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Do you know how to install a trojan virus on a computer? Unless you’re secretly a hacker, probably not! How exactly do hackers install malware on your devices without your knowledge? In this article, we’ll discuss the different methods of installing a trojan horse and more importantly, how to prevent one from infecting your computer.
Remove unwanted or unknown applications and software. Most of the Viruses and Malware are. Here’s how to scan your Mac for malware: Download MAC ENHANCER (free download) and launch the app. Click on the Malware Removal tab. How to prevent your Mac from getting a virus. Prevention is always better than cure.
How to Install a Trojan Virus: Methods
When hackers first learn how to install a trojan virus, they are introduced to many methods. The following are the primary means that hackers use to install a trojan virus on mobile devices, computers, and endpoint devices. These methods are effective in that users are unaware of the trojan horse installation on their computer.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is a technique designed to manipulate users. It conceals the trojan horse behind deceptive software, email, and advertisements. The software or email seems legitimate and tricks users into installing or opening it. But the trojan installation occurs silently in the background.
When it comes to how to install a trojan virus, social engineering comes in different forms. It can be a form of spear phishing, phishing URL, fake software, or malvertising.
Spear Phishing
Spear phishing is spam or a fake email that contains a malicious attachment. It looks legitimate at first, so it can’t be suspected as fake. But then it threatens victims to provide personal information because they are “under investigation.” It can also encourage victims to download the malicious attachment by saying that it’s a funny photo of them.
Spear phishing is the leading cause of malware infections. Most malware are commonly distributed by malicious emails. Many consumers and endpoint users fall for this trick, so it is important to be aware of how spear phishing works to avoid falling victim to it. If the email is from an anonymous sender and creates a sense of urgency, it’s likely spear phishing. This is how to install a trojan virus through spear phishing.
Phishing URLs
A phishing URL can be found in an article, video description, or application description. It can be found on legitimate websites, and it looks like a normal URL but actually opens a malicious website.
While the user is browsing the website, malware is installing silently. The malicious website also generates a fake login page to record their username and password. That’s how to install a trojan virus via a phishing URL.
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Fake Software
This is what trojan malware is commonly disguised as. A trojan horse can perfectly conceal its malicious nature by pretending to be legitimate software, such as anti malware software, a software update, or a flash player.
Once installed, it hides in different folders and alters the security setting of the computer to create a backdoor, steal personal information, and copy sensitive data. That’s how to install a trojan virus through fake software.
It is important for users to avoid downloading cracked software or unverified applications because hackers spread fake software on the internet and you may inadvertently download trojan malware. Remember to download software from verified vendors only.
Malvertising
Just like the other methods, malvertising, short for malicious advertising, is a technique that conceals malware behind a deceptive advertisement. It can also be found even on legitimate websites, which is why it is an effective method when a hacker decides how to install a trojan virus.
To insert a malicious ad on legitimate websites, hackers join an ad network that legitimate advertisers use to bid for space on a page. The hacked ad looks authentic. When the user clicks on it, it installs malware silently or redirects the user to a malware-infected website.
Detecting a malicious advertisement can be difficult and involves analysis tools for. However, you can use anti malware software to prevent malicious ads from installing trojan malware. It can detect and block the malicious application that installs in the background.
That’s how to install a trojan virus through the different forms of social engineering.
Exploit Kits
Exploits kits are tools specifically designed to scan devices and web browsers for unknown vulnerabilities. When users go online, their IP addresses can be displayed. Hackers scan these devices for system vulnerabilities.
Often, the devices running outdated software are the ones most at risk of a trojan horse infection. Because these computers are unpatched, exploit kits can easily inject malware through the system vulnerabilities. It can also insert malware through outdated add-ons and plugins. So, it is important to regularly install software updates to protect your device from exploit kits. That’s how to install a trojan virus through exploit kits.
Let’s recap the different ways to prevent a trojan virus infection via the methods of how to install a trojan virus.
- Avoid opening spear phishing.
- Scan the URL to verify the reputation of the website.
- Avoid downloading cracked software.
- Install an effective anti malware software to protect your computer.
- Keep your computer up to date.
How to Install a Trojan Virus: Conclusion
Remember that hackers have many different options when deciding how to install a trojan virus. Trojan malware can be installed through social engineering, spear phishing, and exploit kits. Knowing how these methods work and how to install a trojan virus is the first step to avoid falling victim to a trojan horse attack. Most importantly, install trusted anti malware software to ensure complete protection against varieties of malware attacks.
You may have heard it's said that Macs don’t get viruses. That there’s no Apple virus. You may even have said it yourself. Sadly, it’s not true. The latest State of Malware Report by Malwarebytes describes a significant rise of Mac threats of over 400% in 2019. The report claims that cybercriminals now target Macs severely, due to increasing market share. So, do you still believe that Macs don’t get viruses? Continue reading to discover how to remove a virus from your Mac and protect your files from getting infected.
