on a website tells you to.

Feb 14, 2016 7:23 AM in response to Vignesh Jeyaveerapandian

Vignesh Jeyaveerapandian wrote:


Can I trust that Antivirus ?


No. Non-Apple "anti-virus" software serves no beneficial purpose on Macs. Install no such product.


Adware does not install itself without your willing concurrence. To learn how that can occur please read How to install adware. If you already inadvertently stalled adware, Apple's recommended corrective actions are included in that document.

Malware Spigot

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