How to Remove Mac Defender Or Completely Avoid the Malware? Apple Explains

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Apple has been pretty annoying, at least according to some, by not officially acknowledging the Mac Defender malware infections that became more than obvious in the previous weeks. But while Cupertino issued advisory memos to its customer care staff not to help any customers with the removal of Mac Defender, some Mac owners that got the infections have been unofficially helped by Apple’s customer support.

And now we hear that Apple is finally ready to offer official guidance to help you avoid and/or remove Mac Defender.

How to avoid installing this malware? Simple, just follow these notes:

If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn’t work, then Force Quit the browser.

In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.

1. Go into the Downloads folder or your preferred download location.
2. Drag the installer to the Trash.
3. Empty the Trash.

How to remove it? Well, Apple’s got you covered as well:

If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:

• Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
• Use the Removal Steps below.

Removal steps

• Move or close the Scan Window
• Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor
• Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window
• Under the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector
• Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit
• Quit Activity Monitor application
• Open the Applications folder
• Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name
• Drag to Trash, and empty Trash

Malware also installs a login item in your account in System Preferences. Removal of the login item is not necessary, but you can remove it by following the steps below.

• Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
• Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
• Click the minus button

Use the steps in the “How to avoid installing this malware” section above to remove the installer from the download location.

Of course, if any of that sounds too complicated for you, although I’d say you’d better try removing it yourself as that will teach you how to deal with further malware infections, in case you plan on getting more of them soon, Apple will have a Mac OS X update that will “automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants.”

We’ll be waiting for your feedback on the whole Mac Defender thing, so don’t forget to drop us a line in the comments section, or via Twitter or Facebook.