To avoid getting malware on your Mac, you need to be diligent and use common sense. These are some of the most common ways for malware to find its way onto your Mac:ĭownload manager on a software download site That code be a fake software update, a utility bundled with another application, a browser extension, or a media file. There are a number of ways it can happen, but in each case it’s because you download something or allow something to be downloaded that contains malicious code. Malware, when it arrives on your computer, consumes resources, steals data, and may make your Mac unstable. It could be a virus, but malware takes many other forms, including:Īll the types of malware listed above can land on your Mac just as easily as a Windows PC. Before we start, it’s useful to define what we mean by malware.