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Even Apple’s Craig Federighi has admitted there is a problem, saying in May 2021 that: “We have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable.” To stay safe, we recommend you read our best Mac security tips and our round up of the best Mac antivirus apps, in which we highlight Intego as our top pick.Īnother thing to note is that Apple’s own M-series chips that it has been using in Macs since November 2020 are considered more secure than Intel processors. In recent years malware on the Mac actually decreased, however, as you will see if you read on, Macs are not completely safe from attacks. For more information read: how Apple protects you from malware. We also discuss whether Macs need antivirus software separately.
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This is part of Apple’s Gatekeeper software that blocks apps created by malware developers and verifies that apps haven’t been tampered with. Apple has all the malware definitions in its XProtect file which sits on your Mac, and every time you download a new application it checks that none of those definitions are present.
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In addition Apple has its own built-in anti-malware tool. If you were to install something from an unknown developer Apple would warn you to check it’s authenticity.
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You can specify whether only apps from the Mac App Store can be installed, or if you are happy to allow apps from identified developers too. You can check these settings in macOS Ventura’s System Settings > Privacy & Security and scroll to the Security section, or, if you are using Monterey or older, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. For example, macOS shouldn’t allow the installation of third-party software unless it’s from the App Store or identified developers. Luckily Apple has various measures in place to guard against such threats.
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