Realizing your Mac has been infected with a trojan like the Cryxos virus can be panic-inducing. What does that even mean? How did it get there? I thought Macs couldn’t get viruses…
If that’s you, I’m sure all these questions are swirling in your head. But don’t worry, I promise you won’t have to do anything extreme to your computer. Keep reading to see just how easy the Cryxos removal actually is.
Name | Cryxos |
Category | Trojan |
Symptoms | Fake pop-ups and misleading error messages |
Infection method | Software bundling or visiting malicious websites |
System damage | Excessive pop-ups and slow performance |
Removal |
What is Сryxos?
First things first, it’s essential to understand what the Cryxos virus is. At the heart of it, it’s an extortion scam. The malware displays deceptive pop-ups telling you your computer is infected with a virus and prompting you to call a support number. Typically, the people you contact will then try to charge for their “services.” In reality, services don’t do anything and fix a problem that never even existed.
The best-case scenario is that those support specialists simply remove Cryxos to eliminate those pop-up messages. But, that is unlikely because they want you to call back so that the scammers can charge you again.
How can Mac get infected with Сryxos trojan?
It’s possible that you can start seeing these pop-ups just from going to a website that’s been compromised by a hacker or scammer. Simply going to the website will trigger the pop-ups, but once you navigate away from the site, you’ll most probably stop seeing these error messages.
But, it is also possible for your Mac to get infected with the trojan that will constantly cause these pop-up messages to appear.
Typically, a Mac gets infected with Cryxos malware through software bundling. That’s when it sneaks onto your computer during the installation of some other, unrelated application. That’s why it’s always a good idea to check the Advanced Options any time you install a new app on your computer.
How can Cryxos harm Mac?
The biggest and most invasive thing Cryxos does to your Mac is it inundates it with pop-up ads and fake error messages. In some cases, it will play an audio message too. But it’s more of a nuisance than anything else.
If you take action on those pop-ups, like calling the technical support number or giving a technician remote access to your Mac, that’s when the actual harm comes. Anytime you grant someone access to your computer, they’ll have full reign over it and be able to collect personal information or install other harmful software.
How to remove Сryxos from Mac automatically with CMM
As I said earlier, just because your Mac has been infected with the Cryxos trojan doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. There is an easy and effective way to get rid of it.
Try downloading the app CleanMyMac X. It’s a tool to help optimize the performance of your Mac, and the best part is that you can try it out for free. Quickly detect and remove malware like Cryxos!
Once you have CleanMyMac X downloaded, just follow these steps:
- Open CleanMyMac X.
- Click Malware Removal.
- Then, hit the Scan button.
- After the scan is finished, make sure Cryoxs is selected and click Remove.
The scan will take a couple of minutes to complete, but that’s all you have to do. That’s how easy it is to useCleanMyMac X to remove any threats it finds during its scan.
How to prevent infecting a Mac with trojans
Since scanning with CleanMyMac X is so easy and convenient, regularly doing it is a great way to help prevent future infections. Getting into the habit of scanning your Mac once a week, if not more, can help catch trojans before they sit on your hard drive for too long.
Another great tool that can help you prevent more viruses is the CleanMyMac X real-time monitoring. Here’s how you can check if it’s turned on:
- Open the CleanMyMac X menu in your toolbar.
- In the Protection field, check if the Real-time malware monitor is turned on in the Protection field.
- If it’s not, click Turn On in the bottom corner.
More tips to prevent trojans on your Mac
While regularly scanning and monitoring your computer for malware is a great way to prevent trojan viruses, it’s definitely not the only way. macOS has a lot of built-in security features designed to help with this too.
Keep your browser and Mac up to date
Developers are constantly finding and creating new patches to help protect their applications. Your browser and macOS are no different. Staying up to date with your software means that you’ll always have the most protected version of every app – even if that is your browser or your entire operating system.
Turn on your Firewall
macOS offers a built-in firewall and it is super easy to manage. All you have to do to make sure your firewall is turned on is to:
- Click the Apple logo in the top left.
- Select System Preferences.
- Hit the Security & Privacy button.
- Open the Firewall tab.
- Click the Turn On Firewall button.