As a Mac computer repair tech and consultant. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who have not backed up their data. The reasons are endless, “I have been meaning to”, or “I don’t have one”, or “I don’t know how to backup”. Then the time comes when the hard drive finally becomes unreadable and fails. Data recovery is expensive and time consuming. While most Mac users have heard of Time Machine on the Mac for backing up, many have neglected to use it. Just about any external hard drive will work that connects via USB in the back of your Mac. When you plug it in, it happily asks if you would like to use this device as a backup. By clicking on yes, the data is copied from your MacBook, iMac or whatever to the external drive. It will continuously backup and add to the backup what you have added throughout the day. When the time comes recovering the lost file or entire drive is very easy. If you have any questions about Time Machine or would like to have someone install it. Call us!

You can very quickly, and easily, eliminate the vast majority of pop-up ads in Safari. Here’s how:

Open Safari.
Choose Block Pop-Up Windows from the Safari menu

Firefox and Chrome already contain a pop-up blocker by default.

2) In some scenarios, the Apple browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, Apple says “cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password.” Deleting the installer immediately involves going into the Downloads folder (or your selected download location) and dragging the installer to the Trash and emptying the Trash.

3) If you do happen to unexpectedly see an installation screen from Mac Defender, do not install the application. The Mac Defender installation screen looks like the normal Mac OS X installer screen, which is why some have been fooled by it. Uncheck the “Open ‘Safe’ files after downloading” option in Safari, or similar options in other browsers. If a browser asks you if you want to run an installer when you did not expect to download an installer, always click the No or Cancel button.

4) Of course, you can always use MacNet for ongoing protection against Mac-based malware, even though the Apple Macintosh has been far less a target for malware than Windows.

Don’t confirm or deny that an infection exists, and whatever you do, don’t try to remove it.

For so many years, Mac users have grown accustomed to not having to deal with viruses, malware, spyware, and so on. It was just a “fact of life on a Mac.” However, some Mac users as of late have had to deal with the Mac Defender virus. Since having a warning pop up in front of your face while surfing the net has not been something Mac users have seen, many people think the warning is actually coming from Apple and will click on the link. While this is a new phenomenon, it has nothing to do with the security of Mac OS X. Macs are still not susceptible to viruses. The MacDefender program does absolutely nothing but ask you for payment and will open adult sites if you don’t pay up. While this is definitely bad, there’s not much Mac OS X could have done to prevent it from happening.

AppleCare does not provide support for removal of the malware, but MacNet will. We’ll help you resolve this issue if you happened to click on the link and installed the program; which is going by names such as– Mac Defender, Apple Security, and a few less used name variants. So far the only difference between them are the names. MacDefender is not a worm, not a virus, and not a true Torjan horse; although it falls under the general term “malware” — as in, it’s malicious in some way.

If an installation starts and you don’t know what program it is or why it’s there, quit the program; Don’t click on it to see what it’s all about. Most importantly, if it’s asking you for your Mac’s Administrator password and you don’t know why, don’t enter it. If you’re not sure whether or not your Mac has been infected with ANY sort of malware or spyware, contact us to schedule an appointment and we’ll check it for you.

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