Can someone explain "Welcome to nginx!"?

[rick3000]

I just went to my personal domain and found a blank white page with the words, "Welcome to nginx!" I googled it found it is some kind of virus and wiped Safari and it is now gone.

Can someone explain this virus to me, is it something I need to concerned about? Why did it target my personal domain? How did it infect Safari? Could other parts of my Mac be infected?
Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

I just went to my personal domain and found a blank white page with the words, "Welcome to nginx!" I googled it found it is some kind of virus and wiped Safari and it is now gone.

Can someone explain this virus to me, is it something I need to concerned about? Why did it target my personal domain? How did it infect Safari? Could other parts of my Mac be infected?
Thanks!

That is a Windows virus and cannot affect Mac OS X. Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). Also, Mac OS X 10.6 and later versions have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​

1. Make sure your built-in Mac firewall is enabled in System Preferences > Security > Firewall
   
   
2. Uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in Safari > Preferences > General
   
   
3. Disable Java in your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox). This will protect you from malware that exploits Java in your browser, including the recent Flashback trojan. Leave Java disabled until you visit a trusted site that requires it, then re-enable only for the duration of your visit to that site. (This is not to be confused with JavaScript, which you should leave enabled.)
   
   
4. Change your DNS servers to OpenDNS servers by reading this.
   
   
5. Be careful to only install software from trusted, reputable sites. Never install pirated software. If you're not sure about an app, ask in this forum before installing.
   
   
6. Never let someone else have access to install anything on your Mac.
   
   
7. Don't open files that you receive from unknown or untrusted sources.
   
   
8. For added security, make sure all network, email, financial and other important passwords are long and complex, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
   
   
9. Always keep your Mac and application software updated. Use Software Update for your Mac software. For other software, it's safer to get updates from the developer's site or from the menu item "Check for updates", rather than installing from any notification window that pops up while you're surfing the web.

That's all you need to do to keep your Mac completely free of any Mac OS X malware that has ever been released into the wild. While you may elect to use it, 3rd party antivirus software is not required to keep your Mac malware-free.

 

[Weaselboy]

I just went to my personal domain and found a blank white page with the words, "Welcome to nginx!" I googled it found it is some kind of virus and wiped Safari and it is now gone.

Can someone explain this virus to me, is it something I need to concerned about? Why did it target my personal domain? How did it infect Safari? Could other parts of my Mac be infected?
Thanks!

It sounds more like a problem with the server configuration wherever your domain is hosted. NGINX is a free server product and that is an error message displayed when the server is misconfigured. See this. You might check with your web hosting provider.

 

[rick3000]

I only configured the domain yesterday, but if it is the host, then why would it be fixed by resetting safari? And thanks to everyone that has responded, very useful information!

 

[rocknblogger]

It sounds more like a problem with the server configuration wherever your domain is hosted. NGINX is a free server product and that is an error message displayed when the server is misconfigured. See this. You might check with your web hosting provider.

This is the right answer. Most hosting providers run Apache on their servers. Some however rub nginx which is actually faster than Apache. So in fact it looks like there's a problem with your hosting but only your provider will be able to tell you what happened. Don't do anything until you get in touch with them.

I only configured the domain yesterday, but if it is the host, then why would it be fixed by resetting safari? And thanks to everyone that has responded, very useful information!

It could have been a coincidence. The server might have been down and was rebooted at the time you were resetting Safari.

 

[rick3000]

I'm hosting on dropbox which appears to use nginx, so it could just be a coincidence. Thank you everyone, this is the most helpful forum on the web!