bit torrent viruses, should os x be scared

[benlangdon]

Everyone knows that os x has a harder time getting viruses than other os's.

But with bit torrents becoming very big, and viruses even bigger, do you think it is a good idea to scan files for viruses after you have downloaded them?

if yes, what do you use.

 

[thelonegoat]

I wouldn't worry about it. osx has pretty frequent sucurity updates and has a built in firewall. i've never gotten a virus form torrents on windows or mac and i've been torenting for years.

 

[és:]

If you use a good private site (there are many) then you should have no problem at all. It's public ones like mininova and piratebay that you want to steer clear of.

 

[pooky]

I wouldn't worry about it. osx has pretty frequent sucurity updates and has a built in firewall.

This might provide a bit of a false sense of security. Security updates and firewalls, while great, will protect against hackers breaking into your machine. They won't help you if you actively download something with a virus and allow it into your machine. That being said, the vast majority of viruses and trojans in bit torrent files are windows only. It's an economy of scale - you affect many more people writing a windows virus.

 

[cleanup]

That's why you don't start torrenting on new uploads. Wait a day or two. Once people have downloaded it and tried it out, they'll let you know if it has a virus or not.

Beyond that, I don't think OS X has much to worry about in the virus game just yet.

Even for Windows PCs, I wouldn't use antivirus. At most I would use AVG, because it's resource-light and it's free. If you're a smart browser/user, you shouldn't get infected.

 

[ChrisA]

I wouldn't worry about it. osx has pretty frequent sucurity updates and has a built in firewall. i've never gotten a virus form torrents on windows or mac and i've been torenting for years.

What does "firewall" have to do with "torrent". They are completely un-related. Firewalls are things that disallow network connects via some ports. A torrent is something you specifically allow unto your computer.

That said scanning will do no good as there are no known virus to scan for.

If you are concerned and you should be because you don't really know what is inside a torrent then unpack it inside a special user account used just for that purpose and don't type the admin password if asked, run and check it out from the special account. The worst that likely might happen is that data inside that account is wiped out

 

[Queso]

Without wanting to sound all holier than thou, don't torrent software unless you get the torrent file itself from a trusted source (i.e. the NeoOffice website). Anything that needs you to put your password in before you can run it can potentially install a trojan along with the program you think you're getting. So make sure you trust what you're installing.

 

[benlangdon]

ha i use pirate bay mostly

what other sites are there
neooffice or something someone said.
also use bittorrentmonster
and torrent portal.

 

[Andrew Henry]

ha i use pirate bay mostly

what other sites are there
neooffice or something someone said.
also use bittorrentmonster
and torrent portal.

There's plenty of private torrents sites, but most of them are invite only, and I'm not sure the rules on this forum pertaining to torrents, as we all know *most* of the stuff that is distributed is not exactly legal.

 

[The Doctor]

i use demonoid, and i have never had a problem... whenever demonoid has been down i've used scrapetorrent, and i have never had a problem with any of the sites that sends me to either.