Can Macs get viruses?
Macs have been considered safer than Windows PC for a long time. Macs are indeed secure, thanks to various built-in features, such as GateKeeper, that doesn't allow installing anything not approved by Apple. But, as the Apple security features have improved, so is malware. According to the State of Malware report mentioned before, Macs are mostly attacked by adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUP), which macOS has no counteraction against. So, answering the question, yes, Macs do get viruses, and they may impact your sensitive file and data seriously.
How do I know if my Mac has a virus?
Before you remove a virus from a Mac, you need to be sure it actually has one. We’ve covered that in more detail in this article but here are a few pointers.
- Your Mac starts behaving erratically and doing things you don’t expect;
- Your Mac starts running very slowly as if something is hogging the processor;
- You start seeing adverts on your desktop;
- You find software or applications you didn’t install.
- An app asks for your administrator password
These symptoms may mean your Mac has a virus, although there could be other explanations.
How to remove a virus from a Mac manually
Thankfully, there are lots of ways to do it. And Mac virus removal doesn’t have to cost money.
1. Delete browser extensions
One of the most common types of malware comes in the form of browser extensions. Even extensions that aren’t particularly malicious can be annoying, and if you didn’t deliberately install them, they’re malware. Here’s how to get rid of unwanted browser extensions.
Safari
- Launch Safari.
- Click Safari in the top menu, then choose Safari Extensions.
- Look down the list and click on any extensions that look suspicious. Read the description of the extension. If you don’t remember installing it, click Uninstall.
- Repeat until you’ve removed all the extensions you don’t want.
Chrome
- Launch Chrome.
- Click on the 3-dot icon in the upper right corner.
- Select More Tools and choose Extensions from the menu that appears.
- Look over the extensions in the browser window and click Remove on any that you don’t recognize.
Firefox
- Launch Firefox.
- Click the 3-line (hamburger) icon at the top right corner.
- Choose Add-ons.
- Click the Extensions tab and remove any you don’t recognize.
2. Uninstall apps
Malware comes in lots of different forms. And it even comes disguised as security software to help you get rid of viruses! Devious, huh?
If you’ve inadvertently downloaded an app that turns out to be a virus, you need to uninstall it immediately. There are a couple of ways to do this. Here’s the hard way.
- Go to your Applications folder and drag the app to the Trash.
- Go to
~/Library
folder and look in the Application Support folder for any files related to the app and drag those to the Trash. - Look in the other folders in ~
/Library
, especially Launch Agents and Launch Daemons and remove any files related to the app from there. But be careful, if you remove files used by legitimate apps you could cause lots of problems. - Repeat Step 3 for your Mac’s main Library folder.
The easy way: Uninstall apps in a few clicks
- Download and launch CleanMyMac X.
- Click Uninstaller.
- Check the box next to the application name.
- Click Uninstall.
If you don’t know the name of the application, it’s more difficult. But if you use CleanMyMac X, all you have to do is scroll through the list of applications and look for any you don’t recognize or don’t need and remove them. CleanMyMac X removes every trace of an app, including files that you may overlook when you remove applications manually. This is particularly important for viruses, so it’s much better to use CleanMyMac X.
What makes this method even better, is that CleanMyMac X also shows you app leftovers that remained after the main app is gone.
What makes this method even better, is that CleanMyMac X also shows you app leftovers that remained after the main app is gone.
3. Escape the virus: Create a new user profile
How to install a download on macbook. Usually, viruses are attached to a particular user profile on your computer. How can i download iphoto to my mac. In this way, they are able to seize control of your admin profile. But you can start if from scratch and create a new user on your Mac. Don't worry, you will be able to transfer all your important data from one user to another.
Go to Apple menu > System Preferences, click Users & Groups.
- Click the lock icon , then type in your admin password.
- Use the plus sign to add a new user profile.
To move your important information from one user to another, you will need to access the Shared folder.
- Click on the Finder > Go to Folder..
- Paste in this:
/Users
Can you see the Shared folder? Here you can copy the needed files from your old user account. Hurray, you've started a clean, virus-free life!
Bonus tip: Clean up your login items
Login items are apps that launch automatically upon startup. Malware programs would often sneak into your login items without you knowing. How to prevent them from launching?
- Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences.
- Click Users & Groups.
- Click on the Login Items tab
From here you can manage them using the [+] and [—] buttons.
How to remove a virus from Mac automatically
While the above steps work very well in lots of cases, sometimes the Mac virus removal means using a dedicated application to scan and remove malware from your Mac.
Scan your Mac for viruses
![File File](/uploads/1/3/3/2/133253303/633525944.png)
There are lots of these applications available, and many of them are either free or allow you to at the very least scan your Mac for free to find out whether you need to take action. Be careful, however. It’s important to choose a tool from a reputable vendor. If you just google ‘Mac antivirus tool’ some of the results may well be for tools that are themselves malicious and instead of removing viruses from your Mac will infect it. We recommend using CleanMyMac X.
