The Adware menace has, unfortunately, spread to the Mac, yes. The good news is that, right now, there are fairly few strains of the stuff, and AdwareMedic is a very good bet on its removal. Antivirus software typically doesn’t identify adware because, while obnoxious in the extreme, it isn’t actually malicious—at least, not in the sense of actually being harmful to your computer.
The bad news is that, like Windows users, you are no longer insulated by obscurity against your own misjudgement. Install software only from reputable sources; do not download from any site other than that which officially distributes the software. In general this means that you do not download from any repository, such as a download site, but get the software directly from the project’s own web page, typically the page of the author. Naturally, if you trust Apple, one obvious way to seal things tight is only to install from the Mac App Store, or only to install Apple-signed software. In any event, do not install software merely because you were asked to do so by any message coming from within your web browser. In case of doubt, ask questions. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
