Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Status
Not open for further replies.

hefeweizan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2009
1
0
I got a virus on my macbook pro using firefox bc, a popup keeps showing up saying my computer is infected. How can i scan it for viruses and remove?
 
You don't have a virus. There ARE no viruses in the wild that run on current Mac OS X. You most likely have visited a website with a bogus popup that says you have a Windows virus. You're not on Windows. If you disable JavaScript and revisit the site, you won't see the popup.

Virus info
 
I got a virus on my macbook pro using firefox bc, a popup keeps showing up saying my computer is infected. How can i scan it for viruses and remove?

WOW.

I got a pop up before saying I won a million dollars, does anyone know how I can collect it. Lol.
 
Do not click on that link to scan for viruses. On windows machines that link will actually give you a virus. Then the site will want 50 dollars to remove it. A friend clicked on a link like that a while ago on her windows machine. Totally messed up her machine. With my help and the help of google search we were able to remove it and fix her machine for free.
 
163031__planes_l.jpg
 
It is very ironic that this thread was posted as soon as I came across a problem with Firefox (I believe) as well.

I kept hearing some man talking on like a foreign radio station and then I finally closed Firefox and it quit. The only site I had open was this one.
 
I got a virus on my macbook pro using firefox bc, a popup keeps showing up saying my computer is infected. How can i scan it for viruses and remove?

You are falling for one of the oldest scams in the book. Go to the same website with an iPhone or an Android phone or using Linux, and a popup will come up and tell you that your computer is infected. It's not. Someone is trying to scare you into downloading their software, which would infect your Mac if it was a PC (most likely that attempt will fail because it is a Mac, but if you are stupid enough to type in your admin password when asked it _might_ do all kinds of nasty things to your Mac. As I said, only if you are stupid enough to type in your admin password). And then they will want you to pay to get rid of that virus that you never had in the first place.

Think about it. How would that website know that you have a virus? If your Mac doesn't know, if Apple can't manage to put something into their OS that detects viruses, how can their website know? If it _was_ possible that a website could detect viruses, then surely www.apple.com would do that.
 
[irresistible]

Hey guys I was browsing the web on my mac in OS X and out of nowhere this pops up:
scareware.jpg



I mean i'm pretty sure i'm not running windoze but this is awfully convincing. What to do?

[/irresistible]
 
Unfortunately this is exactly the type of user this attack is targeted at. However, fortunately with this user being on Mac OS X it won't work as intended. Just add the cost of removing this stuff to the price of your wintel machine and the supposed Apple tax will actually be an apple savings.
 
Do you know how to read? The op specifies BC which could only be bootcamp, right?
 
In the OP's post, "bc" means "because", not Boot Camp. Even if the OP were running Windows, the fact remains that it's most likely a bogus popup like the one we described. The OP would know whether they had an antivirus app installed, which is the only other way they could be getting a virus warning message, and in that case, they'd be getting the warning whether Firefox was running or not.

There's about a 70% chance we'll never hear from the OP again, so it's likely we'll never know the details.
 
The OP states "using firefox bc, a popup...", dont you find it strange that he puts a comma right after the bc? Sure, it could also be that he is not too good with grammar!
 
Mac noob here. I understand that you cannot get a virus on a Mac, however I do have a question about it. Let's say if you downloaded a file with Windows and obtained a virus. If I download that exact same file with a Mac and send that file over to a Windows computer, will the computer running Windows get the virus? Or does the Mac somehow kill it? I'm asking this because I want to send my sister some files, but I am not sure if they have viruses on them and do not want to infect her computer. Thank you.
 
Mac noob here. I understand that you cannot get a virus on a Mac, however I do have a question about it. Let's say if you downloaded a file with Windows and obtained a virus. If I download that exact same file with a Mac and send that file over to a Windows computer, will the computer running Windows get the virus? Or does the Mac somehow kill it? I'm asking this because I want to send my sister some files, but I am not sure if they have viruses on them and do not want to infect her computer. Thank you.

Yes, while a Windows virus cannot infect Mac OS X, it is possible for a Mac to transfer a virus-infected file to a Windows PC, where it could infect the PC. That's why it's important for Windows users to have antivirus running, to protect them from all virus sources; not just from files transferred from Macs.
 
Thank you. One more question, I was wondering if there is anyway that the Mac will notify you wether or not you have a Windows virus? I usually help my sister out with different files so it would be nice if I knew whether or not to send her the file beforehand because she trusts me. Is there any program you can install for this? If I bootcamp with windows, and the virus is on my Mac OSX partition, will it do anything if I booted into windows?
 
