As technology continues to develop, the more complex viruses will be and the likelihood that people will target your new technological devices, such as your iPhone, iPad and Mac with a virus. For this reason, it’s important to be aware of the different viruses that exist in order to avoid them or know what to do if one gets on your system. Here is how to scan for viruses on Mac.
Can your Mac get a virus?
The simple answer to this is yes. All electronic devices whether they are an Apple Mac or Windows laptop can be subject to a virus attack. The way these different malwares get onto your device will vary depending on how you use your laptop. Some will be hidden within unauthorised attachments, whilst others can attach themselves to applications. This is why it’s important to not download anything you don’t know of and to have antivirus software installed to protect you at all times. Attackers can be very sneaky and will unfortunately continue to find new ways to try and get onto people’s systems.
How do you know if you have a virus on your system
As mentioned above, malware can hide within many different areas of your system. If you are aware of viruses, then there is a good chance that one hasn’t gotten into your system. However, this isn’t always the case. Below are several things to look out for if you suspect you have a virus on your system.
- The homepage of your browser has changed when you did not change it.
- Extensions have been installed when you did not install any.
- You are unable to open private files due to a virus stopping you
- Popups and ads keep appearing on your screen
- Your Mac is running a lot slower than it normally does.
How to scan for viruses on Mac?
Anti-virus protector
The most effective way to scan and protect your new Mac is to use an antivirus protector. Antivirus protectors are designed to run in the background, notifying you if malware is trying to get onto your system and removing it right away. The software’s are so complex and are regularly updated to protect you from the newest and most common threats that viruses bring. If you have a virus on your system which managed to get in before you installed a virus protector, your virus protector will run a scan instantly and remove any signs of it. When choosing which virus protector to go for, look out for things like the price, whether it protects your emails, does it do real-time scans and how fast it is? Always read the user reviews to see what other people who are using it think of the program.
How to scan for viruses on Mac Manually?
If you don’t have a virus protector installed on your Apple Mac and don’t plan to install one, there are a number of things you can do manually to protect your new Mac. These involve the following:
Check your browser extensions
If you suspect you have malware on your system, a commonplace that it could hide is within your browser extensions. Take a look through the extensions of your browsers and check for anything unusual that you did not install yourself. If anything is there, remove it instantly. The longer you own your Mac the more extensions you are likely to have on it, it’s always good practice to review them, even if you don’t suspect a virus.
Remove suspicious apps
Just like your extensions, viruses can be hidden within non-reputable applications that you have installed on your new Mac. Take a minute to explore your installed applications, reviewing them for anything suspicious. If you see anything that you don’t remember installing, remove it instantly. Try to do this once a month to keep on top of things and reduce the space your applications are taking on your disk space.
Clear your downloads
Review your downloads folder on a regular occurrence, removing anything suspicious as well as old. This will not only help free up space on your hard drive, but it will also remove any viruses that may have attached them to the files within your downloads. The reason your downloads can get infected is because this is where your files are saved once you have downloaded them from the web.
We would always advise using antivirus software to scan for viruses on your Mac, but if not the above three options can be effective. As soon as you think you may have a virus, act as quickly as possible to prevent the amount of damage that it can cause to your new Mac. The longer it’s left, the more data it can steal from you.
What methods do you use to scan for a virus on a new Mac? Do you use one of the methods above? Is there anything you would like to add that would benefit our readers? Let us know in the comment box below.
