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viruses and antivirus?

F

faumble

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2008
141
0
Got a new macpro and installed windows so I am curious, chances will be I can get a virus on osx?
If so, haven't ever tried any macosx antiviruses, could you recommend me some pls? and any of their pros and cons if you can :)

Thnaks in advance,
J
 
faumble said:
Got a new macpro and installed windows so I am curious, chances will be I can get a virus on osx?
If so, haven't ever tried any macosx antiviruses, could you recommend me some pls? and any of their pros and cons if you can :)

Thnaks in advance,
J
Click to expand...
You will be able to get Windows viruses on the Windows partition but they won't be able to jump to the Mac partition or infect it in any way.

There are currently no viruses for Mac OS-X but there are a couple of trojans and the typical web-hijack stuff. These can be avoided (and are best done so) by common sense. The worst thing the web-hijack stuff can do is screw with your browser, which if you use Safari can be fixed by a simple browser re-set.

You can also get Word macro viruses on the Mac if you have macros turned on in Office (never a good idea). The worst they can do on a Mac though is screw with your "normal.dot" template, and again, easily fixed by re-setting said template or re-setting your preferences.

Anti-viral software on the Mac is primitive at best and will slow down your machine for no net result. The minute there *is* a virus on the Mac, you wil hear about it everywhere because it will be the first.

I would suggest not running anti-viral software at all, until that date. There is a microscopic possibility that when the first virus hits, you will be "patient zero" but statistically, there is really nothing to worry about right now.
 
As already said, no real viruses out for Macs yet. Here's a few things you can do to be proactive and extra-safe, though:

1) Turn on your firewall: System Pref -> Sharing/Security (Tiger/Leopard) -> Firewall

2) Download ClamXav. It's a free antivirus software for Mac--but since there aren't any viruses for OS X, it scans for Windows viruses right now. Useful for protecting your Windows partition or your Windows friend, and just in case, if that day ever comes.

3) Make a secondary user account on your Mac without Admin privileges. Use this for day-to-day use. If anyone tries to hack your computer or you're dumb enough to get the 1 or 2 trojans out there, being on a non-admin account will usually keep you safe, as they won't be able to change anything that matters.
 
Why pass on a Windows virus even if it can't affect you?

Besides, it's only a matter of time before we are a bigger target.

I use ClamXav.
 
thanks for bringing this up
in my campus if the server suspects your computer is infected with virus
it'll temporary quarantine you for a period of time...so
today I was download my first program for the mb (toast titanium) torrent
and suddenly the web page stopped loading and shows up that message my my newly purchased macbook
(glad I made the switch up till that happy)
The campus tech have been trying to figuring out what caused the problem and if does consist they said my macbook is infected?
um..right so I download an anti-virus program to scan for virus and
none are found...
I really don't know what to do anymore

I swear the school...apple and generally people I know all said the same that osx won't be affected by virus from pc programs that's because pc runs dos while osx runs unit



another question to ask you guys after that happen I stopped using torrent on my macbook...I know BT does damaged the HDD of a pc but does it damaged osx as well?
thanks!!
 
^ yea...Sorry pardon my English....I know it isn't perfect but anyway
I was just trying to ask
What if pc viruses do affect mac since, the reason I ask is because my college blocks computer that are infected with virus as a precautions in case it spreads to other computers.

Just yesterday I was using bit torrent to download a program and suddenly the school sends me a message telling me that my account is quarantine until my computer is free of virus. I've scan it using clamxav but it says the macbook is free of virus.
Also is bit torrent program save to use on mac and should I stay away from it because it shortens the mac's life?
 
Well, it shouldn't be affected (as people have pointed out) So, most likely you are being stopped because you are using Bit Torrent to download a program - which is considered illegal.

I'm not a network genius (not even close) but I think the university could potentially track its local traffic and spot any Bit Torrent activity, then stop it. I know the some ISP's are rumored to be doing this very thing lately.

Maybe they have a standard response like: "Virus found - You're Quarantined!"

Now, if you have an Intel processor and a windoze partition somewhere and it gets a virus....well, now that could be different (especially if you run a virtualization program, ie: paralells).... although I'm not so sure about a windoze virus taking over a intel mac - but I could imagine it!
 
junker said:
Well, it shouldn't be affected (as people have pointed out) So, most likely you are being stopped because you are using Bit Torrent to download a program - which is considered illegal.

I'm not a network genius (not even close) but I think the university could potentially track its local traffic and spot any Bit Torrent activity, then stop it. I know the some ISP's are rumored to be doing this very thing lately.

Maybe they have a standard response like: "Virus found - You're Quarantined!"

Now, if you have an Intel processor and a windoze partition somewhere and it gets a virus....well, now that could be different (especially if you run a virtualization program, ie: paralells).... although I'm not so sure about a windoze virus taking over a intel mac - but I could imagine it!
Click to expand...

Stop imagining it, it can't happen, either through bootcamp or through VM.

I installed Windows XP, updated it to the latest version, but didn't install AV. I then went anywhere on the web I could think of that would get me a virus.

Once it was happily infected, I let it sit there, in XP for a couple of days (kept using it as best I could) so that it had a chance to infect everything. Nothing happened to OS X. Did the same experiment in VM, nothing happened to OS X. Windows got to the point that it was unusable, but OS X was fine.
 
TheStu said:
Stop imagining it, it can't happen, either through bootcamp or through VM.

I installed Windows XP, updated it to the latest version, but didn't install AV. I then went anywhere on the web I could think of that would get me a virus.

Once it was happily infected, I let it sit there, in XP for a couple of days (kept using it as best I could) so that it had a chance to infect everything. Nothing happened to OS X. Did the same experiment in VM, nothing happened to OS X. Windows got to the point that it was unusable, but OS X was fine.
Click to expand...

weird. i used windows since it came out, and never used AV. I've never gotten a virus either... what's it like? do you have to go to www.downloadviruses.com or something???? how on earth do people get them, i don't understand?
 
helppp

ok so the whole macros thing. i downloaded an attachment from school and the macros warning popped up and i disabled them. so now when i type something on word and email it to myself to open up on my college campus it says it cant open because the file is toxic or something weird like that i dont know the exact words. does anyone know how to fix that because i print ALL of my papers on campus but not anymore apparently because i cant open any word attachments? eeeeks. thanks.
 
Anyone seen how the known trojans get installed? Is it by downloading Mac warez of common programs ?
 
reason *nix don't get viruses is due to the fact any settings altered on the system would need root access. I assume BSD works the same. :confused: (unless the GUIs open vulnerabilities)
 
Browser virus - redirecting NEW POST

Dear all.

Has anyone ever come across a google browser virus.
My mac safari when pointed at Google.com works fine, but, when pointing at google.co.uk constantly redirects any search entered and;
a- shows no adwords,
b- will not let me sign in to google,
c - search results redirect to http://copy-book.com/search.php?q= and http://www.referenco.com/ and then on to all manner of sites...

The google.co.uk site also does not have the same header bar as google.com.

I have cleared and reset the whole browser, and reloaded safari. But it still does it.

Finally, if I hop onto my neighbors wifi, then google.co.uk works for a couple of searches, then develops and persists with these same problems

Any ideas / solutions ?

Nawky
 
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