osX 10.4 security not so secure...

[butterthief]

thank you for your time and attention to my request for information. macbook w/ 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo...1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM...OSX 10.4.11

i think my computer has been compromised either in person or by an online attack.

WHAT I NOTICED:
i purposely activated a master password and required a password to wake from sleep or restart, but oddly enough, now no password is required to undo the password requirement...you just have to remove the check from the box in the security menu without any password dialogue box appearing. before, the lock at the lower left corner had to be "unlocked" by password to make any changes.

WHAT I AM SEEKING:
how do i confirm if my computer is compromised or has been hacked? ...or is this alone evidence?

how do i remove any malicious software/hardware?

how do i verify the security after the removal?

what kind of anti-malice software protects macs online?

how can i make my request more efficient/polite for those answering?

again, thank you for your help. it is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Sam25]

Nevermind, my post was wrong. Thought you were running Windows. Sorry!

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: Sam25
First, welcome to the forum!

You should download and scan your system (full scan) with Superantispyware or Malwarebytes. Are you running an antivirus programme on your computer? If you are, then update that and scan your computer. Take a look at the first topic under Security on this forum. The topic is called 'Security Resource Thread' and has very useful information.

You might also want to give this a read:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.co...orials/tutorial24.html

Umm, OSX. How's he going to use those programs?

 

[KeithP]

You might try downloading Little Snitch 2. From the company's web site...

Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, trojans and other malware.

In demo mode it is fully functional but shuts down after 3 hours of use. You can restart it as often as you like. That should give you an idea if anything is trying to send data somewhere without your knowledge.

Is the account you are using for day to day things an administrator? If so, you should probably change that. Create a new user and assign it as an administrator then change your normal account to a regular user.

Personally, I think what you are describing is more likely a bug and not a malware infection but I am certainly not an OS X security expert. You might want to back up your data and completely reinstall the OS if you want to be safe.

If you do decide to reinstall OS X and really want to be safe, download the 10.4.11 combo updater first (requires 10.4.4) Back it up to CD, then reinstall 10.4 without the Mac connected to the internet, install the combo update then connect. Remember, create two user accounts when you reinstall; a regular user for your everyday activities and an administrator user (with a different password) for installing apps, etc.

Good luck.

-KeithP