david

[Davidtylermcnamara]

so I get on my mini mac today and for the 2nd time in three years a unexpected window pop`s up,claims my mini mac is in lock down "infected"and I  must call this # in order to proceed,at first he wanted 200.00 to proceed and a one time fix package is offered,is this a program installed in Mac`s by Habeeb mini mac manufactures.I was sold by macintosh with the belief that they don't get viruses? 

[John L. Galt]

Hi, @Davidtylermcnamara, and

Apple's Macintosh OS is not infallible, and neither if Linux, from being targeted for vulnerabilities.  Neither are mobile operating systems like Android, Windows Mobile, nor iOS.  As I've mentioned in other threads, the simple fact is that if it is digital, it can be hacked.  By digital I am not talking about the difference in terms of digital versus analog audio and video encoding, but rather, what I am talking about is digital in terms of being on a computer.  All information comes down to digital storage, even on hard drives.  The sad fact of the matter is that any computer, regardless of manufacturer or operating system, can be hacked unless it does not connect to any external device, like a USB falsh drive, external hard drives, printers, scanners, modems, routers, the Internet, mobile devices, etc.

Whoever told you that Macs do not get infected by malware was misrepresenting the truth to you.  Historically, Macs and machines running Linux and other operating systems that are not based upon Microsoft Windows have had a much lower level of infection.  Notice, I did not say are infection free.  I said a much lower level.

The good news is that Malwarebytes does now make a version of the Anti-Malware program for Macs, see https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

I do not own a Mac, and I cannot reliably state what the functions are of the software other than what it stated on that page.  I can say that in another thread, somewhere in the Mac section of the forums, someone did mention that the Mac-based product was not a real time software, meaning that it was always running in the background, but rather, an on-demand product, meaning that you would have to manually run it to check your system.  You can definitely find out more information by visiting the Mac subsection of the forums, see https://forums.malwarebytes.org/forum/163-malwarebytes-anti-malware-for-mac-support/

However, at the end of the day, in your case it seems like you were hit by a newer type of malware collectively known as Ransomware.  The current product in testing for combating this specific type of infection is a Windows only product, and I have not heard anything about Mac support, but you're more than willing to ask about it in the Mac forum I linked above.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask away.

[treed]

On March 29, 2016 at 1:55 PM, Davidtylermcnamara said:

so I get on my mini mac today and for the 2nd time in three years a unexpected window pop`s up,claims my mini mac is in lock down "infected"and I  must call this # in order to proceed,at first he wanted 200.00 to proceed and a one time fix package is offered,is this a program installed in Mac`s by Habeeb mini mac manufactures.I was sold by macintosh with the belief that they don't get viruses? 

Sorry I didn't see this before now... it sounds like what you were seeing was a tech support scam website, not any kind of actual malware. See:

http://www.thesafemac.com/tech-support-scam-pop-ups/

I'd also agree with John about the assertion that Macs "don't get viruses." This is a common misconception, often spread by Mac "experts." There is some malware out there for Macs, although it's sparse. However, adware and PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) are becoming a problem of epidemic proportions on the Mac. Care must be taken with what you download and from where, and it's becoming an increasingly good idea to use something like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac if you think you may be infected.