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Viruses?

W

wayland1985

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I'm curious if there are any new viruses for leopard?

Within the past few days, my powerbook has become a paperweight. Granted, it did get a little wet in a rain storm.

I ran a hardware test (Three times) and found everythign to work, but for some reason, without warning, I get 3 issues I've never had before:

1: The powerbook will completely freeze. The screen will stay still and nothing will respond (Not even the light up keyboard... caps lock... etc)

2. The powerbook may prompt a "You must hold down the Power button to restart this computer" prompt.

3. The whole screen will dim, and all kinds of code will flash up on the screen (Black boxes with white lettering).


I've had this thing since 2005, and have NEVER had a single issue. Again, it did get rained on just prior to this working, but all the hardware seems to check out.


I've noticed a slight pattern: When watching a youtube video, it's more likely to happen. Although, it's not the case 100% of the time.

I've reduced the occurance by downloading a fan control, and setting the threshold to 20*.


My powerbook is more less useless at this point. I can get up to 1 hour of use out of it before it'll "Crash" or I can get 1 minute of use.


Any ideas? Virus Maybe??? Time for a Macbook pro????
 
You keep freezing and getting both the safe and evil kernel panic. Sounds like something was shorted. Try taking out a memory chip and see if that helps.

TEG
 
psychofreak said:
Not a virus (Its OSX remember) and it sounds like a hardware issue. Have you installed any yourself?
Click to expand...

Hahaha... I've been using it for 3 years now... never shut it down. I've been spyware and virus free for years. I just figured with the growing popularity of macs (Have you walked into an apple store lately???) that a virus would be right around the corner. Speaking of spyware... are there any spyware issues with macs at all??? Or is that in the same category as a virus??



As far as the kernal panics go, maybe you can direct me to a place where I can learn more? I have tried messing with the memory. I've tried one of each stick... Both sticks in different ports. I've swapped around where the sticks go. I still have the issue. Hardware scan didn't pick up on any problems (Not that I'm 100% sure it would???)
 
Let's see, you got your laptop wet in a rain storm, yet you'd like to blame sudden performance issues on viruses instead?

Sounds like you need to accept that you've hosed your machine. Sorry.
 
gauchogolfer said:
Let's see, you got your laptop wet in a rain storm, yet you'd like to blame sudden performance issues on viruses instead?

Sounds like you need to accept that you've hosed your machine. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Easy there!!! I have my credit card in hand to buy a new macbook pro to replace her. I just wanted to make sure I covered all of the bases before I dropped $2000 on a replacement.

I loved my powerbook. I got a lot out of her, and probably would have gotten a lot more! I ran hardware tests, and they didn't pick up anything. I don't know if the hardware tests are reliable or not, but I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't software related!



Anyways... Know of any good waterproof cases for next time I'm caught in a storm?
 
wayland1985 said:
Hahaha... I've been using it for 3 years now... never shut it down. I've been spyware and virus free for years. I just figured with the growing popularity of macs (Have you walked into an apple store lately???) that a virus would be right around the corner. Speaking of spyware... are there any spyware issues with macs at all??? Or is that in the same category as a virus??
Click to expand...
There are a few trojans out there that will act as spyware once installed, but apart from that no.

The good thing with OSX is that you will have to enter passwords to get something installed (especially if you're running on a non-Admin account), but if you're foolish enough to install them (knowing or not) then you're hosed.

For example. DNSChanger comes in the guise of a codec for Quicktime (Trojan), and once installed changes the DNS setting so that you will use their servers instead of your own. That way the bad guy can control where you go and in the meantime store anything you do online (spyware).
 
i think i did that...🙁

Bobbi Flekman said:
There are a few trojans out there that will act as spyware once installed, but apart from that no.

The good thing with OSX is that you will have to enter passwords to get something installed (especially if you're running on a non-Admin account), but if you're foolish enough to install them (knowing or not) then you're hosed.

For example. DNSChanger comes in the guise of a codec for Quicktime (Trojan), and once installed changes the DNS setting so that you will use their servers instead of your own. That way the bad guy can control where you go and in the meantime store anything you do online (spyware).
Click to expand...

Hey i think i did accept something like that DNSChanger foolishly (as you said 😛). How do i check if its there and how do i remove it if its there?
 
You could try taking it into an Apple store and see what they say, it might be something they can fix.
 
neilspartacus said:
Hey i think i did accept something like that DNSChanger foolishly (as you said 😛). How do i check if its there and how do i remove it if its there?
Click to expand...
What are the settings to your DNS at the moment?

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan_osx_dnschanger.shtml

This is a description of the trojan. check it out and see if it helps.

Unfortunately I am way more familiar with Windows malware, so I cannot give you simple and clear instructions so far.

If you post the DNS numbers I can check out whether they originate in the Ukraine.
 
Bobbi Flekman said:
What are the settings to your DNS at the moment?

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan_osx_dnschanger.shtml

This is a description of the trojan. check it out and see if it helps.

Unfortunately I am way more familiar with Windows malware, so I cannot give you simple and clear instructions so far.

If you post the DNS numbers I can check out whether they originate in the Ukraine.
Click to expand...

"The install script adds a crontab (a configuration file that specifies shell commands to run periodically on a given schedule) to a script to verify the malicious DNS servers remain unchanged. The script is stored in /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and is named plugins.settings.
"

simply changing the DNS numbers back to what they should be doesn't fix it accordin to this part. The user is also gonna have to delete that file

In fact, Im sure quickest way to determine if you have this trojan, is I'd just go to

/Library/Internet Plug-ins/ and look for a file named plugins.settings


cause, I just went throuhg finder in my mac... i looked in my system library folder, and i dont have a plugins.settings file... this confirms that IF you do have that file... delete it right away.
 
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