Smith Mac Users

Up until recently, Mac users have been able to enjoy fairly smooth sailing when it comes to worrying about viruses. As PCs (Windows machines) have been the more popular choice of the computing market, virus creators typically target PCs for their devious creations. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, a new virus called MacDefender was released specifically targeting Macs.

MacDefender (aka MacProtector or MacSecurity) is a phishing scam designed to get your credit card information. The scam redirects a web browser to pages which claim your computer is infected with a virus which can only be removed by downloading MacDefender. Here our a few steps to help prevent MacDefender from infecting your computer.

1. Open Safari and select Preferences from the Safari menu. On the General tab, remove the check from Open “safe” files after downloading. The virus is thought to be taking advantage of this default Mac setting when possible. Safari’s preferences also control how other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc.) work so disabling this setting will also help protect your computer when using other web browsers.

2. If you are redirected to a page which says you have a virus or you think might be a click or two away from getting the virus, force quit your browser immediately. Force quitting will hopefully stop the virus from installing. To perform a Force quite, hold down the the Option, Command and Esc keys. Select the application you would like to close and click Force Quit.

3. If you have contracted the virus, here are some steps to remove the virus from your computer:

a. Move or close the Scan Window
b. Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor
c. Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window
d. 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
e. Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit
f. Quit Activity Monitor application
g. Open the Applications folder
h. Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name
i. 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.

a. Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
b. Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
c. Click the minus button

Here is a link to an announcement concerning this virus from Apple which contains more detailed information: