Keyboard Maestro 8.2.3 “Monitor critical folders for potential threats” Macro
Inspired by cleaning up from a malware attack (fake update, infamous recently) I have made a tool for myself to be notified when something gets added to specific folders which enable simple malware to be active. It is not a great solution to everything, but it works for me, and I hope it could work for others, or inspire new, creative macros in the field of security.
Note: This is just my personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Forum management, or anyone else.
Thanks for sharing, but, IMO, computer security is not a field for amateurs. There are a number of really good professional antivirus, antimalware systems available for the Mac for a very reasonable price, some are even free. I recommend that all Mac users give serious consideration to using one of these system.
Maybe you are a security professional and would know exactly what to do when you get an alert from this macro. I submit that most of us, certainly myself, are not, and should not rely solely on this type of monitoring for proper security.
Each of you can, and should, do your own research, but I selected Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac - Absolute Protection for Mac about 6 months ago for my personal use, and I am totally satisfied with it. At $40/year, I consider it a bargain for the protection and peace-of-mind it provides me.
For those of you not familiar with antivirus systems (we haven't needed them for decades on the Mac), let me share what a good system will do for you:
Blocks most malware from entering your system
Immediately quarantines any suspicious malware, and notifies you instantly
Allow you to completely remove this malware
Continuously scans the world for new viruses and malware, develops signatures for these, and updates your mac
You need an antivirus program on your Mac. That statement may cause some Apple users to argue or walk away, but 2017 has so far seen more Mac malware and adware than ever before.
In 2012, the Flashback Trojan infected 600,000 Macs. In 2013, a targeted attack hit OS X developers at Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and Apple itself. In 2015, the XcodeGhost attack poisoned hundreds of OS X and iOS apps. And in 2016, the first known piece of encrypting ransomware for Macs appeared.
After evaluating eight free and paid Mac antivirus products, we've chosen Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac ($40 per year) as our top pick. It had a nearly unmeasurable impact on system performance, and it caught all malware.
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is one of only a few solutions we tested that offers perfect malware detection. Further, its modern, streamlined interface places on-demand scans front and center.
Thanks for replying! I want to add that this macro is not intended to replace any security measures of your choosing. It does not provide any security - just information after the fact, and this info is by definition incomplete. /disclaimer
Yes, it is a useful thing to know when software adds these sorts of daemons. Often it is for things like updates or whatever, and generally not something viruses would do, since they tend to be more devious. But it is nice to know what they are doing. Personally, I use Lingon X to edit and create daemons, and it has a feature that alerts to changes to the daemon folders.
