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E-mail Virus on MBP

P

photogy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 2, 2010
64
0
i got hit with an email virus today that is sending out e-mails to all my contacts.

It also automatically sends an email (through my gmail) every time to anyone who emails me taking the subject heading as if i am sending the contact the email.

I have just bought kasperky but it has not found anything...

can anyone suggest a solution?

thanks,
 
There are no known viruses for Mac OS X. Thus, no AV program will be able to remove a virus for you, even if you had one, since it wouldn't know what to look for. I think something else is going on here.
 
Thats not a virus, someone has your password. Have you changed it?

Also if you logged in to someones infected machine your password may be being scraped every time you log in. Its not a virus on your machine that is doing it, there are no known viruses for Mac OS but if you are sharing someone elses that can be a problem.
 
grapes911 said:
There are no known viruses for Mac OS X. Thus, no AV program will be able to remove a virus for you, even if you had one, since it wouldn't know what to look for. I think something else is going on here.
Click to expand...

even if i send an email thru my blackberry..same thing....i got hit today and received over a 120 emails at once....
 
photogy said:
even if i send an email thru my blackberry..same thing....i got hit today and received over a 120 emails at once....
Click to expand...

not shared pw at all...or allowed anyone to use my mac....

strangely as well, every time i reply on this thread, i have to keep logging back in or accessing the forum, typing the encryp code....when i googled yesterday, i also had to type the code in as google said that 'usual activity' was noticed...so it must be attacking my mac

photogy said:
not shared pw at all...or allowed anyone to use my mac....

strangely as well, every time i reply on this thread, i have to keep logging back in or accessing the forum, typing the encryp code....when i googled yesterday, i also had to type the code in as google said that 'usual activity' was noticed...so it must be attacking my mac
Click to expand...

strange...the moment i post a reply i get logged out of the forum...then have to re log in and again to post a reply....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are people who can send php scripts to do naughty things like steal passwords and such, but this is not even remotely close to being a virus, its a browser attack if anything.

Also it doesnt matter if you share your password, you still should change it immediately.
 
photogy said:
i got hit with an email virus today
Click to expand...
No, you didn't, since none exist that run on current Mac OS X.

Mac Virus/Malware Info
photogy said:
I have just bought kasperky but it has not found anything...
Click to expand...
That's because there's nothing to find. Kaspersky is a waste of money. You don't need AV software on your Mac.
photogy said:
can anyone suggest a solution?
Click to expand...
As others have said, change your email password(s) to something complex and remove any AV software from your Mac.
 
Last edited:
chrono1081 said:
There are people who can send php scripts to do naughty things like steal passwords and such, but this is not even remotely close to being a virus, its a browser attack if anything.

Also it doesnt matter if you share your password, you still should change it immediately.
Click to expand...

no very careful about what i download or install...just changed pw and appears to have stopped...so big thanks for the suggestion!

what is the point of having kaspersky??
 
photogy said:
what is the point of having kaspersky??
Click to expand...

The point is selling it to users who think they have a virus that can affect them. It preys on ignorance,
But as Kaspersky probably only scans for Windows threats and maybe for the few Mac OS X malware titles, common sense is the more sensible (and cheaper) way.
Read that link GGJstudios posted.
 
spinnerlys said:
The point is selling it to users who think they have a virus that can affect them. It preys on ignorance,
But as Kaspersky probably only scans for Windows threats and maybe for the few Mac OS X malware titles, common sense is the more sensible (and cheaper) way.
Read that link GGJstudios posted.
Click to expand...

+1. Kaspersky is very good (or used to be several years ago when I used it frequently) but its for windows machines. AV companies will sell to mac machines for two reasons.

Reason 1: To catch windows viruses. I used to use my mac all the time to scan windows drives since my mac was immune to whatever was on the windows drive.

Reason 2: As others have said, ignorance. Most people don't understand what a virus is or how one works and you will hear a lot of nonsense like "A virus that works on windows can jump to mac" blah blah. Nope. Computers don't work that way. (If someone tells you otherwise they don't know what they are talking about). A mac can harbor an infected file that you got from a windows machine and if you transfer it back to the win machine that machine can be infected but thats about it. Kaspersky would catch something like that though.
 
spinnerlys said:
The point is selling it to users who think they have a virus that can affect them. It preys on ignorance,
But as Kaspersky probably only scans for Windows threats and maybe for the few Mac OS X malware titles, common sense is the more sensible (and cheaper) way.
Read that link GGJstudios posted.
Click to expand...

yep..common sense prevails..

thanks again forum....
 
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