Strange activity detected after connecting the old hard drive by accident

[KYSH]

As soon as I insert my hard drive (corrupted with some pirate softwares but cannot delete, too slow), it installs the same pirated software directly onto my Applications folder, every time without fail. 
Then my cursor kind of becomes laggy and some bits on my google chrome (scroll, select and etc) gets modified on its own. Right now, it's fine since I've disconnected the hard drive forcefully.
I'm not so sure how to go about this since it stores many of my important history of work, other files and so on. 

Will I even be able to retrieve those files- or will I ever be able to fix this corrupted hard drive ever? 

Previously my macbook pro was incredibly slow until I found installd on Terminal, running the CPU up to 235% or something similar like that and everything was fine after having had it force quit. 

I also wonder if your product can detect any mac bootkits/rootkits. If they exist also on mac os.

[1PW]

Hello @KYSH and

A request has been made to move your topic to the most appropriate Mac Malware Removal Help & Support subforum.

HTH

[alvarnell]

What you describe is very unusual for a Mac. It's clear that external drive needs to be somehow cleaned up or abandoned. Probably needs profession help to accomplish the former.

10 hours ago, KYSH said:

I'm not so sure how to go about this since it stores many of my important history of work, other files and so on.

I don't fully understand this statement. How to go about what, exactly? And store those files where? 

Bootkits/rootkits are quite unusual on a Mac, but current and known ones can be detected by Malwarebytes for Mac.

I'm sure it would be helpful to take a look at that pirated software, but not if it requires connecting that drive again. If you ever encounter suspected malware again, you can submit it to cleared "Malware Hunters" and staff in this forum: Newest Mac Threats.

[treed]

Can you provide more information about exactly what happens when you connect that drive, and what you see appear in the Applications folder?

If you're willing, I would also like to get more information about your system. Please follow the instructions at the following link to download our support tool and run it:

https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038519834-Upload-logs-to-your-ticket-using-the-Malwarebytes-Support-Tool-for-Mac

Once you've done that, please send me the MWB_Info.zip file via a direct message here on the forums.

[KYSH]

Hello @alvarnell, I meant it as in it's hard for me to wipe out the hard drive since I have important files in it.

It's quite suspicious to see my cursor jumping around very randomly from time to time and act on its own (scrolling all the way up the page while I'm typing as another example).

The problem persists after having done factory reset, PRAM and SMC reset. So far, nothing has been detected on my Macbook Pro when I run Malwarebytes.

[KYSH]

Hello @treed

I have not connected the drive to my laptop since and I feel very reluctant to- usually my laptop slows down very much

And it takes forever for me to delete files stored in the drive (also my laptop heats up very much) so I end up killing the process.

Please check your inbox, I have sent you the file.

[alvarnell]

10 hours ago, KYSH said:

It's quite suspicious to see my cursor jumping around very randomly from time to time and act on its own (scrolling all the way up the page while I'm typing as another example).

The problem persists after having done factory reset, PRAM and SMC reset. So far, nothing has been detected on my Macbook Pro when I run Malwarebytes.

By far the leading cause of such an observation is battery swells beneath the trackpad. Best to have it inspected by an Apple Genius or approved Apple Service provider.

[treed]

As Al mentions, what you're describing sounds like a hardware issue rather than malware. There's no known Mac malware that can persist across a factory reset. It also sounds like there may be a problem with that hard drive. It could be corrupt, or the problems you're seeing could be another effect of a hardware problem with your computer.