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Resolved Worried I may have virus (touchbar acting weird, gaining features that don't exist on mac)

passed_tense

passed_tense

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 19, 2020
5
0
None of your beeswax
Hi all, so yes, I did download a thing or two that may have made me concerned. Normally I'm safe with downloads and vet/make sure they're reputable sources but maybe something slipped in. Why do I think this? Because recently, my computer got slower, my browser shut down unexpectedly, and then the touchbar reset strangely. I had to set up the touchbar from the beginning, BUT instead of the volume scrubber (which I hate), it gave me the option for the volume rocker. Now, naturally, I loved this since the volume scrubber is a pain. However, a week or two after that, my browser shut unexpectedly (just like before) and it's back to the settings I used to have before, and I can't find the option to get the rocker back.
That made me look more into this thing. I couldn't find much, but what I did find indicates that mac DOES NOT have the volume rocker option. So where the hell did this come from? It's awfully suspicious. I scanned with Norton and found nothing, but Norton is garbage anyways.
My browsers I use are Opera and Brave, and Opera seems a little buggy, so I was wondering if that had something to do with it. I like downloading applications that optimize my experience and Safari doesn't really allow for the kind of hotkey customizations that Opera does.
Does anyone have any insight?
 
passed_tense said:
I don't have the budget. I'm trying to figure out if I'm safe or if I should just factory reset. I just think the touchbar thing is so freaky.
Click to expand...

I think there's a free version of MalwareBytes, seems to be highly regarded on this forum?
 
passed_tense said:
Hi all, so yes, I did download a thing or two that may have made me concerned. Normally I'm safe with downloads and vet/make sure they're reputable sources but maybe something slipped in. Why do I think this? Because recently, my computer got slower, my browser shut down unexpectedly, and then the touchbar reset strangely. I had to set up the touchbar from the beginning, BUT instead of the volume scrubber (which I hate), it gave me the option for the volume rocker. Now, naturally, I loved this since the volume scrubber is a pain. However, a week or two after that, my browser shut unexpectedly (just like before) and it's back to the settings I used to have before, and I can't find the option to get the rocker back.
That made me look more into this thing. I couldn't find much, but what I did find indicates that mac DOES NOT have the volume rocker option. So where the hell did this come from? It's awfully suspicious. I scanned with Norton and found nothing, but Norton is garbage anyways.
My browsers I use are Opera and Brave, and Opera seems a little buggy, so I was wondering if that had something to do with it. I like downloading applications that optimize my experience and Safari doesn't really allow for the kind of hotkey customizations that Opera does.
Does anyone have any insight?
Click to expand...
The touch bar absolutely has a volume rocker.

Use the Touch Bar on Mac

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use it to adjust common system settings, use Siri, access function keys, and do tasks in apps.
support.apple.com
It's the default on my TB.
 
Thank you everybody, I think I am safe now. I was really dumb and had accidentally opened up the touchbar expansion. For some reason, the volume rocker only exists in that area for me.
 
badger is right.
There is no Mac OS X "virus" that has ever been discovered "in the wild".
Not one.

There have been some "proof of concepts" in controlled environments, I recall.
But again... nothing ever roaming free "in the wild".
 
Fishrrman said:
badger is right.
There is no Mac OS X "virus" that has ever been discovered "in the wild".
Not one.

There have been some "proof of concepts" in controlled environments, I recall.
But again... nothing ever roaming free "in the wild".
Click to expand...

Yeah, I didn't have a virus, it's just weird because I must have accidentally changed the settings and I couldn't find information on what happened, so I thought I got a virus.
 
For anyone else who read this : It is absolutely not necessary to pay anything for a software in order to prevent your device from malware, virus or any kind of scam.

I worked for years as an IT repairer (software, hardware and network), and as long as our customer wasn't a company, we have to explain them that every free version is more than enough for common use.
In fact, a "Full" version allow a company IT administrator to manage all devices at once, receive health status for the entire network, things like that.

If the issue can't be solved with free solutions, you maybe need help from a professional.

And be carefull : virus for MacOS do exist of course. MacOS is just very preventive and do not allows you to do anything "dangerous". But if you still want to install an untrusted program anyway and execute it, anybody can prevent your mac from having trouble.
 
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