Scan your Apple Mac for malware with Antivirus One - Virus Cleaner

There has been an increasing number of reports of malware on the Apple Mac recently and it is no time to be complacent. You need protection or at least detection. Antivirus One provides both.

Not everyone needs extra security on their Apple Mac, but some people clearly do as malware, mostly adware, but occasionally more serious threats infect their computers. You sometimes see these people complaining in Facebook groups and other places and asking how to remove it.

The Mac users most likely to get malware are those that install apps from bad websites, torrent sites, and similar places where cracked apps can be found. If you see links or ads for free commercial apps for the Mac, just don't go there because that is how you get malware. Email is a potential source of malware, although it is mostly aimed at Windows users, so as a Mac user you are less likely to be affected by bad attachments. It is not impossible though and you must be wary.

More security: Protect your Mac when using the internet with a VPN

When I first looked at this security app from Trend Micro, it was called Dr Safety had some irritations and was disappointing. However, it was improved and the resulting app was much better. That app has been replaced by an even better app called Antivirus One - Virus Cleaner. This new version is worth another look. Antivirus One is an app in the Mac App Store and it is free to download and install. More features have been added to the app since I first looked at it, although it is still a very simple and straightforward app to use.

Scan the Mac for malware

The app has a minimalist interface and the home screen when you select Scan in the sidebar on the left, there are options for a Quick Scan, Full Scan and Custom Scan. A quick scan takes just a minute of two and is fast, a full scan obviously yakes longer and a custom scan enables you to select a folder to scan for malware, such as the Downloads folder. It is useful to scan that after downloading apps and files from the internet

The results are displayed when the scan is complete. Unlike the earlier version of the app I originally tried, this one displays a list of the threats that were found. This enables you to at least get an idea of what might be infecting the computer.

Antivirus One scans and reports malware for free, but a subscription is required in order to clean any malware found, but that’s fair enough. It is fairly cheap to subscribe anyway and clicking the crown icon at the top, I was offered it for £14.99 a year.

I may continue with the free version and just register if or when it finds something. It depends on the type of malware and if you are fairly technically knowledgable you could use the scanner to find malware and then track it down and remove it yourself.

Find adware on the Mac

In addition to scanning for viruses (free) and removing them (with subscription), there is a free Adware Cleaner. Adware is the most common type of malware on the Mac and true viruses are rare. Adware displays adverts and pop-ups and is mostly irritating rather than dangerous. However, you still don't want it on your Mac. I keep a pretty clean Mac, so none was found, but it looks like a useful extra.

Extra features

In addition to scanning for malware and adware, there is an extension for Safari which protects you when browsing the web. It checks URLS and you can blacklist and whitelist websites to prevent you going there or to prevent it from being blocked.

In Safari, Chrome and Firefox, you can choose to clear browsing information automatically when they are closed. You can selectively clear certain items in the history, like navigation history, download history, cookies, and saved sessions. You can also choose whether to clean auto-logins, bookmarks and extensions on browser exit, too.

How effective is it?

Like a lot of Mac users, I rarely come across malware or adware and I keep a pretty clean Mac, so I can't report how it fared when dealing with malware. However, Trend Micro scores maximum points in an AV-Test group test of Mac antivirus software and AV-Comparatives Mac security review, which gives me confidence that the scanner will be effective in dealing with nasties on the Mac. The app is cheap and looks to be pretty good.

Alternatives to Antivirus One

There are many alternatives of course, and companies like Bitdefender, Norton, Avira, AVG, Kaspersky and others all have great software. I have been running a less well-known one called CleanMyMac X recently and it seems to be working well.

It is a multifunction tool that cleans junk from the Mac, optimizes it, runs maintenance scripts, has an uninstaller and more. One of the many modules is dedicated to security and it has realtime protection and a malware scanner. If you need protection plus a ton of other features all in one app, I recommend it. Check out CleanMyMac X (my affiliate link).