Malwarebytes for Mac: Is the free version sufficient with XProtect?

MalwareBytes didn't install the adware. It found something that was already on your Mac and let you know.

You never need the paid version. The trial includes all features for a limited time. After that, it works without the intrusive "always on the lookout" background function.

Yes, give it full disk access. Otherwise, it can only look in your user account, and malware (which includes adware) can install pieces to the root Library folder. It otherwise can't look in all parts of that folder.

In the future, be more careful about where you download software from. The adware came along with something else you, or other member or your household installed.

Per Yer_Man, you don't really need MalwareBytes. Since the System folder is entirely locked down, you can remove junk like this yourself if you know where to look.

About those "<app> will damage your… - Apple Community

Quacks wrote:

Thank you.... Looks like it could be one of the many apps I have downloaded from the internet... Calibre, LibreOffice, Keka (easier than using terminal to encrypt zip files),

These are all legitimate apps assuming you actually downloaded them from the developer's own site.

As @Barney-15E mentioned, downloading legitimate apps from software aggregation sites will usually be bundled with PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Program) which could contain adware, malware, a virus (not an issue with macOS so far), or other third party apps, etc. Even a formerly legitimate download site may turn nasty with new ownership.....it has happened multiple times over the years. Scammers have been known to spend money to make more money off people so will buy up popular sites & products, then secretly change them.

So even though these particular apps listed are currently legitimate, there could come a time where the developer sells out to someone else who is not so trustworthy and it may not be readily apparent. This occurs a lot these days. Many of the formerly trust worthy AV products for Windows are now owned by one entity who tends to sell people's personal information (those products are also now pure junk as well). It happened to my favorite web browser years ago......Opera v12.x was a great browser (best ever IMHO), but they completely changed the browser to pure junk.....I only discovered about a year later that it had been sold to a Chinese company which completely destroyed the browser (I had faith in the original developers since I thought they needed time to get it back to its glory.....boy was I wrong!). Another example related to LibreOffice......Open Office was the source for LibreOffice. The LibreOffice developers forked the Open Office code once Oracle changed the Open Source License used for later versions of Open Office. Many people still use Open Office, possibly not realizing that Open Office has very little active development these days and LibreOffice has made huge changes & improvements over the years since being forked.

You need to keep up on the news associated with the third party apps you use so you are not tricked at some point.

FYI, I do use LibreOffice on all my systems and I also have Keka on one of my older Macs. Both are nice & useful apps.

Hotspot Shield to name a few.....

Never heard of this one, but I'm not a macOS software expert.

and Malwarebytes.

It is safe, but as others have mentioned there really is no need even for the free version unless you are having issues & suspect you have installed some adware or malware. Definitely no need to run it 24/7. While it is better behaved than most other anti-virus software, it still interferes with the normal operation of macOS at a low level.

Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community

There’s a Firefox extension that MalwareBytes doesn’t like.

Usual cause of these findings are coupon apps and price-finding apps, and similar.

For this one, purportedly Amazon Shopping Assistant, Ebay Shopping Assistant, Searchme, or Slick Savings, and the use of other names would not surprise.

As for whether this app is malware or not, it is adware, but the user has usually intentionally installed it.

People vulnerable to advertisements using words like “free” and “cheap stuff” and “discount” (or advertisements using words like “hacker!” or “virus!”) will seemingly invariably meet these and other apps and extensions.

I use the built-in macOS security, multiple deep backups, long and unique passwords, and typically not add-on security apps, or “coffee shop” VPN apps, or privacy apps, or cleaning apps. These same add-on apps can also themselves also be adware or privacy problems. I also don’t go looking for free stuff, keygen tools, cracked apps or torrented apps, because, well, I don’t need those hassles.

One of the better-known anti-malware apps for macOS was itself caught selling personally-identified browsing activities and online shopping activities. It wasn’t fined for collecting and selling that personally-identified metadata, it was fined for not burying that sales notice somewhere in the fine print of the End User License Agreement EULA). That same EULA we all read thoroughly and we all understand, obviously.

Quacks wrote:

Thank you.... but one question for you... then why didn't XProtect find the Adware that Malwarebytes did?

If I remove all these types of programs, what would you suggest I do instead, to find such things?

Adware is not defined as malware. It is potentially unwanted software, but you installed it, probably not with your knowledge as it is usually bundled with legitimate software you downloaded from a software aggregation site. Never do that again.

MalwareBytes began its life as the Adware Removal Tool (ART) created by a member of this forum. MalwareBytes bought him out and the original version was just ART under a new name. Later, they morphed it into the crapware it is now. If you can't manage to not install adware, keep the free version as it still has ART at its core.

Any version of any software that purports to clean, protect, secure, or otherwise maintain a Mac is completely unnecessary.

Kurt Lang wrote:

In the future, be more careful about where you download software from. The adware came along with something else you, or other member or your household installed.

+1

Quacks wrote:

Thank you.... but one question for you... then why didn't XProtect find the Adware that Malwarebytes did?

If I remove all these types of programs, what would you suggest I do instead, to find such things?

A question for you: what is malware?

Is a coupon or discount or shopping app that siphons your data in exchange for coupons or discounts malware, when you loaded the app, and wanted the “free” money?

Is a VPN app perfectly positioned to collect and resell your metadata malware, and that usually for negligible additional benefits?

What to do? I usually don’t install an app I didn’t go looking for, and will usually install the app directly from the developer’s own site, or from the app store.

And yes, the app store has some junk apps available too. Is that malware?

I don't believe it is required.