Jun 28, 2007  Threats to Mac OS X by Marianna Schmudlach Jul 18, 2006 5:24AM PDT Since we initially published this FAQ, the number of new security threats to Mac OS X have grown. Recent studies show that Mac malware is at an all-time high, and in 2015 the amount of malware in the wild was higher than the previous five years combined. Image credit: Adam Fagen/Flickr. Why the drastic increase? Hackers traditionally passed over Mac OS as the number of Macs in use just didn’t make the effort worthwhile.

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When you upgrade to macOS Catalina, you get more of everything you love about Mac. Experience dedicated apps for music, TV, and podcasts. Smart new features in the apps you use every day. And Sidecar, which lets you use iPad as a second Mac display. Best of all, upgrading is free and easy.

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Chances are, your Mac can run macOS Catalina.

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Mac computers with Metal-capable graphics processors (GPUs) can upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Make sure you’re ready to upgrade.

Before you upgrade, we recommend that you back up your Mac. Then, if your Mac is running OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later, you can upgrade directly to macOS Catalina. Download os x yosemite installer.

Upgrading is free. And easier than you think.

Upgrading from macOS Mojave?

Go to Software Update in System Preferences to find the macOS Catalina upgrade. Click Upgrade Now and follow the onscreen instructions to begin your upgrade. If you don’t have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store.

Upgrading from an older version of macOS?

If you’re running High Sierra (10.13), Sierra (10.12), or El Capitan (10.11), upgrade to macOS Catalina from the App Store. If you’re running Lion (10.7) or Mountain Lion (10.8), you will need to upgrade to El Capitan (10.11) first. If you don’t have broadband access, you can upgrade your Mac at any Apple Store.

• OS X 10.9 or later
• 4GB of memory
• 12.5GB of available storage (OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 or later)*

• Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
• Some features require a compatible internet service provider; fees may apply.

For details about your Mac model, click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen and choose About This Mac. These Mac models are compatible with macOS Catalina:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)

• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

Siri

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Requires a broadband internet connection and microphone (built-in or external).

Hey Siri

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• iMac Pro

Dictation, Voice Control, and Voice Memos

Requires a microphone (built-in or external).

Spotlight Suggestions

Requires a broadband internet connection.

Gestures

Requires a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Mouse.

Force Touch gestures require a Force Touch trackpad.

VoiceOver gestures require a Multi-Touch trackpad, Force Touch trackpad, or Magic Trackpad.

Photo Booth

Requires a FaceTime or iSight camera (built-in or external), or USB video class (UVC) camera.

FaceTime

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Audio calls require a microphone (built-in or external) and broadband internet connection.

Video calls require a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built-in or external), or a USB video class (UVC) camera; and broadband internet connection.

Apple TV

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video playback is supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (2019) with Pro Display XDR

Dolby Atmos soundtrack playback is supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2018 or newer)

Sidecar

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook (2016 or newer)
• MacBook Air (2018 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (2016 or newer)
• Mac mini (2018 or newer)
• iMac (late 2015 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017 or newer)
• Mac Pro (2019)

Supported by all iPad models with Apple Pencil support:

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 11-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (6th generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

Continuity Camera

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 12 or later.

Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup

Requires an iPhone with iOS 13 or an iPad with iPadOS.

Handoff

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 8 or later.

Instant Hotspot

Requires an iPhone or iPad with cellular connectivity, a Lightning connector, and iOS 8.1 or later. Requires Personal Hotspot service through your carrier.

Universal Clipboard

Requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 10 or later.

Auto Unlock

Supported by Mac models introduced in mid 2013 or later.

Requires an Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later or an iPhone 5 or later.

Approve with Apple Watch

Supported by Mac models introduced in mid 2013 or later.

Requires an Apple Watch with watchOS 6 or later or an iPhone 6s or later with iOS 13.

Apple Pay on the Web

Requires MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, an iPhone 6 or later with iOS 10 or later, or an Apple Watch with watchOS 3 or later.

Phone Calling

Requires an iPhone with iOS 8 or later and an activated carrier plan.

SMS

Requires an iPhone with iOS 8.1 or later and an activated carrier plan.

Home

Requires an iPhone with iOS 12 or later and a configured Home app.

AirDrop

AirDrop to iOS and iPadOS devices requires an iPhone or iPad with a Lightning connector and iOS 7 or later.

AirPlay

AirPlay Mirroring requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).

AirPlay for web video requires an Apple TV (2nd generation or later).

Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires a Mac (2012 or later) and an Apple TV (3rd generation rev A, model A1469 or later) with Apple TV software 7.0 or later.

Time Machine

Requires an external storage device (sold separately).

Power Nap

Supported by the following Mac models:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro with Retina display (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

Boot Camp

Allows Boot Camp installations of Windows 10 on supported Mac models.

Exchange Support

Requires Microsoft Office 365, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2013, or Exchange Server 2010. Installing the latest Service Packs is recommended.

Windows Migration

Supports OS X 10.7 or later and Windows 7 or later.

App Store

Available only to persons age 13 or older in the U.S. and many other countries and regions.

