I know there are problems with PC's when it comes to these things.. But I just found out that a family member has been going to some inaportiate sites both in private browsing and non private browsing... Is there anyway I can make sure I dont have any viruses or malware or should I not be worried..... Thank you for the help.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Help!! (Malware and viruses?)
- Thread starter maclover53
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
1. Follow the rules about thread titles.
2. Follow the rules and search about viruses.
3. There is nothing to worry about.
2. Follow the rules and search about viruses.
3. There is nothing to worry about.
Assuming the computer in question is a Mac, you don't have a problem with malware or viruses.
If (hypothetically) the family member in question is a child, and the inappropriate sites are adult in nature, you might have a bigger problem than malware. Good luck!
If (hypothetically) the family member in question is a child, and the inappropriate sites are adult in nature, you might have a bigger problem than malware. Good luck!
false. although the risk for malware is significantly lower in OSX and OS9 than in Windows, malware and viruses DO exist and you need to be aware of how to avoid them all the same for the mac platform. Apple users occupy a smaller niche of computer users so it would be logical for virus programmer to target a larger demographic - Windows users - which would enable their "product" to spread more. However, make no mistake that Mac viruses and malware do exist, most programmers just don't bother to make them as frequently which can be a good thing.
While it is true that there are no known viruses for OS X, that doesn't mean OS X viruses can not be written. To the OP, it's a 99.999 % chance that you didn't contract a virus, however I resent the typical "Macs cant get viruses" theme. Sure a Mac can get a virus. Here's one: "rm -r ~/". People who want to preach about the Mac's security should say "Macs cant get Windows viruses, which populate about 99.9999 % of viruses out there." That's a coherent argument that makes perfect sense and is perfectly logical. Simply saying "MACS CANT GET VIRUSES" is nonsensical, of course a Mac could get a virus. Any computer can get a virus. A virus is simply a set of malicious commands, you can execute malicious commands on any system, linux, macintosh, or Windows.
Anyway, to the OP, you have nothing to worry about. At this point, there are no Mac viruses that are a problem. I would be more worried about this "family member" than your computer.
Anyway, to the OP, you have nothing to worry about. At this point, there are no Mac viruses that are a problem. I would be more worried about this "family member" than your computer.
They must also be self-replicating, able to transmit themselves to the next host.
That is the biggest "feature" of a virus. Otherwise, like you said, deleting everything could be called a virus, when it isn't.
Ok, so pr0n-kid looses his iTunes collection. Sucks to be him. That's not gonna do anything more. He can't touch other people's folders, or the system's folders. Unless, he was running as an admin, which would imply some sort of a "*nix fail" on the part of the parents. That isn't the OS's fault.
Yes, and getting one to execute and override the permissions in the filesystem requires that the user actually perform some action to execute and give permissions to the offending cootie, or to be tricked into doing so.
What I said is that evidence of surfing to inappropriate sites in and of itself will not cause any problems to the computer. And again, like I said the first time: the OP doesn't have a problem.
Did I say it was the OS's fault? People seem to have the idea that no matter what they do, they're always protected simply because they're using a mac. I'm not pointing out OSX's flaws, because there aren't many. I'm simply pointing out the ignorance that plagues some Mac users around security.
Noone said anything about porn, just 'inapropriate sites', and OS X Leopard has its own internal virus/malware scanner anyway, just most people arn't aware of it, which is how scanners should be, unlike that joke called Norton.
OS X does not have a built-in virus/malware scanner. Safari has an option for fraudulent site notification but that's about it.
Ahem - when you posted: "False... false. Show me one active virus." You are implying the thought. Rather than give you a laundry list of active Mac viruses targeting loopholes in OS9 and OSX, run a search on google for yourself in various security sites to get specifics. Mac acknowledges that the likelihood of Apple computers getting viruses are lower than PCs but they can happen and if you've worked with the products long enough you'd know this. all i am saying is people should be savvy to security breaches and the possibility of exploits around is reason enough for folks to not flush their common sense down the toilet just because they are on a Mac.
Nope, I'm asking for you to show me one virus that is already out there. In no way did I insinuate that there could not be a virus written in the future to affect the current setup of software.
To imply is silly.
That's the second time I've had to say "This has been patched for two years. Do a little more research than just copying the first Google result." to this old virus this week.
This whole thread is completely ridiculous. The OP is worried about their Mac (we're assuming) becoming infected (or something) after visiting "inappropriate websites". The probability of this occurring is currently exactly zero percent. Note that I'm not saying that it couldn't occur in the future. I am saying that currently this type of fear that plagues the much-beloved (by us of course) Windows platform simply does not exist when running Mac OS X.
Ah, the oft-toted security via obscurity myth. Malware programmers are often out more for fame than anything else. What would gain someone more fame than creating the first ever "actively spreading without user intervention" Mac OS X virus? Definitely not creating another daily Windows threat. Not to mention the fact that most OS X machines run no anti-viral apps, making this potentially much easier (or, obviously, not). Make no mistake that there are people out there who would like to create something like this for Mac OS X, but we have yet to see it. I wonder why?
That is not a virus at all. You can't spread that command through a network without user intervention. Just because the function exists in an OS to manually erase a user folder does not make it possible for that command to be remotely triggered, triggered without user intervention, or even for a script containing that command to make it onto the target machine. Again, the user has to knowingly download and execute something like this. It may even require an admin password. To call this a virus or even a threat at all is completely absurd.
There are no Mac viruses that target "loopholes" in OS X currently in the wild. And OS 9 is a decade old. I could get into the wide range of malware available for Windows 98 and ME if you want. The fact is that there is no "laundry list" of Mac viruses that target OS X, because there aren't any!
Again, the OP is perfectly safe.
--mAc
Ah, the oft-toted security via obscurity myth. Malware programmers are often out more for fame than anything else. What would gain someone more fame than creating the first ever "actively spreading without user intervention" Mac OS X virus? Definitely not creating another daily Windows threat. Not to mention the fact that most OS X machines run no anti-viral apps, making this potentially much easier (or, obviously, not). Make no mistake that there are people out there who would like to create something like this for Mac OS X, but we have yet to see it. I wonder why?
That is not a virus at all. You can't spread that command through a network without user intervention. Just because the function exists in an OS to manually erase a user folder does not make it possible for that command to be remotely triggered, triggered without user intervention, or even for a script containing that command to make it onto the target machine. Again, the user has to knowingly download and execute something like this. It may even require an admin password. To call this a virus or even a threat at all is completely absurd.
There are no Mac viruses that target "loopholes" in OS X currently in the wild. And OS 9 is a decade old. I could get into the wide range of malware available for Windows 98 and ME if you want. The fact is that there is no "laundry list" of Mac viruses that target OS X, because there aren't any!
Again, the OP is perfectly safe.
--mAc