Though I had Malware Bytes on my Mac

[Microman]

I thought I had Malware bytes, a free version to run and see if anything was there that shouldn't be, but I cant find it by searching or going to applications.

Is that still the recommended free app to check for some items?

[space-time]

I think Malwarebytes is still free but out Mac expert, formerly know as Doc recommends removing it after running it. I am not sure why. Also there is a thing called etrecheck (I think), that also comes in recommended.

good luck.

[jdc]

meh, theres no need for it.

[hal]

jdc wrote:
meh, theres no need for it.

until there is

[PeterB]

jdc wrote:
meh, theres no need for it.

Respectfully disagree. I just used the free version to check my mom's and brother's machines, and in both cases it identified and removed some malware. (Both of them aren't really computer savvy and are probably clicking on things they shouldn't...)

[Filliam H. Muffman]

There are no Mac viruses but plenty of people get malware infections. jdc is correct for about 95% of the users here, but it happens a few times a year that someone reports running into a malware problem.

[Sarcany]

space-time wrote:
I think Malwarebytes is still free but out Mac expert, formerly know as Doc recommends removing it after running it. I am not sure why. Also there is a thing called etrecheck (I think), that also comes in recommended.

good luck.

The main reason why you might want to uninstall it after doing a scan is that while it used to be a standalone app, now it puts complicated low-level hooks into your system that might cause trouble down the line.

There's no reason to leave its various components running in the background all the time when 1. it's not benefiting you in any way to leave it running; and 2. it uses system resources and could conflict with other software; and 3. most people just want to run it once.

They still allow the old standalone app to pull updated malware-def's, so if you've got the old app then I suggest dismissing the prompt to upgrade to version-3 and stick with what you've got. The only problem that I've found in respect of the old app is that it's crash-prone under Mojave.

[jdc]

Im gonna say 99.9% and odds are it was PC malware. Any idea how *long* that malware was on their machines? Years maybe? And it effected them how?

Sorry, just not a fan of tilting at windmills.

[freeradical]

Some time ago here, somebody posted in a thread the directory locations of where malware tends to get installed, so that you could manually scan your system without Malware Bytes.

[Sarcany]

jdc wrote:
Im gonna say 99.9% and odds are it was PC malware. Any idea how *long* that malware was on their machines? Years maybe? And it effected them how?

Sorry, just not a fan of tilting at windmills.

Malwarebytes scans for Mac malware.

I find malware on Macs — apps that pop up annoying ads as notifications, crapware that is pushed as some miracle utility but it actually downloads and installs spyware, adware that generates annoying popups, other stuff that hijacks home pages, stuff that intercepts search engine queries to direct people to phishing sites, etc. — several times each week. It’s not as harmful as a PC virus can be, but it’s out there, it’s real and it’s potentially pretty dangerous.