Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons
license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary
on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the
entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/


              macOS's New XProtect Now Regularly Scans for Malware

   Josh Centers

   On his Eclectic Light Company blog, Howard Oakley has published [1]an
   analysis of XProtect Remediator, a modular malware scanner that Apple
   built into [2]XProtect in macOS 12.3 Monterey and backfilled into macOS
   10.15 Catalina and macOS 11 Big Sur (see '[3]Apple Releases iOS 15.4,
   iPadOS 15.4, macOS 12.3 Monterey, watchOS 8.5, tvOS 15.4, and HomePod
   Software 15.4,' 14 March 2022). XProtect Remediator consists of 12
   modules that briefly but regularly scan your Mac for specific nasties
   during periods of low user activity. (XProtect has seemingly subsumed
   Apple's original MRT'Malware Removal Tool'since one of those modules is
   MRTv3.) It's unclear as yet what the user will see, if anything, when
   XProtect 'remediates' (removes) malicious software, but it will likely
   happen silently in the background. Read Howard's posts for the
   technical details and instructions on how to [4]check if XProtect
   Remediator is running on your Mac'the easiest approach is to use [5]the
   latest version of his Mints tool.

   [6]Read original article

References

   1. https://eclecticlight.co/2022/08/30/macos-now-scans-for-malware-whenever-it-gets-a-chance/
   2. https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-against-malware-sec469d47bd8/web
   3. https://tidbits.com/2022/03/14/apple-releases-ios-15-4-ipados-15-4-macos-12-3-monterey-watchos-8-5-tvos-15-4-and-homepod-software-15-4/
   4. https://eclecticlight.co/2022/09/01/hunting-malware-protection-in-the-log/
   5. https://eclecticlight.co/2022/09/02/monitor-macos-anti-malware-scans-with-mints-version-1-9/
   6. https://eclecticlight.co/2022/08/30/macos-now-scans-for-malware-whenever-it-gets-a-chance/

.