It can identify thousands of malware threats, including adware, spyware, ransomware, worms, cryptocurrency miners. And if CleanMyMac finds something suspicious, it will offer immediate removal. Besides, it ensures real-time Mac virus protection, informing you when you’re about to install something harmful. Here’s how to perform a full system scan:
- Download CleanMyMac X (free download) and launch the app.
- Click on the Malware Removal tab.
- Click Scan.
- Click Remove.
Disable the invisible agents
Some small supporting applications never show up in the Login items. They are called the Launch agents and may as well be hacked by viruses. You can find them with the universal Mac cleaner, CleanMyMac. This app is notarized by Apple, so you are safe using it.
- Launch the app and go to the Optimization tab.
- Click Launch agents
How many apps do you see there? Remove any flash players, automatic updaters, or everything else that you find suspicious. Even if you deleted the main app itself, its launch agents may still occupy your drive. Here is what I have:
How to get rid of a virus on a Macbook Pro (or any other Mac) if all else fails
If you’ve run through all the steps above and are still having problems trying to remove a virus from a Mac, the next step is to restore from a Time Machine backup. The benefit of restoring from Time Machine is that you can do it quickly and easily by booting into the recovery partition and you can choose to backup to a state just before your Mac started behaving erratically.
The downside of this option is that any work you’ve done since the backup you restore from will be lost. You could manually copy files from your Mac to another drive or cloud storage service before you restore and then copy them back afterward. However, if one of those files is infected, you risk contaminating your Mac all over again. If there are documents you really need and that aren’t backed up elsewhere, use one of the antivirus tools above to run a scan on them before you copy them to another disk. That way you’ll know they’re safe.
Here’s how to restore from a Time Machine backup
- Make sure you’re connected to your Time Machine backup drive.
- Restart your Mac, holding down the Command and R keys until you see the Apple logo. When the macOS Utilities screen appears, choose Restore from a Time Machine Backup. Click Continue.
- Choose the last backup before your Mac started misbehaving or you suspect you were infected with a virus.
Your Mac will now return to the state it was in when you made that backup.
How To Download A Virus Into My Mac Computer
If you don’t have a Time Machine backup to restore from, the last resort is to reinstall macOS. This is a ground-zero approach. You’ll need to wipe your startup drive completely clean and start again. That means reinstalling all your applications and copying all your data back to your Mac afterward. If you have a recent backup of your data, from before your Mac became infected, you can use that to copy data from after you re-install. If not, you’ll need to back up important files now — but scan them with an antivirus tool first to make sure they’re not infected.
To perform a clean install of macOS, you’ll need a bootable installer disk. Creating one is beyond the scope of this article, but there is a comprehensive guide here.
Once you’ve made your bootable installer, plug it into your Mac, go to System Preferences, choose Startup Disk and select the disk you just plugged in. Restart your Mac, holding down Command-R and do the following:
- When the macOS Utilities screen appears, select Reinstall a new copy of macOS. Click Continue and then Continue again when the next window appears.
- Agree to the terms and conditions and select your Mac’s internal disk.
- Click Install. Wait for your Mac to restart.
- Your Mac will start up as if it’s a new Mac and you’ll need to go through the process of setting it up from scratch.
- Once you’ve set it up, copy back the files you need from the backup and that you know aren’t infected.
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As you can see, there are many different ways to remove a virus from a Mac, depending on how badly infected it is and what kind of virus it is. The main thing to remember is if you suspect your Mac is infected, don’t worry. It can be fixed! Move on to our little Q&A section to find answers to questions many users ask.
FAQ
Do you need an antivirus for Mac?
Most of the antiviruses protect your Mac in real-time, making it apparent for you when an intruder appears. So, with antivirus software, you can be sure no PUP or adware can infect your computer. Antivirus is not a must-have software, but it indeed adds up a layer of protection if you use it.
Can you get a virus from opening an email?
Email viruses do exist, but you can’t catch one just by opening an email. What you need to be cautious with are email attachments. If you don’t know who that email comes from, avoid opening the attachment. It can contain PUP and other things you don’t need on your computer.
How to do a virus scan on Mac?
To do a quick virus scan, inspect your Mac for the software you didn’t intentionally install. Some apps can come in bundles hiding malicious programs that end up appearing on your Mac. For a more thorough virus scan, get CleanMyMac X. All you need to do, is to install the app, go to Malware Removal, and hit the Scan button.
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How to remove fake “Update Adobe Flash Player” pop-ups on Mac?
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Try to find and delete the last app you installed before you started seeing such fake alerts. Also, remove browser extensions from the web-browser where you see such pop-up ads. Some malicious extension can be responsible for this. If nothing helps, scan your Mac for viruses using the antivirus of your choice.