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I have 173 Infected Files on my PB

A

applefan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2003
172
1
No. Cal.
More accurately, 173 possibly infected files according to Virex 7.2.

Virex didn't delete them, didn't clean them, and didn't tell me which ones were possibly infected, so what do I do with this info? Is this something I should worry about or take some action against? If so what action?

Home Folder Scan Results:

Total files: ........... 23827
Clean: ................. 23644
Not scanned: ........... 10
Possibly Infected: ..... 173
Cleaned: ............... 0

Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
 
MacDawg

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
Were you given any other information?
Do you have Word docs from a Windows environment?
Any idea which files are being flagged as infected?

Give as many details as you can about your system too
Tiger/Panther?
iMac/Powerbook

Any information you can give is helpful

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
C

CubaTBird

macrumors 68020
Apr 18, 2004
2,135
0
applefan said:
More accurately, 173 possibly infected files according to Virex 7.2.

Virex didn't delete them, didn't clean them, and didn't tell me which ones were possibly infected, so what do I do with this info? Is this something I should worry about or take some action against? If so what action?

Home Folder Scan Results:

Total files: ........... 23827
Clean: ................. 23644
Not scanned: ........... 10
Possibly Infected: ..... 173
Cleaned: ............... 0

Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
Click to expand...

a screen shot would be freakin' awesome... proof wise... :cool:
 
Nickygoat

Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
I'm skeptical too - AFAIK there are no spyware/trojans/ viruses for OSX. Virex must be picking up infected MS files. They can't do anything to your system, but might if you forward them to people using Windows. Best bet is, if you can - I don't have Virex so I'm not sure, to run Virex on batches of MS files and see which ones it picks up, but that's time consuming. Or give them to a PC friend, explain they have "something" and let his AV pick it up.
 
iMeowbot

iMeowbot

macrumors G3
Aug 30, 2003
8,634
0
Virex 7.2 isn't very helpful like that. There is an option to save the scan log. You can do that, then use TextEdit to look for the word "Found".

Virtually everything that Virex seems to find is Windows virus/worm/trojan stuff in mail folders.
 
Nickygoat

Nickygoat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 11, 2004
992
0
London
iMeowbot said:
Virex 7.2 isn't very helpful like that. There is an option to save the scan log. You can do that, then use TextEdit to look for the word "Found".
Click to expand...
Isn't that a bit pointless then? Why run a scan if you can't identify anything? Or do I misunderstand?
Virtually everything that Virex seems to find is Windows virus/worm/trojan stuff in mail folders.
Click to expand...
Can't you exclude certain folders?
Completely off topic (sorry) what's the blinking light in your avatar iMeowbot?
 
A

applefan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2003
172
1
No. Cal.
System Info as follows:
Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: PowerBook G4 15"
Machine Model: PowerBook5,6
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.67 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.1f1

Running Tiger 10.2

I probably have a lot of MS Office docs originating from PCs , some music videos downloaded using Acquisition (no ill gotten music). However, all the files on my PB also reside on an external HD connected to a PC that is regularly scanned for viruses and none are ever found.

Virex does not indicate which files are "possibly infected"

I have a screenshot, but I'm having trouble adding it. Can any one give quick directions?
 
iMeowbot

iMeowbot

macrumors G3
Aug 30, 2003
8,634
0
Nickygoat said:
Isn't that a bit pointless then? Why run a scan if you can't identify anything? Or do I misunderstand?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a bit pointless. Virex 7.2 does flag files, but you have to look through the log manually to figure out what it found. It has an automatic "clean" option, things like that have a nasty habit of making things worse. It's better than nothing, but not by much.
Can't you exclude certain folders?
Click to expand...
With 7.2 you can choose a folder to scan, by hand each time. Anything fancier needed Virex 7.5, which broke under Tiger.
Completely off topic (sorry) what's the blinking light in your avatar iMeowbot?
Click to expand...
Put iTunes into mini player mode, press F9 for Expose, then click on the mini player.
 
iMeowbot

iMeowbot

macrumors G3
Aug 30, 2003
8,634
0
psycho bob said:
Off topic aain but I've just tried that under 10.4 and I don't get a flashing light :confused:
Click to expand...
Nope, and you won't get the :eek: :eek: :eek: or the buttons pointing there either :p
 
A

applefan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2003
172
1
No. Cal.
Thanks to you all for your helpful suggestions. I've found the offending location:

/Users/my home folder/Library/Caches/Java Applets/cache/javapi/v1.0/jar/*


Does anyone know if it will do any harm to delete the contents of this folder?
 
Mord

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
dont sweat it, virus scanners work by looking for files that correlated to it's list of known viruses, and there are no known mac OS X viruses they must all be windows viruses that found there way onto your mac, mostly through java applets you use online.
 
MacDawg

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
applefan said:
I have a screenshot, but I'm having trouble adding it. Can any one give quick directions?
Click to expand...

Under where you post you will see a section of additional options, one of those is to manage attachments. That is where you can attach a file to upload (with size restrictions).

Or you can host it somewhere (like a .mac account) and call it from there with the
tags explained here

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
XNine

XNine

macrumors 68040
Apr 7, 2005
3,154
0
Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
Nickygoat said:
I'm skeptical too - AFAIK there are no spyware/trojans/ viruses for OSX. Virex must be picking up infected MS files. They can't do anything to your system, but might if you forward them to people using Windows. Best bet is, if you can - I don't have Virex so I'm not sure, to run Virex on batches of MS files and see which ones it picks up, but that's time consuming. Or give them to a PC friend, explain they have "something" and let his AV pick it up.
Click to expand...

Unfortuantely, there are a few trojans and there are some malicious scripts that look like cracks out there. The Trojans do not self-install. They would have to be placed manually in the startup items of the Admin user's folder. Digital Calamity made one, and a few other groups have made them. They also work great for remote controlling a Mac or PC if you're too cheap to buy Apple Remote Desktop.

The scripts are mostly shell and applescripts that generally try to knock out your Home folder or start to delete contents off of the HD itself.

You probably won't run into these as most of them, AFAIK are in the "underground" and are generally distributed by reputable software developers as "cracks" for certain applications, but then end up harming the person trying to crack the application (call it preventative programming for reverse engineering, if you will.)
 
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