Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac

User Guide
Version 1.2.6
24 January 2017
Notices
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Third Party Project Usage

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Sample Code in Documentation

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CMC13-1026a
 Table of Contents

About Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac ..............................................................1

Whats New ................................................................................................................................................ 1
System Requirements ............................................................................................................................. 1
End-User License Agreement (EULA) ................................................................................................. 1
External Access Requirements.............................................................................................................. 1
Installation ......................................................................................................................... 2
How to use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac .................................................... 4
Scan .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Special Cases ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Optional items ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Compromises ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Next Steps................................................................................................................................................... 6
Contacting Support ......................................................................................................... 7
Gathering Information about Your System ................................................................ 8
About Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac is an application for Mac OS X designed to remove malware and adware from your computer.
It is very simple to use, and for most problems, should clean up your system in less than a minute, from start to finish. Just open
the app, click the Scan button, and remove anything that is detected. Thats it!
If this app doesnt solve your problem, it includes the ability to take a system snapshot that can help Malwarebytes find possible
solutions to the problem.

Whats New
The following change has been made in version 1.2.6 of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
Fixes a bug that causes scanning to freeze under rare conditions

System Requirements
Following are minimum requirements for a computer system on which Malwarebytes Anti-Malware may be installed. Please note
that these requirements do not include any other functionality that the computer is responsible for.
Operating System: OS X version 10.9 or later.
Security & Privacy: Allow apps to be downloaded from Mac App Store and identified developers (most restrictive setting)
Active Internet Connection

End-User License Agreement (EULA)

Use of this product is governed by our End-User License Agreement (EULA). This agreement may be viewed in its entirety at the
following URL:
https://www.malwarebytes.com/eula/

External Access Requirements

If you utilize a firewall or other access-limiting device, you must grant access for Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to reach Malwarebytes
services. These are:
https://data.service.malwarebytes.org Port 443 outbound
https://data-cdn.mbamupdates.com Port 443 outbound
https://*.mwbsys.com Port 443 outbound

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 1

Installation
When downloading Malwarebytes Anti-
Malware, you will receive a file named MBAM-
Mac-<version>.dmg, where <version> is the
version of the downloaded file. Open that file,
and you will see a window prompting you to
install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware by
dragging it into the Applications folder.

After doing this, go to the Applications folder

and open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. The
first time you open it, you should see a
window asking you if you're sure you want to
open it. Click the Open button.

It is possible you will see this window

instead:

If that is the case, your security settings are set

to allow only apps downloaded from the Mac
App Store. To open Malwarebytes Anti-
Malware, go to System Preferences and click
the Security & Privacy icon.
In the Preference pane, click the Open Anyway
button to allow the app to open. You could
also unlock this pane by clicking the lock icon
in the bottom left corner and entering your
password, then changing this setting to "Mac
App Store and identified developers," which
will allow the app to open normally. Please
note: It is not advisable to change this
preference to "Anywhere" unless you know
exactly what you're doing!

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 2

 Once opened for the first time, the app will
ask for an admin password to install a helper
tool.
This tool will be used to remove adware or
malware that has been installed into
locations that require a higher privilege level
to access. Without this helper tool,
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will not be able to
remove all adware and malware.

Installation of the helper tool may need to be repeated again at some point in the future, if the tool is deleted or if a newer version
becomes available.
In addition to the helper tool, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will add an item named "com.malwarebytes.services" to the keychain
during installation. This is used to store data which identifies your system to our update servers, and is a pre-requisite for
downloading of database updates. This is not something you will be aware of unless you go looking for it, and be aware that
adding an item to the keychain does not mean that the app has access to anything else in your keychain; it does not.
If you wish to remove Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, as well as the helper tool and all data and settings files, simply open
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and choose Uninstall Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the Help menu.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 3

How to Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
When you open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac, you will see that it has a very simple interface:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware checks for and downloads signature updates each time it is launched. This is the only time that the
program automatically checks for updates, so if it is left running for a long period of time, you can check for updates manually by
selecting Update Signatures from the Scanner menu. You can find the database signature version number as well as the program
version by selecting the About screen.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 4

Scan
Click the Scan button to immediately scan your Mac for malware and adware. The scan should be very quick, and is completely
safe, as nothing will be deleted yet. After the scan finishes, if your system is clean, you will be told that nothing was found.
Otherwise, a window will open showing what was detected:

The screenshot above shows that components of VSearch, Genieo and KeRanger were found, and reveals where the problem files
can be found. If the full path to the file cannot be seen, you can hover the mouse over a detected item to get a tooltip window
showing the full path.
The checkboxes allow you to specify which items are to be removed. (By default, only files that are definitively bad will be checked.)
Clicking the Remove Selected Items button will remove any items that are checked, and will leave any that are not checked in place.
Removal of some items will require entry of your admin password. Rest assured, the password request is provided by Mac OS X,
and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will never actually see your password. If you choose not to enter your password, all items that do
not require admin permissions will be removed, but those that do need higher permissions will be left in place. They will need to
be removed manually, or by a subsequent scan in which you provide the password.
If you installed adware on a non-admin user account, you will need to provide both an admin username and password when asked.
As long as you do this, the detected items can be removed just as well from a non-admin account as from an admin account. There
is no need to log in to a different account.
If the adware was installed on a different user account, you will need to log in to that account to fully remove all components of
some malware or adware.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 5

Files that are removed are not deleted outright. Instead, they are moved to a folder named Malwarebytes Removals in the trash
can. This allows you to examine them and delete them at your leisure, or replace items that may have been removed by mistake.

Special Cases
There are a couple special cases to be aware of, denoted in the detection list by a symbol on the right edge of the list. If you
hover the mouse over that symbol, you will get a short explanation in a pop-up tooltip.

Optional Items
These are legitimate files such as web browser preference files that may have been modified. For example, some adware has
been seen to insert custom JavaScript code into Firefoxs preference file. These items can be removed, but since that may result in
loss of things like browser settings, they are not checked by default.

Compromises
Some malware and adware is known to make modifications that may require more intensive work to fix. In such cases, a window
will pop up informing you about the problem and providing a link where you can read more about what to do next.

Next Steps
If you have scanned your computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, removed everything that was detected and restarted the
computer (if instructed to do so), and you are still having a problem, click this button. It will open a window that loads the following
page from the Malwarebytes website that contains up-to-date information about what to try next.
https://support.malwarebytes.com/customer/portal/articles/2045704-?b_id=9511
Because most computer problems are not the result of malware or adware, it is entirely possible that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
for Mac may not solve all your problems. This page will help you try to find and solve other issues.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 6

Contacting Support
If Malwarebytes Anti-Malware didnt fix your problem, you can contact Malwarebytes support through the app. Simply choose
Contact Support from the Help menu, and the following window will open:

Fill in your name and a detailed description of the problem youre having. Then, to send the support request using Apples Mail
app, click the Send with Mail button, and a message will be created in Mail. Send it, and well get back to you as soon as we can.
If you do not use Mail, click the Send with Alternate button. This will copy the request to the clipboard, allowing you to paste it
into a new message in whatever e-mail app or webmail site you wish. Send the message to [email protected] using
the subject MBAM for Mac support request.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 7

Gathering Information about Your System
To get a profile (snapshot) of your system, simply choose Take System Snapshot from the Scanner menu. This will open a window
showing just the system information and nothing else. You can feel free to copy any of the text from this window or choose Save
from the File menu to save the snapshot to a text file on your hard drive.
This feature can be helpful for techs who are trying to troubleshoot a problem with your computer, or for times when youre posting
to a forum about a problem youre having and need to provide some contextual information, or any number of other uses.

Anti-Malware for Mac User Guide 8