The Myth of the Impervious Mac

The Myth of the Impervious Mac

What's the issue?
Conventional thinking in computer user land - and rightly so for awhile now - is that Macs are unlikely to be infected by viruses. 

That thinking must now change. 

I can attest to working on four infected Macs in the last week prior to writing this article (June 2015). Mac users must start being more Internet-security savvy and protect their computers with security software and best practices.  

Why is this happening?
The infections I cleaned up targeted browser weak points and/or enticed the users to download software - social networking type of exploits. 

In one case the client I helped had downloaded software that launched a webpage prompting her to call a number for tech support. When someone with a thick foreign accent at a call center answered, she was immediately suspicious. When that person asked to remotely connect to her computer, she hung up. Then she called for our help to remove the infection. 

Another client was not so fortunate. She fell for the scam and allowed them remote access to her computer. After she realized the danger and disconnected the remote tech, she called us. I removed 51 infections on her Mac, including some Trojan viruses.

How to not fall victim to tech support scams?
In one of my previous blog posts, linked here, I explained how to be careful about requesting computer tech support. Be suspicious of anyone offering tech support online or calling you. And be very careful about downloading software on your computer. When in doubt, don't do it, or at least spend some time researching it. 

I recommend taking these protective measures on your Mac:

• Back up all important data at once and do so frequently.
• Make sure you have all Apple updates installed, and keep up with doing this.
• Try using Firefox instead of Safari and keep it updated.
• Create an admin account on your Mac, password protect it, then demote your usual account to standard user level and password protect it.
• Install an antivirus program like Sophos, Avast, or AVG and scan you entire Mac; do the scan weekly, or at least monthly.
• Make sure you are behind a hardware firewall in your home or business network.
• Keep up with Mac-specific security news.

Here are some additional Mac-specific security tips, which are a little more techie, such as enabling the Firewall and turning on Vault (to encrypt).

In Sum
Sorry to say it, but Mac users can no longer relax in thinking that Windows systems are the focal point for hackers. It's open season on everyone now. Be careful, and protect yourself the best you can. It's all we can really do, except for limiting computer use on the Internet, which of course, is an option given how much we use our smartphones these days for web and email. I wrote on this subject in this blog post.

Update 5/27/16... here's a post that references the hows and whys of Mac infections...


Thanks for reading,
Sam

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