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Is it possible for sometime of website to give Mac a virus?
- Thread starter ajgrant
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No viruses for Mac exist in the wild. Malware like trojans, yes, but viruses, no.
For malware to be installed on your Mac, it will be in the form of a seemingly-innocent installer, such as Adobe Flash. It's then installed into the computer when the user unwittingly allows the app to be installed, when in actual fact, a trojan is installed.
It will still require authorisation from the user to install though (it'll prompt for your password to install), so be careful of where you get installers/apps from.
There is stuff that attacks Safari or Chrome directly or just appears to break it. Like JavaScript ransomware. Many cybercriminals use it and basically it is JavaScript that is deliberatly horribly written and basically locks up your browser. Then they threaten you and say they have taken over your entire system and watch through the webcame or stuff like they are FBI and caught you doing something illegal and somehow into paying a ransom through some anonymous payment service. Some people fall for it.
It is just JavaScript though. Restart the browser without reloading that popup and you are fine. There is nothing actually on your computer. Unfortunately you can only get rid of that if you disable JavaScript. Phisingfilters should protect from that but they never cover every new thing that pops up.
It is basically harmless stuff like that. Unless there is some bug that needs fixing which there always is somewhere you'd need to actually install stuff by typing your password. So always check where you are downloading from. It is also good practice to not open links in emails. If you get a mail from amazon complaining about some problem. Go to the webbrowser typ in amazon.com or click you bookmark and log in there. There is tons of phising on the web with spam mail that looks exactly like a legitimate site, that links to a login page that looks exactly like the original (if you check closely on the addressbar the domain name is different but there might still be an amazon in the fake one). That phishing can get your login data and do all kinds of bad things with it.
This is the real danger on the web today and you are just as vulnerable on a Mac as you are on a PC.
It is just JavaScript though. Restart the browser without reloading that popup and you are fine. There is nothing actually on your computer. Unfortunately you can only get rid of that if you disable JavaScript. Phisingfilters should protect from that but they never cover every new thing that pops up.
It is basically harmless stuff like that. Unless there is some bug that needs fixing which there always is somewhere you'd need to actually install stuff by typing your password. So always check where you are downloading from. It is also good practice to not open links in emails. If you get a mail from amazon complaining about some problem. Go to the webbrowser typ in amazon.com or click you bookmark and log in there. There is tons of phising on the web with spam mail that looks exactly like a legitimate site, that links to a login page that looks exactly like the original (if you check closely on the addressbar the domain name is different but there might still be an amazon in the fake one). That phishing can get your login data and do all kinds of bad things with it.
This is the real danger on the web today and you are just as vulnerable on a Mac as you are on a PC.
I'm assuming you're talking about the flashback thing? How could you differentiate a legitimate Flash installer from a fake one?
And also, how can you know if you have any trojans on your system?
Lastly, if I haven't entered my password to install anything, I'm safe from that?
