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Do I have anything to worry about? (Spyware/Viruses)

T

tocyk

macrumors member
Original poster
I know the consensus is that OSX is pretty much immune to viruses/spyware, etc., but I got a MBP yesterday, and today, I downloaded a torrent program, and of course, all of these pop ups jumped up everywhere while I was downloading it (mainly because I went to the torrent site as opposed to going to download.com, stupid me).

After being fresh off of PC, on a normal day, I'd MOST LIKELY have found a few trojans/spyware pieces. Can I seriously just keep the application I downloaded safely in my HD without any worry that they are destroying me on the inside?

This is definitely a cry for assurance! 😛 Thanks!
 
Just make sure the files you are downloading are safe. When you install what you are downloading, it may as for a password to continue installation. Only type it in if you know exactly what it is you are downloading. Especially from torrent sites, which many times more than not are illegal and shut down rather quickly, you can get something that you think is one thing, but it also installs malware on your system.
 
Thanks a lot for the replies. So if the last program didn't ask me for a password, it should be safe for me to keep it right? Thanks!
 
There is really no way. Just like a PC could run Spyware checks on programs, but there is never a way to be sure. There aren't mac virus' now, but thats because hacker's don't see the need to... yet. Macs are becoming more popular and hacks may start to develop. Don't download stuff that you are not sure about, but you should be ok...... for now....

*cue dramatic music*
 
I figured after having my Mac for over a year and a half that I would try McAfee Virex to see if I had anything hiding on my computer. After it scanned for two hours Virex found nothing, and I frequent many torrent sites.
 
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