What it is: There’s a new macOS malware called mshelper that’s infecting macintosh computers.
Most malware (viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, etc.) are written for Windows because Windows represents the largest share of computers worldwide. That makes the Macintosh a much safer alternative because there’s less malware that can attack macOS. Of course, that doesn’t mean that some malware won’t attack a Macintosh and apparently someone wrote malware to target macOS called mshelper.
This mshelper malware gobbles up your CPU’s processing time, which can result in slowing down your computer. Fortunately, it’s a simple process of finding and removing it. First, you can use the Activity Monitor program to identify if mshelper has already infected your Macintosh. Most likely you got infected by downloaded a strange file. If you find mshelper on your Macintosh, the next step is to delete it.
As always, the best security against malware is to keep constant, up to date backups of your critical files. That way if malware wipes out your computer, you’ll always have backups of your important data. Then look to see if mshelper has even infected your Macintosh. Finally, reduce your risk by avoiding shady and suspicious files to download.
The Macintosh can never be immune to malware because anyone can write malicious software for any operating system. The Macintosh may isolate you from the vast majority of malware in the world, but don’t rely on it to protect you from all types of malware. Any computer can be infected but at least Apple products are less likely to be infected than rival products like Windows and Android.