• Apple Books
• Apple News
• App Store
• Automator
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Chess
• Contacts
• Dictionary
• DVD Player
• FaceTime
• Find My
• Font Book
• Home
• Image Capture
• Launchpad
• Mail
• Maps

• Messages
• Mission Control
• Music
• Notes
• Photo Booth
• Photos
• Podcasts
• Preview
• QuickTime Player
• Reminders
• Safari
• Siri
• Stickies
• Stocks
• System Preferences
• TextEdit
• Time Machine
• TV
• Voice Memos

• Activity Monitor
• AirPort Utility
• Audio MIDI Setup
• Bluetooth File Exchange
• Boot Camp Assistant
• ColorSync Utility
• Console
• Digital Color Meter
• Disk Utility

• Grapher
• Keychain Access
• Migration Assistant
• Screenshot
• Screen Time
• Script Editor
• Sidecar
• System Information
• Terminal
• VoiceOver Utility

• Arabic
• Catalan
• Croatian
• Simplified Chinese
• Traditional Chinese
• Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong)
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• English (Australia)
• English (UK)
• English (U.S.)
• Finnish
• French
• French (Canada)
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Hungarian

• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Malay
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Slovak
• Spanish
• Spanish (Latin America)
• Swedish
• Thai
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese

Adware is an unwelcome intrusion in many browsers. It attempts to trick or force you into clicking through to a website you weren't planning on visiting, to generate revenue for the company that produced it. Some versions of ad software also contain hidden viruses, posing a serious risk to your Mac and data it contains.

Fortunately, there are ways to remove this rogue software manually via your browser and your system files, and with a cleaner tool like CleanMyMac X. We’ll take you through each of these methods to help you get rid adware on your Mac for good.

The symptoms of an adware infection

Take a look at these symptoms to see if any are familiar:

• Several pop-ups appearing when you click on links that advertise fake updates or software
• More ads than you’re used to in search results and webpages — particularly banner ads or in-text advertisements in content
• Your homepage redirects to another website
• The link that you click in search results redirects to a different website
• Mac performance seems much slower than usual
• Unwanted toolbars appearing in your browser

If you’ve noticed any of things happening when browsing the internet on your Mac you’re almost certainly dealing with adware. In which case, you need to take action.

This is how adware actually looks like

This string of code is an example of adware program on Mac. As you can see in the third line, it 'loads offers' for the user which to you look like intrusive banners and pop-ups.

How to remove adware from your browser

To remove adware from your Mac you need to change your browser preferences and dig into your system files to find and remove the culprit.

Let’s start with the browser. How to stop adware in your browser:

1. Block all pop-ups

The first thing you should do to curb the onslaught of nuisance ads is close all pop-ups. DO NOT DO THIS BY CLICKING ON ANY BUTTON IN A POP-UP. Instead, click on the X in the top left of the window.

If the pop-up refuses to close, press Command+Option+Escape to open the Force Quit window. Select your browser from the list and click Force Quit. Hold down Shift when restarting your browser to stop any previously opened windows from reappearing.

Next, in the Safari Preferences click on the Security icon and select Block pop-up windows.

If you’re a Chrome user, follow these instructions to block pop-ups:

1. Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the browser.
2. Select Settings, then Show Advanced Settings > Privacy > Content Settings.
3. In Pop-ups, block the ability for any site to show pop-ups.

2. Disable unrecognized extensions

Extensions are an important part of the browsing experience but you shouldn’t have anything that you don’t recognize. If the name of a pop-up isn’t familiar or you don’t know what it does, disable it.

Disabling extensions in Safari

1. Go to Preferences > Extensions.
2. Select an unfamiliar extension from the list and click Uninstall.

Disabling extensions in Chrome

1. Go to Settings > Extensions.
2. Find any unfamiliar extensions in the list and uncheck the Enabled box.

3. Check homepage and search engine settings

Finally, make sure adware hasn’t changed your browser homepage or search-engine settings.

This can be done in the General tab of the Safari browser settings or in the On Startup and Default Browser sections of the Chrome browser settings.

How to remove adware from your system

Tackling adware in your browser will help to improve your browsing experience but it doesn’t guarantee to completely free you from the virus.

Adware often finds its way onto your system by bundling itself in with legitimate Mac software and is installed at the same time. So you’re going to need to delve into your system files to root out the adware and delete it. You can do this manually or with an application like CleanMyMac X.

Because of the way a manual deletion works (sending files to the Trash), CleanMyMac X is the preferred option. A file placed in the Trash and removed can leave behind associated files that lie deep inside system files, meaning the pesky adware still exists on your Mac. CleanMyMac X, on the other hand, scans your system for any leftover parts and removes them in full.

Remove adware from Mac with CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac X can detect and remove thousands of threats, including adware, viruses, worms, spyware, and more. With its dedicated Malware Removal tool, you’ll stay safe.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Download CleanMyMac X and launch it.
2. Click on Malware Removal from the sidebar menu.
3. Click Scan.
4. Click Remove.

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Another useful feature of CleanMyMac X is real-time monitoring. It checks your Mac in a background mode and notifies you if any adware app attempts to infiltrate your Mac.

Remove adware from your Mac manually

If you’d prefer to remove potential adware manually before opting for an app like CleanMyMac X, it’s easy to do, albeit a little more time-consuming.

1. From the LaunchPad open Activity Monitor.
2. Find the suspect applications (Genio and InstallMac are common culprits) and click the Force Quit button in the top left corner of the window.
3. Go back to your applications and drag the app to the Trash.
4. Restart your Mac and empty the Trash.

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Never engage with adware

Adware seeks to steal your money and your personal details and does so by damaging system performance. If you’re worried that your Mac could be infected, err on the side of caution and follow the instructions in this post to lock down your browser and delete files. If you suspect that adware has installed itself on your system, get CleanMyMac X to ensure you get rid of it for good.

CleanMyMac X is recommended by MacStories and MacWorld Magazine as a top Mac utility. Download it today to keep your Mac safe from harmful adware.

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