We design Mac hardware and software with advanced technologies that work together to run apps more securely, protect your data, and help keep you safe on the web. And with macOS Big Sur available as a free upgrade, it’s easy to get the most secure version of macOS for your Mac.*
Apple M1 chip.
A shared architecture for security.
The Apple M1 chip with built-in Secure Enclave brings the same powerful security capabilities of iPhone to Mac — protecting your login password, automatically encrypting your data, and powering file-level encryption so you stay safe. And the Apple M1 chip keeps macOS secure while it’s running, just as iOS has protected iPhone for years.
If your Mac is using an earlier version of any Mac operating system, you should install the latest Apple software updates, which can include important security updates and updates for the apps that are installed by macOS, such as Safari, Books, Messages, Mail, Music, Calendar, and Photos. Mac accessibility shortcuts. Accessibility shortcuts help you control your Mac with a keyboard or assistive device. You can also ask Siri to help with some accessibility features. Operating System: Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Mac OS X 10.13 'High Sierra' Mac OS X 10.12 'Sierra' Apple OS X 10.11 'El Capitan' Apple OS X 10.10 'Yosemite' Apple OS X 10.9.5 'Mavericks' NOTE: Please see below for a full list of unsupported hardware and operating systems. Processor: New computers: Intel i5 processor or better (or equivalent). Mac OS means Macintosh Operating System and offers an innovative usability. Support for multiple users and login with Voice Verification feature. You can encrypt and decrypt files with Apple File Security. Search assistant Sherlock 2 has been improved. Last Classic environment Mac OS that have been discontinued at the end of 2001. More about Mac OS.
The best way to keep your Mac secure is to run the latest software. When new updates are available, macOS sends you a notification — or you can opt in to have updates installed automatically when your Mac is not in use. macOS checks for new updates every day and starts applying them in the background, so it’s easier and faster than ever to always have the latest and safest version.
The technically sophisticated runtime protections in macOS work at the very core of your Mac to keep your system safe from malware. This starts with state-of-the-art antivirus software built in to block and remove malware. Technologies like XD (execute disable), ASLR (address space layout randomization), and SIP (system integrity protection) make it difficult for malware to do harm, and they ensure that processes with root permission cannot change critical system files.
Now apps from both the App Store and the internet can be installed worry-free. App Review makes sure each app in the App Store is reviewed before it’s accepted. Gatekeeper on your Mac ensures that all apps from the internet have already been checked by Apple for known malicious code — before you run them the first time. If there’s ever a problem with an app, Apple can quickly stop new installations and even block the app from launching again.
Apps need your permission to access files in your Documents, Downloads, and Desktop folders as well as in iCloud Drive and external volumes. And you’ll be prompted before any app can access the camera or mic, capture keyboard activity, or take a photo or video of your screen.
With FileVault 2, your data is safe and secure — even if your Mac falls into the wrong hands. FileVault 2 encrypts the entire drive on your Mac, protecting your data with XTS-AES 128 encryption. Mac computers built on the Apple M1 chip take data protection even further by using dedicated hardware to protect your login password and enabling file-level encryption, which developers can take advantage of — just as on iPhone.
Online privacy isn’t just something you should hope for — it’s something you should expect. That’s why Safari comes with powerful privacy protection technology built in, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention that identifies trackers and helps prevent them from profiling or following you across the web. A new weekly Privacy Report on your start page shows how Safari protects you as you browse over time. Or click the Privacy Report button in your Safari toolbar for an instant snapshot of the cross-site trackers Safari is actively preventing on that web page.
Safari uses iCloud Keychain to securely store your passwords across all your devices. If it ever detects a security concern, Password Monitoring will alert you. Safari also prevents suspicious websites from loading and warns you if they’re detected. And because it runs web pages in separate processes, any harmful code is confined to a single browser tab and can’t crash the whole browser or access your data.
The Find My app can help you locate a missing Mac — even if it’s offline or sleeping — by sending out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by nearby Apple devices. These devices then relay the detected location of your Mac to iCloud so you can locate it. It’s all anonymous and encrypted end-to-end so no one — including Apple — knows the identity of any reporting device or the location of your Mac. And it all happens silently using tiny bits of data that piggyback on existing network traffic. So there’s no need to worry about your battery life, your data usage, or your privacy being compromised.
All Mac systems built on the Apple M1 chip or with the Apple T2 Security Chip support Activation Lock, just like your iPhone or iPad. So if your Mac is ever misplaced or lost, the only person who can erase and reactivate it is you.
