6 ways to avoid the most common malware on the Apple Mac

There is no doubt that malware on the Apple Mac is increasing and every year there is more of it about. What can you do to protect yourself? Here are the best ways to keep your Mac safe.

For many years there was close to zero malware on the Apple Mac and hardly anyone bothered to use security software on their Mac. Many people didn't even check the security settings or customize the defaults, and just accepted them thinking that the Mac is secure out of the box. It is not.

Times have changed and while things have not got anywhere near as bad as with Windows PCs where there have been millions of malware variants, it has become common enough on the Mac to make you think about security. You can't just ignore security anymore. Here are the best ways to make the Mac more secure when connected to the internet.

This article contains affiliate links

1 Choose software sources carefully

There are just two sources of software for the Mac, inside the App Store run by Apple, and outside the App Store. While it is not impossible to get some form of malware in the Mac App Store, it is unlikely given Apple's strict rules and software checking. Every effort is made by the company to ensure that software is safe and free from viruses, adware, spyware and so on.

This is not true of software downloaded from outside of the App Store. Large, well known software companies with good reputations are usually OK, but even so, there is a small risk. That risk increases with less reputable sources and places where you can pick up cracked and hacked software.

Open System Preferences and then click Security & Privacy. Select the General tab, click the padlock and enter your admin password, then select App Store under Allow apps downloaded from. This limits software to the safest source.

If you do need to install software from elsewhere and you are sure it is safe, you can always return here and select App Store and identified developers.

2 Avoid Flash Player

Avoid this unless absolutely necessary

Flash Player was incredibly popular for web content at one time and was used for all manner of things. However, it is old technology and is not needed anymore and it should not be installed. If a website displays a message telling you it is needed or you need to update, leave immediately and do not install or update it. This is a fake message used by the Shlayer malware and others.

3 Use security software

Nothing is 100% secure from security threats. Not even macOS. Apple works hard to make macOS secure and to prevent hacks and attacks, and there are frequent updates to fix security flaws to keep the bad guys out of your computer. The Mac is pretty safe to use only using software from the Mac App store makes it even safer. However, there is still a very small chance that you could come across malware while browsing the web or downloading files and it might get into your Mac.

At one time you did not need to use security software on a Mac and it was secure enough without any extra tools. These days the Mac is being targeted by malware more than it used to be and you really should install some good security software.

There are free tools like Malwarebytes, which is OK if you want to clean up an already infected computer, but it won't stop malware from getting into the Mac in the first place. There is also Avira, and Avast (in the news recently for sharing browsing information with third parties).

Click to see CleanMyMac X at the MacPaw website

I am currently running CleanMyMac X, which is a multi-function toolkit that has more features than I can list here. Among the many things it does is a real-time malware monitor to protect your Mac from threats. I have not had any security or malware problems since installing the app. It's not cheap, but it saves you buying multiple tools. See latest price of CleanMyMac X at the MacPaw website.

4 Trust no-one

The weakest link in any security is people. They are often too trusting and when visiting a website, downloading software, reading an email or message, they see a link which the sender invites them to click and so they click it. You need it, the message says. Don't worry about that pop-up message asking you to enter your admin password, that's normal.

A lot of malware gets onto computers because people are too trusting. Don't be fooled into clicking links, clicking OK buttons in pop-up messages on websites, and don't enter your admin password. Be skeptical of claims that you need to install or update things when browsing the web. Trust no-one!

5 Avoid Chrome

A problem with Chrome is that extensions have access to too much and could spy on activities or even introduce malware onto the Mac. As Forbes, Google Confirms Chrome Security Shocker: All Paid Extension Updates Suspended, and many other news websites reported, there is fraud and even malware in Chrome extensions.

Google has tried to clean up extensions and has introduced measures to increase security and safety, but has struggled to make the Chrome Web Store 100% safe. If you use Chrome and extensions, you increase the risk of malware, adware and spyware. Use Safari instead. There are fewer extensions, but greater security.

6 Keep macOS up to date

Someone once said that the only computer programs that don't have bugs are trivial ones that don't do anything important. Don't assume you are safe because you have a Mac, macOS contains bugs and security flaws, so as soon as an update is released, you should install it. Security flaws are often found by security researchers and are not always used in the wild, but you never know and some do get exploited.

Updates to macOS frequently fix security flaws and so check System Preferences, If you want to know what security flaws were found and fixed, there is a link to open Safari to see the information.

• See more security articles on RAWinfopages here

Featured image by engin akyurt from Pixabay