Basic Mac Questions Regarding Viruses

[CelticLenny]

Hello,

I am brand new to the "mac world" and I have some very basic questions I would like answered or just a general explanation of the whole topic.

The topic is viruses. A big selling point for mac is that it's virus free however I had questions about this such as what if I was to download a file I know is a virus on windows what will happen?Also when it says this file may cause harm to your computer when I download something from the internet what does that mean in normal terms, does it mean this is 99% safe or is it high possibility of a virus, basically am I okay to click okay without damaging my new MacBookPro.

You don't have to answer all the questions directly however it would be helpful THANKYOU

Ps: Sorry if this is very very basic

 

[mw360]

Macs don't run Windows viruses unless you install Windows. There are no known Mac viruses circulating. A virus is a program that can spread between computers automatically.

But Macs can get malware. In almost every case the malware cannot attack your computer unless you run or install it yourself. Some websites will attempt to trick you into doing this by offering something that sounds important like a Flash update.

Macs will show several different warnings. Whenever you attempt to run anything downloaded from the Internet it will warn you that it may not be safe. It doesn't mean that it's not safe, it's just that your Mac doesn't know what it is, and so you should be sure you know what the file is.

Macs will also attempt to block program's that it knows to be either malware or dangerously insecure. In that case the warning will be more severe and the software may not even run.

 

[xShane]

Hello,

I am brand new to the "mac world" and I have some very basic questions I would like answered or just a general explanation of the whole topic.

The topic is viruses. A big selling point for mac is that it's virus free however I had questions about this such as what if I was to download a file I know is a virus on windows what will happen?Also when it says this file may cause harm to your computer when I download something from the internet what does that mean in normal terms, does it mean this is 99% safe or is it high possibility of a virus, basically am I okay to click okay without damaging my new MacBookPro.

You don't have to answer all the questions directly however it would be helpful THANKYOU

Ps: Sorry if this is very very basic

If you explicitly install and run something, it can then do "damage".

 

[simsaladimbamba]

To learn more about malware in Mac OS X and what steps can be taken to protect yourself, read the following F.A.Q.:

Mac Virus/Malware Info by GGJstudios​

 

[Erock216]

i am getting bogus hyper links. maybe some kind of trojan virus? can anyone help? how do i get rid of them?


thanks

 

[simsaladimbamba]

i am getting bogus hyper links. maybe some kind of trojan virus? can anyone help? how do i get rid of them?


thanks

It is either a trojan or a virus, but very unlikely a virus, read the Mac Virus/Malware Info linked to in the post above yours.

Anyway, what do you mean with "getting bogus hyper links"? Being more descriptive on what exactly you experience with what browser and version of it under what Mac OS X version might help more than just guessing from our side.

First guess: Why am I being redirected to other sites?

"How to maximise your MacRumors troubleshooting experience" created by mad jew in 2006​

 

[Erock216]

that worked. thanks. it was the dns protocol.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

that worked. thanks. it was the dns protocol.

Glad to have guessed correctly.

 

[ChrisA]

.....I download something from the internet what does that mean in normal terms, does it mean this is 99% safe or is it high possibility of a virus, basically am I okay to click okay without damaging my new MacBookPro. ....

Downloading a PC virus on a Mac is like releasing termites into a brick building. Yes termites are bad but in a brick building they starve and die.

But,... there are things other than viruses. These are called "trojans". It is a program that claims to do one thing but in fact it does something different. You have to download and run the program and click "yes I want to run this" Just don't do that unless you trust the source.