It’s the 21st century, and malware is getting more advanced each day, but Mac users are still of the opinion that Macs can’t be hacked and no malware or virus can enter the device.
Well, ask a Mac user who has been a victim of a malware attack. Among multiple cyberattacks during the pandemic, a few cyberattacks also took place on Macs. With that said, you need to keep your Mac safe and sound and do not rely on what Apple claims about its devices.
Our statements do not mean that Apple is entirely wrong about what it offers. Mac devices do have built-in security features. However, they are often not used effectively, thereby making devices vulnerable to attacks.
While there are multiple ways you can protect your macOS from viruses and malware, the first thing you can do is encrypt your connection and prevent any breach from taking place from the network level. One effective method to ensure this is to use a VPN. While there are plenty of recommended VPNs for Mac, you need to carefully pick a VPN that is recommended by experts. We suggest going with either ExpressVPN and Surfshark. But as always, you can still use any VPN you consider adequate.
Six tips to protect your Mac from malware
While the need to protect your Macbook from malware is significant. Here are some quick tips on how you can do that:
- Install antivirus software on your Mac:
The first thing you need to do is take one essential step to protect your device from malware and viruses. And that significant step is downloading an antivirus on your Mac.
While most Mac users wouldn’t take this step, considering their device to be the most secure one out there, there is always a need to get antivirus on your device.
Antiviruses are one of the ancient but valuable ways to prevent malware from entering a device. This effective software is installed on your Mac and is known to prevent your device from all sorts of malware like spyware, ransomware, Trojan Horse, and more.
This software immediately warns you if you’re about to download a malicious file on your device. Along with that, antiviruses also run repeated checks on your device if any malware is present in any file of your Macbook.
- Keep your operating system updated:
The next thing you need to take care of is keeping your operating system up-to-date. Mac offers frequent updates on its software to prevent all kinds of vulnerabilities that the previous versions had.
Therefore, instead of repeatedly ignoring the update notifications, all Mac users should update their devices immediately. The latest version of the software would bring in a more robust version of the software, and your device would become less vulnerable to malware attacks.
- Try not to click any unfamiliar emails and links:
Phishing emails, links, and websites are one solid threat to your Mac. The scary thing is that even with multiple phishing attacks coming into concern every day, users still fall prey to them and click on these links for the sake of their curiosity.
Google registered 2 million phishing websites last year. These websites and links reveal their purpose by infecting the device or through a massive data breach once clicked on them. While these emails and links look like scams and not as harmless as they are, they’re not what they seem. They are the easiest way to get malware on someone’s device.
Therefore, you need to try and not click on any links just to feed your curiosity, as they’d later only cause harm to your Macbook.
- Use an effective VPN
The next tip is the one we mentioned above as the most effective one for protecting your device: the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPNs create an encrypted tunnel between your Mac and the website you visit. This encrypted connection does not let any hacker snoop into the connection to steal your data or unleash a virus on your device.
While a VPN does not directly work to combat malware, it still encrypts your network which protects viruses from being released on the device.
This way, you can enjoy a VPN’s protection along with the perks it offers, like accessing geo-restricted services from anywhere in the world and staying unidentified over the internet.
- Frequently back up your Mac
The next tip is only a safe bet that you can take to protect your data from viruses and malware. This is to back up all the data of your Mac on a hard drive or a secondary device. This way, even if your device gets infected through malware, your sensitive data would remain safe.
Backing up your Mac may not be a perfect solution for malware to get into your device, but it’s the only way to keep your data away from all breaches.
- Wipe off your browser cache
There is a possibility that a virus was released on your device through a malicious website you visited previously. To avoid letting any deposits of the website stay on your device, you need to clear your browser cache.
Doing this is pretty simple. You can easily do it by visiting the settings of your browser. This way, there will be no threats of any further damage, and you will be able to enjoy your Mac without any worries.
Conclusion
Protecting your device is essential, even if it’s as secure as a Mac. Therefore, here are some quick tips to keep your Mac secure from all kinds of malware and viruses.
While all the solutions above are effective in their own ways, a VPN is the most effective option to come across. It will keep your Mac secure while protecting your activities online right from the network level.
