About visting potentially infected pages

[Wallius]

Hello!

 

This is likely off topic, but I'd like to know - is it possible to be infected by just clicking on link, opening web page?

I don't have any real time scanners and use only Malwarebytes.

 

1) Could I be infected just by browsing something without agreeing to any installation?

2) Would Malwarebytes find if something would install itself without me knowing it?

3) How often should I run Malwarebytes scans to be safe? Once a week or more often?

 

I heard there is no Mac malware that would install itself when just visiting websites. Is that true?

Edited June 4, 2017 by Wallius

[Buddel]

1.) Yes.

2.) I hope so.

3.) This is a personal choice. I perform a quick scan daily and a normal, more thorough scan once a week.

7 minutes ago, Wallius said:

I heard there is no Mac malware that would install itself when just visiting websites. Is that true?

Probably not. I don't think Mac is immune to drive-by downloads. BTW, we even have a Malware Removal for Mac forum here.

https://forums.malwarebytes.com/forum/165-malware-removal-for-mac/

[Wallius]

24 minutes ago, Buddel said:

3.) This is a personal choice. I perform a quick scan daily and a normal, more thorough scan once a week.

 

Thank you for the reply!

But this part confuses me - my Malwarebytes for Mac has only one scan mode that takes about 5 seconds to finish.

 

[Buddel]

What version of Malwarebytes are you using? Premium?

Some info regarding scan options can be found here: https://www.malwarebytes.com/support/guides/mbam/Scan.html

 

 

Edited June 4, 2017 by Buddel

[1PW]

Hello @Wallius @Buddel and

References:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

One edition for Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac is available at this time, and that is the free version.  That release version is currently at v1.2.6.730.

Five (5) second scan times may not be unusual for a lightly loaded system with excellent Apple hardware resources.  Scan times for my MacBook Pro, vintage several years ago, are in the very acceptable one minute range, average.

HTH

[Buddel]

Thanks for your helpful reply, @1PW. Much appreciated.

[treed]

11 hours ago, Wallius said:

I heard there is no Mac malware that would install itself when just visiting websites. Is that true?

That is true at this time, as far as anyone knows.

There are some gotchas there, of course. First is the "as far as anyone knows" part. But if anyone does know of a way to do it and is using it right now, it's not being done so in a widespread manner. It would likely be involved with nation-state malware, and used very sparingly against only selected, targeted individuals, to reduce the chances of the vulnerability becoming public knowledge and being fixed.

Secondly, this has happened before. Back in 2012, there was quite a bit of Mac malware that took advantage of Java vulnerabilities to get itself installed, some in a fairly widespread manner. So, just because the same isn't happening right now doesn't mean that it won't happen tomorrow, or the next day.

It's important to keep the window for such vulnerabilities as small as possible by not having Adobe Flash Player or Java installed. (It's okay to have Java installed, actually, as long as you don't have the web plugin installed and allow websites to load and run Java code.) Also, keep the number of browser extensions you use to an absolute minimum. NEVER use such an extension just for fun; something that could cause a vulnerability in the software you use for things like banking is a horrible idea! Only install those that you absolutely need. An ad blocker and a password manager are the only ones I use.

Then, exercise caution about what links you click and what sites you visit. Web-based games should be avoided, as should porn sites, piracy sites, etc. NEVER engage in piracy, as that's a highly dangerous pursuit. If you are addicted to things like web-based games or porn, get yourself a cheap Chromebook for that and don't expose the machine with your data to the risk.