RAT - Remote Access Trojan (is this good security)

Question

Level 1

4 points

RAT - Remote Access Trojan (is this good security)

Hello!

I have been reading about RAT (Remote Access Trojan). I've seen different articles some saying it requires Java. I think I don't have that trash.

I am paranoid, only apps I have downloaded have been GIMP, VLCPlayer, ABC Player Lite (removed), Paint X Lite, printer drivers.

Question I need to ask is that if I keep eye on the System Preferences > Sharing and make sure none of the 8 boxes are marked, would this mean there are no RATS?

What I need to know is: if Remote Access Trojan is in, would some of those boxes have to be marked or can RAT controllers control my Mac even if none of the boxes are marked?

I hope someone can answer this question. If any of those boxes must be marked for hacker to control my Mac, I have nothing to worry as I would never mark those myself.

OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 1, 2016 4:46 PM

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Answer 1

Rysz

Level 8

44,449 points

Sep 1, 2016 8:29 PM in response to Astorius

Let the Mac take care of its own security. It really doesn't need any assistance from you.

Stop reading about security issues. You don't need to know anything about it, especially if you don't fully understand their implications.

Download all the apps you could possibly want to try from the App Store and enjoy using your Mac.

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Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Sep 1, 2016 9:51 PM in response to Astorius

If you are really concerned about securities through network strong password of wireless network should be created , the finest way to secure data is enable file vault .

Any thing could happen through network but user must be alert and try as much strong settings by creating admin account as compared to standard account .

Happy computing , nothing to worry .

Thanks !

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Answer 3

Astorius Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2016 3:27 PM in response to Astorius

Thank you for your replies!

I know I am paranoid to extremes and try to ease it.

But it would help a lot to know if such trojan would register in the sharing menu. If some of those boxes would have to be marked for RAT's activities, I would feel lot better being able to just glance on the menu and see it's okay.

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Answer 4

etresoft

Level 9

56,512 points

Sep 2, 2016 4:37 PM in response to Astorius

Hellos Astorius,

No. The sharing preferences pane, and the firewall for that matter, are useless to even see all legitimate Apple services, let alone any services installed by trojans.

I wrote a little diagnostic program to help show what software is running in the background. Download EtreCheck from http://www.etrecheck.com, run it, and paste the results here. EtreCheck is perfectly safe to run, does not ask for your password to install, and is signed with my Apple Developer ID.

If adware is installed, EtreCheck will help you remove it, although you may have to supply a password. If you aren’t comfortable with that, just post the EtreCheck report here and other helpers can tell you exactly what files need to be deleted and how to do so.

EtreCheck will also not specifically show services, but it will show all hidden, background processes.

Disclaimer: Although EtreCheck is free, there are other links on my site that could give me some form of compensation, financial or otherwise.

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