How to protect your Mac from malware

Macs are not without viruses and malware. They are deadly and therefore can become infected. We help you protect a Mac.

Mac is an operating system like any other and therefore it also needs its protection.

I’m sick of hearing that Macs don’t suffer from viruses or malware sickness. It may have been like this for a long time, but not because they are better or because the rest of the operating systems are worse, far from it, but because the share of Macs is much lower (so hackers are not so interested in developing and dedicate resources to an operating system with few users). The thing, today, is very different.

And not only is that the share of Mac has risen considerably, but also iOS and macOS have been operating systems with the most vulnerabilities for two consecutive years. This obviously greatly increases the possibility of exposure to possible malicious programs.

The keys to protecting our Mac

Keep it up to date

It seems obvious but not many follow this rule. It is one of the big problems developers have. Not many people keep their devices updated, it is something that does not interest them at all.

But is that if we do not do it we are leaving an open door for those viruses that take advantage of exploits to enter our computer. If we update and fix those vulnerabilities we are on time. Yes No No. It’s that simple.

Updates to our web browser, whatever it may be, are also nothing to be missed. That is why many times web browsers update by themselves without even asking us for permission. And it is that although it seems that it is a simple program and that it does not matter if we have it updated or not, it is not true, because it is the first (and largest) virus entry to your device.

Beware of piracy

We are no longer talking only about whether it is ethical or not to download and install programs illegally, but they can directly harm us. He thinks that getting those programs, developing a  crack, and uploading them to the Internet is a very tedious process and carries an intrinsic legal risk.

The one who uploads this type of program illegally does not do it for the love of art, but to make a financial profit or to have an excuse to inject malware.

One of the good things that Mac and iPhone have compared to other operating systems (Windows copied this in the Creators Update) is that it only installs and runs software if it has been obtained from the App Store.

In the case of computers, it has a trick, and that is that if we allow it we can allow the installation and execution of programs by unknown developers. Why is this good? Because this way Apple makes sure that the only program entry on its computers is the App Store, and that’s something it has control over.

Java and Flash, for a walk

I’ve always said it: Java and Flash have been two technologies that have been born dead. Despite this, its success has been brutal. But not only for traditional developers, but also for hackers, who have undoubtedly seen a great tool in these two environments.

Apple is aware of this and that is why Flash and Java are disabled in Safari. In Google Chrome, today, the same is also true. However, there are people who still have it activated by default. The best thing is to deactivate them and if at any specific moment we need them, we activate them. Think that both technologies are in decline and that in the next years or months they will disappear.

Install a Malware Protector

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is the best for this type of thing. It is neither an antivirus nor an optimized (the image of both today is at fault). It is intermediate and much more useful. In just a few years it has become a benchmark in terms of computer security.