Complete list of Mac viruses, malware names and trojans

Despite Apple’s best efforts, Mac malware does exist, we describe some cases below. However, before you panic, Mac malware and viruses are very rarely found “in the wild”.

From time to time you will hear of big profile trojans, malware, and ransomware that is targeting the Windows world, very rarely is this a threat to Macs. For example, the worldwide WannaCry/WannaCrypt ransomware attack that hit back in May 2017 was only targeting Windows machines and therefore no threat to Macs.

Luckily Apple has various measures in place to guard against such threats. For example, macOS shouldn’t allow the installation of third-party software unless it’s from the App Store or identified developers. 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. 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. If you were to install something from an unknown developer Apple would warn you to check it’s authenticity.

In addition Apple has its own built-in anti-malware tool. 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.  This is part of Apple’s Gatekeeper software that blocks apps created by malware developers and verifies that apps haven’t been tampered with. For more information read: how Apple protects you from malware. We also discuss whether Macs need antivirus software separately.

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. 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.

Another thing to note is that Apple’s…