Anti-Malware for the MacBook Pro

[warburg]

What is the best anti-malware for the MacBook Pro? I have a 15" 2017 model. I'm looking for something that will remove malware and also check on and remove useless and duplicate files.

 

[redheeler]

Malwarebytes is generally considered to be the best malware removal app for Mac.

 

[warburg]

Malwarebytes is generally considered to be the best malware removal app for Mac.

Thanks. I downloaded their free trial.

 

[Dark Void]

Malwarebytes is generally considered to be the best malware removal app for Mac.

Have you ever used this software?

I used it on Windows for a long time, and on Windows it shows a rapidly changing display of the files it is scanning on the system. In OS X, it appears to be different, and seems to list files that it is looking for instead of files that it is scanning.

Is this accurate?

 

[velocityg4]

Have you ever used this software?

I used it on Windows for a long time, and on Windows it shows a rapidly changing display of the files it is scanning on the system. In OS X, it appears to be different, and seems to list files that it is looking for instead of files that it is scanning.

Is this accurate?

Yes, there is so little malware for OS X. That it knows the specific locations to check for specific Malware. While in Windows it has to check files in common areas, registry and running processes. I presume analyzing each against its database and some heuristic analysis against unknown threats.

They've really sped up Malwarebytes for Windows the last few years. I can only assume it doesn't scan every file. It used to scan every single file in your computer including the whole Windows directory. On my SSD its gone from 15 minutes to about 2 minutes. It's not like my computer magically got faster since it was built. On customers computers with hard drives the average scan time has dropped from 45 minutes to an hour down to 15 to 20 minutes.

Somehow they sped it up and improved accuracy. Rarely do I have to do more than run a scan.

 

[warburg]

It seems to scan my MacBook Pro in a few seconds.

 

[Dark Void]

Yes, there is so little malware for OS X. That it knows the specific locations to check for specific Malware. While in Windows it has to check files in common areas, registry and running processes. I presume analyzing each against its database and some heuristic analysis against unknown threats.

They've really sped up Malwarebytes for Windows the last few years. I can only assume it doesn't scan every file. It used to scan every single file in your computer including the whole Windows directory. On my SSD its gone from 15 minutes to about 2 minutes. It's not like my computer magically got faster since it was built. On customers computers with hard drives the average scan time has dropped from 45 minutes to an hour down to 15 to 20 minutes.

Somehow they sped it up and improved accuracy. Rarely do I have to do more than run a scan.

Thanks for the reply.

So when it displays something like "Trojan.whatever" above the scan progress bar in OS X, that is simply displaying what it is looking for rather than what it is actually scanning? In other words, what it is displaying is not a file that is actually on my computer, correct?

Sorry if this is confusing I am not certain that I oriented my question well.

 

[ProTruckDriver]

Thanks for the reply.

So when it displays something like "Trojan.whatever" above the scan progress bar in OS X, that is simply displaying what it is looking for rather than what it is actually scanning? In other words, what it is displaying is not a file that is actually on my computer, correct?

Yes that is correct. I have been using Malwarebytes for Mac a few years now without any problems.

 

[GGJstudios]

Unless they are doing something risky like installing pirated software, it is relatively rare for a Mac user to ever encounter malware. All Mac malware can easily be avoided by practicing safe computing. No anti-malware software is needed.

 

[velocityg4]

Thanks for the reply.

So when it displays something like "Trojan.whatever" above the scan progress bar in OS X, that is simply displaying what it is looking for rather than what it is actually scanning? In other words, what it is displaying is not a file that is actually on my computer, correct?

Sorry if this is confusing I am not certain that I oriented my question well.

Right, if anything is found. It will show in the results.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I've had cases where I needed to run both Malwarebytes and Etrecheck to rid a Mac of malware.