For Mac users, a Mac Trojan removal tool that really works is a necessity. Here are ten of the most effective defense and offense tools against the most stubborn virus out there. Flashback Checker. This useful app developed by Juan Leon is a tool that checks whether there is indeed a Flashback Trojan infection present. After installation. Fixed a bug that causes trojan to crash when a DNS query succeeds but there is no A or AAAA record related to it. Fixed CI to deploy trojan to macOS.
A phishing scam has targeted Mac users by redirecting them from legitimate websites to fake websites which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus. The user is then offered Mac Defender 'anti-virus' software to solve the issue.
This “anti-virus” software is malware (i.e. malicious software). Its ultimate goal is to get the user's credit card information which may be used for fraudulent purposes.
The most common names for this malware are MacDefender, MacProtector and MacSecurity.
Apple released a free software update (Security Update 2011-003) that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants.
The Resolution section below also provides step-by-step instructions on how to avoid or manually remove this malware.
Resolution
Trojan Remover For Mac Os X
How to avoid installing this malware
If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn’t work, then Force Quit the browser.
In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.
- Go into the Downloads folder, or your preferred download location.
- Drag the installer to the Trash.
- Empty the Trash.
How to remove this malware
If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:
- Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
- Use the Removal Steps below.
Removal steps
- Move or close the Scan Window.
- Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor.
- Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window.
- Under the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
- Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit.
- Quit Activity Monitor application.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name.
- Drag to Trash, and empty Trash.
Malware also installs a login item in your account in System Preferences. Removal of the login item is not necessary, but you can remove it by following the steps below.
- Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
- Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
- Click the minus button
Use the steps in the “How to avoid installing this malware” section above to remove the installer from the download location.
Note: Apple provides security updates for the Mac exclusively through Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads site. User should exercise caution any time they are asked to enter sensitive personal information online.
A Trojan Horse, in the computer world, is a potentially devastating type of malware that disguises itself as something desirable in order to be installed or downloaded onto a computer system. Once the Trojan program has been installed, it goes to work with its true purpose, executing malicious activities that greatly compromise the overall security of the system. If your Mac has been infected by a Trojan Horse, the program could do any number of things to the system—from initiating the installation of other viruses or malware programs, to giving a hacker complete remote control of your system.
Needless to say, a Trojan Horse is bad news for both you and your computer. But what can you do to avoid this type of malware and the headache it brings, or to detect and delete it from your Mac once you have been infected? Read on to learn more about this particularly malicious type of malware.
The Root of the “Trojan Horse” Name
During the Trojan War, after a lengthy siege of Troy, the Greeks decided to try to trick their enemies in order to get inside the seemingly impregnable walls of the city. Pretending to sail away in defeat, the Greeks constructed a giant horse and secretly hid soldiers inside. The Trojans, thinking themselves victorious in the war, pulled the horse inside the walls of Troy as a trophy of their triumph. At nightfall, the host of Greek soldiers hiding in the horse emerged and opened the gates of Troy, letting the rest of their army into the city, catching the Trojans off guard, slaughtering the Trojan army, and winning the war.
Trojan Horse programs use the same basic concept as the Greeks did to get inside Troy. These programs work by tricking a computer user into willfully downloading and running a disguised piece of malware, which activates malicious processes on your computer once it has been installed. The Trojan can be disguised as anything you might want to download, from a music or video file on a torrent site, to a third-party program. In other words, the best way to avoid a Trojan Horse is to be careful about what you are downloading and where you are downloading it from. Don’t click links from people or websites you don’t trust, download your software from the Mac App Store instead of from the internet, and avoid torrent sites and other P2P download networks.
Trojans on Mac: Do You Need to Worry?
While Trojan Horses are nowhere near as common for Mac OS X as they are for Microsoft Windows, that doesn’t mean Mac users never have to deal with these kinds of covert attacks. On the contrary, back in 2012, a Mac-based Trojan called “Flashback” made a bunch of headlines—including this Mashable article, which claimed that over 600,000 Mac computers had been infected. In that case, the Trojan disguised itself as an installer for the Adobe Flash Player. Once implemented on a Mac machine, the Flashback Trojan would go to work searching the computer for passwords and personal information.
The good news in the case of Flashback is that Apple was quick to solve the problem. Shortly after the Trojan Horse was discovered, Apple released a software update with a security patch that specifically prevented the Trojan from activating its malicious processes. In other words, users could protect themselves from the Trojan or cure the issue by simply staying on top of all OS X software updates. Users should take this story as a lesson to always install updates promptly when they become available, as doing so may be the easiest and best way to take care of any past or future Mac Trojan problems.
Other Types of Trojan Horses
While the Flashback Trojan was used for password and data theft, that use is just one of the many applications for which hackers have written Trojan Horse programs over the years. Trojans can also crash your computer, corrupt your files, connect with and infect other computers or devices on your network, hold your computer ransom and demand that you pay a fee to “unlock” your files, watch what you are doing on your screen, log your keystrokes, access your webcam, or install any other type of malware on the system—just to name a few possible effects of infection.
Trojan Linux Client
Avoiding Trojan Horses on Mac
As with other types of malware, you can detect most Trojans using a standard anti-virus or anti-malware program. With that said, keeping your Mac system updated is arguably an even more important safeguard for preventing Trojan Horse infection.
It’s also not a bad idea to Google “Mac Trojans” every once in awhile, just to see if there are any types of Trojans that are currently causing problems for a lot of Mac users. Since Trojans are still relatively and blissfully unusual on Macs, most of the bigger Trojan programs that can infect OS X will be reported on by major tech publications. Staying aware of the cyber threats that are out there will help you be more conscious of your internet behavior and more tuned into any unusual symptoms your computer may be exhibiting.