Six points you need to know about Mac virus removal
Up until relatively recently, viruses were much less of an issue for people who own Macs than they were for people who own Windows PCs. At this point in time, however, Mac owners need to take the issue of viruses at least as seriously as the people who use Windows PCs. With that in mind, here are six points you need to know about Mac virus removal.
Macs have never been virus-proof
There have been Mac viruses around since at least the 1980s and some of them have been very nasty ones. On the whole, however, viruses used to be more of an issue for Windows than for MacOS. The main reason for this was that in the old days, viruses were, for the most part, spread in a fairly random manner. Virus creators would simply come up with something nasty and then try to trick innocent computer users into installing and/or spreading it. Statistically, the vast majority of computer users were using Windows PCs, so it made sense to target Windows instead of MacOS.
Viruses are now less about overt destruction and more about covert damage
In the old days, viruses were, for the most part, largely about making mischief. Their creators didn’t necessarily gain from them financially, they just got a kick out of the mayhem they caused. There are certainly still viruses which exist purely to cause carnage, but there are also growing numbers of highly-sophisticated viruses, which have been created to serve very specific purposes, which can be anything from taking over a computer, discreetly, for use in cybercrimes, or to steal a person’s identity, possibly for use in crimes (cyber and otherwise), possibly for financial gain, possibly for a combination of both.
It is becoming increasingly common for virus attacks to have some degree of targeting
If you go by the news headlines, then there are basically two main kinds of cyber attacks. One kind is essentially “mass destruction” but in the cyberworld, for example the infamous WannaCry virus attack of 2017. The other kind, is the sort which causes mass embarrassment to brand-name companies and, these days, can result in hefty fines, especially if you live in the U.S., Canada or Europe. In reality, however, these kinds of attacks make headlines precisely because they are extremes.
These days, most virus creators will balance up risk and reward and will generally go for softer targets where the risk is much lower but the potential reward is still very decent. This puts Mac owners straight in their sights, as Mac owners are often private individuals, who may know very little about IT security (and, indeed, who may still think that “Macs don’t get viruses”), but who, by definition, have the money to buy premium computers.
Removing a virus from a Mac is invariably going to involve some degree of pain
These days, if you get a virus on your Mac, you can count yourself very lucky if you can remove it at all and if you can you can expect the removal-process to be painful to excruciating. In an absolute best-case scenario, you will be able to download an antivirus for Macs and have it do a proper deep scan and clean up of your computer. It won't matter if you have something else you need to do. That will be your problem, you'll simply have to wait while the antivirus does its work. If you can't download an antivirus for Macs (because the virus is blocking you) then you will need to try to find and remove all of the components of the virus manually, which is when the real pain starts.
You can only remove a virus if you actually know that it's there
At this point in time, the viruses you probably need to worry about most are the viruses you are least likely to notice. They will have little to no impact on the performance of your computer, but can have an utterly devastating impact on your life as a whole. They can quietly and discreetly gather all your key personal data from your contacts to your passwords to your date of birth and send it all back to a cybercriminal who could be anything from a regular fraudster to a terrorist.
Investing in a robust antivirus program is the best way to protect your identity and security.
With a robust antivirus program on your Mac you can surf the internet in safety knowing that your chances of being infected with a virus are close to zero but that if it does happen, you will be equipped to deal with it. Head over to this page to get Comodo antivirus for Macs and get the protection you need right now.
