Itunes songs randomly disappearing/Heuristics virus found

[gixxxerkim]

This is my first post because I have no one to turn to that won't charge me $75 just to look at my mac. I have a 2007n Macbook Pro with the Intel Core Duo 2.16 Ghz processor speed bla bla bla. Running Snow Leopard now. All system/software updates are done.

I just updated my itunes a week ago (I don't like it) from 10.7 to 11.0. I opened iTunes the other night, and there were exclamation points next to my songs. The information was GONE. A search showed nothing in the itunes folders for the songs. One by one they began disappearing and I wrote in teh 'tell apple' feedback for iTunes 11.0 that this was happening.

It occured to me that this was incredibly strange, so I did a Clamx scan and voilla Heuristics virus popped up. I was stunned! Mac doesn't get viruses! It traced it to an email which I asked it to delete.

I checked my storage space and all 30G of my music was gone. Thinking the mac was clear, I re-scanned and nothing came up. I used Senuti to get some music back (I'm a fitness instructor so I NEED my music for class).

Next day, exclamation points popping up again! Whatever the problem is, my music is still being sequestered somewhere.

I called my local private mac store (never been there before) and they said they'd charge $75 to scan it and see whats up and it could cost more than $25 more just to fix it. Thinking I'm somewhat capable of doing this myself, and the price being out of my range to spend, I had to tell him no thanks.

I repaired permissions (not sure what that would do to fix a virus hiding away somewhere) and I'm unsure what to do now.

There is my story. Any help would be appreciated since I can't find anyone else who has had this issue.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by gixxxerkim

It occured to me that this was incredibly strange, so I did a Clamx scan and voilla Heuristics virus popped up. I was stunned! Mac doesn't get viruses!

It's a Windows virus (ClamXAV detects both Windows and Mac malware), as there are no Mac OS X viruses that exist in the wild. Windows malware cannot run on or infect Mac OS X. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). Also, Mac OS X 10.6 and later versions have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ

1. Make sure your built-in Mac firewall is enabled in System Preferences > Security > Firewall
   
   
2. Uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in Safari > Preferences > General
   
   
3. Disable Java in your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox). This will protect you from malware that exploits Java in your browser, including the recent Flashback trojan. Leave Java disabled until you visit a trusted site that requires it, then re-enable only for the duration of your visit to that site. (This is not to be confused with JavaScript, which you should leave enabled.)
   
   
4. Change your DNS servers to OpenDNS servers by reading this.
   
   
5. Be careful to only install software from trusted, reputable sites. Never install pirated software. If you're not sure about an app, ask in this forum before installing.
   
   
6. If you're running Mountain Lion, check your Gatekeeper settings in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Allow applications downloaded from. For more information on these settings: OS X: About Gatekeeper
   
   
7. Never let someone else have access to install anything on your Mac.
   
   
8. Don't open files that you receive from unknown or untrusted sources.
   
   
9. For added security, make sure all network, email, financial and other important passwords are long and complex, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
   
   
10. Always keep your Mac and application software updated. Use Software Update for your Mac software. For other software, it's safer to get updates from the developer's site or from the menu item "Check for updates", rather than installing from any notification window that pops up while you're surfing the web.

That's all you need to do to keep your Mac completely free of any Mac OS X malware that has ever been released into the wild. While you may elect to use it, 3rd party antivirus software is not required to keep your Mac malware-free.

[gixxxerkim]

Thanks I appreciate the long winded advice, but it appears you're a bit hung up on semantics. Malware, virus, either way whether you say it doesn't exist or not, my itunes folders are missing all of my songs.

I was wondering if anyone else had this issue, and I'm also wondering if there are no viruses or malware that affect mac, then what happened to me? Did I get this 'handful of trojans' (kinda funny when I just put it that way) and the clamx is not recognizing it? If it wasn't the heuristics virus that did this, then what did it and how come clamx isn't finding any more malware?

I just checked all the things you recommended and found the firewall was NOT on. I never messed with this before, and I actually wiped the mac clean and started it from the recovery disk 2 years ago. I assumed all that firewall stuff was already running. Obviously it wasn't.

Whatever it was, I'm hesitant to relax about my mac being virus/malware free at this point. Songs are still doing weird stuff, I'm all up to date on software, and I don't understand as much as you guys do about your macs.

I hope I get a few more replies on here from others to get their perspective on what else I can do. I suppose I'll start to rebuild my library and just keep an eye out, but SOMETHING DEFINITELY happened to my mac and until I know what it was, I'm gonna keep linking my songs disappearing to whatever the clamx came up with. I have nothing else to go on.

[gixxxerkim]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

It's a Windows virus keep your Mac malware-free.[/B]

Thanks again for the help.

[gixxxerkim]

I'm still having the issue, I deleted the files clamx directed me to. And I noticed songs gone again. I did yet another virus search and the heuristics virus thing came up again. There seems to be a link. I don't understand why every time this virus comes up, songs disappear if it supposedly can't affect mac. Am I the only one with this issue? Malware, virus whatever it is, it seems to be embedded in my mac somewhere and coming back on some kind of cue I'm not aware of.