What is MacOS:Spigot-AY? If your antivirus detects MacOS:Spigot-AY then it indicates that your PC is affected by a potentially unwanted program (PUP). This software is automatically installed, without notification or user consent. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their machine has been infected by PUPs.
Once started, the MacOS:Spigot-AY will be configured to run automatically when Mac OS starts. It may show tons of undesired pop-ups, add malicious code into web pages that you are opening in your internet browser, hijack browser’s settings like home page and search engine, and so on.
It is not a good idea to use a personal computer that infected with the MacOS:Spigot-AY threat. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. This virus has the ability to gather a wide variety of marketing-type data about you that can be later transferred third party companies. You do not know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe.
Don’t panic because we have got the method. Here’s a step-by-step instructions on how to remove any PUPs and thereby remove MacOS:Spigot-AY PUP from your machine for free.
As with removing adware and malware, there are few steps you can do. We advise trying them all. If you do only one part of the guidance, then it should be run malware removal utility, because it should remove MacOS:Spigot-AY PUP and block any further infection. But to completely remove MacOS:Spigot-AY you will have to at least reset your internet browser settings like default search provider, new tab and home page to default state, delete all unwanted and suspicious software, and get rid of potentially unwanted program with malicious software removal tools. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your internet browser or restart your machine.
To remove MacOS:Spigot-AY, adware and other unwanted programs you can try to do so manually. Unfortunately some of PUPs won’t show up in your program list, but some PUPs may. In this case, you may be able to get rid of it via the uninstall function of your Microsoft Windows computer. You can do this by following the steps below.
First, go to the Finder and remove questionable software, all programs you do not remember installing. It’s important to pay the most attention to applications you installed just before MacOS:Spigot-AY was detected by your antivirus. If you don’t know what a program does, look for the answer on the Internet.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
It will open a list of all programs installed on your MAC system. Scroll through the all list, and remove any questionable and unknown programs. Right click to suspicious application and choose “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.
If you have PUPs problem or the Chrome is running slow, then reset Google Chrome settings can help you. In the steps below we will show you a solution to reset your Google Chrome settings to original state without reinstall. This will also allow to delete changes to internet browser settings created by MacOS:Spigot-AY.
If you find that Safari browser settings having been modified by MacOS:Spigot-AY and other PUPs, then you may restore your settings, via the reset browser procedure.
Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious extensions on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to get rid of all unknown plugins from Safari.
Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.
Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.
If the Mozilla Firefox settings have been modified by the MacOS:Spigot-AY, then resetting it to the default state can help. It’ll keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, start the Mozilla Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, click the Help button ().
In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page press on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
If you are unsure how to remove MacOS:Spigot-AY easily, consider using automatic PUPs removal apps which listed below. It will identify the MacOS:Spigot-AY threat and other unwanted programs and get rid of it from your computer for free.
Remove MacOS:Spigot-AY manually is difficult and often the PUP is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the MalwareBytes Free that are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the free program will allow you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted applications, toolbars and hijackers that your computer can be infected too.
Download MalwareBytes Free by clicking on the link below.
When downloading is finished, close all applications and windows on your MAC. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.
The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown below.
Now click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your computer for the MacOS:Spigot-AY and other PUPs. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the utility is scanning, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.
When the scan get completed, you will be opened the list of all found items on your MAC OS. Next, you need to press “Remove Selected Items” button. The MalwareBytes Free will remove MacOS:Spigot-AY and other PUPs and add items to the Quarantine.
It’s important to use adblocker programs such as AdGuard to protect your Apple Mac from malicious web-pages. Most security experts says that it’s okay to block advertisements. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard may to stop misleading and other unwanted pages.
Visit the page linked below to download AdGuard.
When the download is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block unwanted pop up ads, as well as other harmful or misleading web pages.
Many PUPs are included in the free applications installation package. In most cases, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but certain installers are created to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing PUPs and other unwanted apps. Anyway, easier to prevent a potentially unwanted program rather than clean up your Apple Mac after one. So, keep the browser updated (turn on automatic updates), use a good antivirus software, double check a freeware before you open it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid harmful and unknown webpages.
Now your computer should be free of the MacOS:Spigot-AY and other PUPs. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your machine for new PUPs and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block annoying popup ads and harmful web pages). Moreover, to prevent any potentially unwanted program, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs.
If you need more help with MacOS:Spigot-AY PUP related issues, go to here.
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