How to check your mac for viruses – There are a lot of computer users who think their Macs are quite reliable and they never get viruses. Surely, these devices have a good security system but in fact, every computer can be hacked. Macs can be safer from viruses compared to Windows PCs, but it doesn’t mean they don’t need an antivirus program.
If you want to work on your computer without problems, it’s quite necessary to get reliable software that can protect it from various viruses. In this article, we will provide you with several reasons why you need a Mac virus scan, and also give important tips on how to protect your device from hackers, viruses, and cyber attacks effectively.
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4 Reasons Your Mac Needs to Be Scanned and Cleaned
Don’t worry if your device works properly because it means it is free from viruses. But pay attention if you started to notice the symptoms listed below. These are the reasons you have to scan your computer and check if there are some viruses there.
- Your Mac’s behavior is getting weird lately. Have you noticed that some apps crash and your browser directs you to some weird pages you didn’t look for? As a plus, you can experience the high traffic of the network.
- The device can suddenly run slow without any reason. It may happen when viruses don’t leave enough capacity of your processor to those applications you want to launch.
- You have noticed many ads and pop-up windows lately. Some malware works this way because their main goal is to make a user click on those adverts. If you start to see too many persistent ads and pop-ups, it’s better to look for a good antivirus scanner.
- You have found some weird apps installed on your computer but you know exactly you didn’t install them. Many viruses can appear in a folder with your apps just because they were hidden in some extensions or software you have downloaded from non-reliable sources.
And here are five symptoms that can tell you that a certain application on your computer is a virus:
- This may be a “plug-in” or a “codec” you’ve downloaded from the unknown website.
- If the application advises to “fix” your Mac because it’s infected, this may be a virus.
- Stay away from pirated software. No comments here!
- If you have downloaded a legit app from a non-trustworthy source.
- Any type of programs downloaded from BitTorrent.
How to Protect a Mac from Viruses
Of course, it’s better to prevent something than cure it. If you want to do maximum to prevent your computer from getting infected, here is a list of useful things you should do:
- If you’ve got an email with a link, never click it unless you’re sure it’s a safe email from your friend of work. You never know where this link will take you, and if it looks suspicious, it’s a chance of getting a virus. Usually, trustworthy companies and even banks never ask their clients to click a link in the email.
- Do not download something unless you are 100% sure this is a legit program from a reliable source. Be careful with games, movies, music files, and other things.
- Always update your device to its system’s latest version. This means you will always have the latest updates to protect your computer better from all sorts of viruses.
- Get a good antivirus program for the computer and scan it periodically to make sure everything is fine. You can set scanning in preferences or do it manually. With reliable software, your device will always be protected.
- Never connect to public Wi-Fi. Maybe it seems tempting to work in some cozy cafe with free Wi-Fi but there are high chances your computer will be spied by someone else. Hackers are looking for their victims this way and get control of their devices using various viruses.
- Stay away from scammers. Lately, there are many Facebook scammers, so don’t click a suspicious link your friend just sent to you there. Hackers can easily break someone’s account and start writing to his or her friend asking for money. Be careful because if your friend would be in trouble, he or she will not write about it on Facebook.
- Be careful with Flash Player updates. You can be asked to download the latest version of this player. Don’t do it because it’s a way to infect a computer with some virus. By the way, Flash will be supported only in 2020 and no more.
- Check regularly the folder with apps and remove applications on Mac you don’t use anymore.
As you can see, how to check your mac for viruses, it’s possible to keep away from viruses and protect the Mac without stress. Just scan your devices to make sure it’s clean, and surf the Internet without any things that can cause potential risk.
