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spyware or keylogger?

nunes013

nunes013

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 24, 2010
1,284
185
Connecticut
Ok, im trying to help my friend who has an iMac running leopard. hes texting me with info so ill try my best. he says he thinks he has a keylogger or something. whenever he tries to log into fb or a site he says a security verification pops up saying the website is fake and if he wants to continue. he clicks no and then he refreshes the page a few times and eventually safari stops working and he has to restart his computer. he said he looked at netstat in terminal and said it says there are foreign addresses. it only happens on safari though. he ran two different virus scans and both came up with nothing. any ideas.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
It's most likely not malware or a keylogger, unless he's actively installed something flaky or given someone access to his Mac to do so. He should try resetting Safari, clearing cookies and cache. Also, check DNS settings both on his Mac and his router. Also, a restart wouldn't hurt.

No viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any, since it was released 10 years ago. The handful of trojans that exist can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install:
The first section of that link deals specifically with the MacDefender/MacSecurity/MacProtector/MacGuard issue, which may or may not apply. I encourage you to read it.

Read the section "Why am I being redirected to other sites?" in the link above.
 
nunes013

nunes013

macrumors 65816
Original poster
May 24, 2010
1,284
185
Connecticut
cool, thanks, he is trying all those. ill post back when he tells me what he did but it might be till tomorrow because its 1 am here lol.

but i did learn something very interesting from the post. i use sophos to scan every few months but didnt know about the exploit. thats good information. i always wanted an antivirus on my mac for some added protection. time to look into the others that were on there :)
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Power Mac said:
I suggest you educate yourself on what links contain accurate information, then report back to us.
Click to expand...
The link I posted contains nothing but facts. I also suggest, since you are new to this forum, that you read a few dozen of the existing virus/malware threads where this has been discussed ad nauseam. There are no viruses in the wild that can affect Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released 10 years ago. You are welcome to attempt to prove otherwise by simply naming one such virus, but I can save you time. No one has ever been able to name one, since none exist. Before you make your attempt, read the link I posted for accurate definitions of what is a virus, a trojan, etc.
 
P

Pintail

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2011
80
0
Dang, I think I just stepped in troll poop!

OP - let us know what happened ok? Love to know if those steps worked for you/him.
 
Badger^2

Badger^2

macrumors 68000
Oct 29, 2009
1,962
2
Sacramento
As a second opinion -- GG is 100% correct.

Your buddy doesnt have a virus, or a keylogger or even malware -- the first one doesnt exist, he would have to give permission to install the second and his symptoms are not what the MacDefender malware does. (it only asks for money)

Apple has already issued a patch for MacDefender, so if everyone installs that -- now even thats no out there.

something else going on.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Hellopuppy said:
To detect a keylogger on Mac, there are several ways to help.
Just share it here. Hope it can help.
Step 1 Open the Activity Monitor to check for unknown process. This system tool will allow you to view the programs (processes) currently running on your computer.
Step 2 Check and Research any unfamiliar processes running in your “Activity Monitor.” Critical system processes sometimes have unrecognizable names, however, and keyloggers may have a name that sounds legitimate.
Step 3 Download and install a mac keylogger detector or another software firewall. This type of mac software alerts you when another program tries to connect to the Internet. It will detect a keylogger for mac before it sends information over the Internet , and allow you to block it.
Click to expand...
Most keyloggers will not appear in Activity Monitor and most users can't even recognize names of legitimate processes, so that approach won't work.

Here are more useful steps:

  1. Did you install a keylogger app on your Mac?
  2. Did you give someone else access to your Mac so they could install a keylogger?
If the answers to those two questions is "no", you don't have a keylogger on your Mac.
 
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