She will just need to invest in some good virus protection since she is running on Windows.. theres no telling when she might get a virus.
 
Thank you. One more question, I was wondering if there is anyway that the Mac will notify you wether or not you have a Windows virus? I usually help my sister out with different files so it would be nice if I knew whether or not to send her the file beforehand because she trusts me. Is there any program you can install for this?
There are a few antivirus apps for Mac that will detect Windows viruses, such as ClamXav. However, that won't protect your sister from viruses from other sources. The best approach is for each Windows system to have its own AV protection.
If I bootcamp with windows, and the virus is on my Mac OSX partition, will it do anything if I booted into windows?
As long as a virus-infected file isn't accessible to the Windows partition, it can't have any affect on it. Naturally, if you run Windows in Boot Camp, you should have AV running in the Windows environment.
 
You don't have a virus. There ARE no viruses in the wild that run on current Mac OS X. You most likely have visited a website with a bogus popup that says you have a Windows virus. You're not on Windows. If you disable JavaScript and revisit the site, you won't see the popup.

Virus info

Thats actually false, there ARE Mac Viruses in the wild... There are just an extremely small number compared to Windows. (Do you web browse or use adobe products?)

It also might be better to discuss "malware" and not just viruses. People often lump trojans, spyware, keyloggers and other things in with viruses. They tend to be slightly different. Macs are NOT perfectly defended platforms. It does have vulnerabilities that can and are exploited in the wild. The real advantage that Mac have right now is that they are only 5 - 8 % of the market. As Mac market share increases and it becomes the target of more attacked, we are all going to feel it. Don't be surprised if/when Macs need some sort of anti-malware software.
 
Mac noob here. I understand that you cannot get a virus on a Mac, however I do have a question about it. Let's say if you downloaded a file with Windows and obtained a virus. If I download that exact same file with a Mac and send that file over to a Windows computer, will the computer running Windows get the virus? Or does the Mac somehow kill it? I'm asking this because I want to send my sister some files, but I am not sure if they have viruses on them and do not want to infect her computer. Thank you.

Macs CAN get viruses, it's just rare.. instead of common, like on Windows platforms before Windows 7.
 
Here we go again. :rolleyes: Name one. Just one.
Just because it's not long, it doesn't mean malware doesn't exist entirely.

Application.Osx.Cosmac.A
Application.Posx.Dldr.C
Application.Posx.Dldr.D
Backdoor.Mac.Subseven.A
Backdoor.Macos.Sub7me.A
Backdoor.Macos.Sub7me.B
Java.OSX.Inqtana.A
Java.OSX.Inqtana.Gen
MAC.OSX.Adware.MacSweeper.A
Mac.OSX.Trojan.DNSChanger.A
Mac.OSX.Trojan.DNSChanger.B
MAC.OSX.Trojan.DNSChanger.C
MAC.OSX.Trojan.Krowi.A
MAC.OSX.Trojan.Krowi.B
MacOS.AutoStart.A
MacOS.AutoStart.B
MacOS.Init29.A
MacOS.Sevendust.B
OSX.Trojan.PWS.Corpref.A
OSX.Worm.Inqtana.A
OSX.Worm.Tored.A
Trojan.Exploit.Macos.Icqes.A
Trojan.Exploit.Osx.Launch.A
Trojan.Exploit.Osx.Launch.B
Trojan.Flooder.Macos.Portassult.1.0(m68k).A
Trojan.Mac.Horse.A
Trojan.Macos.Chinatalk.A
Trojan.Macos.Cowhand.A
Trojan.Macos.NVP
Trojan.OSX.Dropper.A
Trojan.Osx.Exploit.Launchd.A
Trojan.Osx.Exploit.Launchd.B
Trojan.OSX.Jahlav.A
Trojan.OSX.Jahlav.B
Trojan.OSX.Loader.A
Trojan.Osx.Weapox.A
Trojan.Osx.Weapox.B
Win32.Worm.Mac.Opener.A
Win32.Worm.Mac.Opener.G
Win32.Worm.Mac.W97.Vmpc.G
Win32.Worm.Osx.Niqtana.A
Worm.MAC.Autostart.A
Worm.MAC.Autostart.B
Worm.MAC.Autostart.D
Worm.MAC.Autostart.E
Worm.MAC.Autostart.F
Worm.MAC.Autostart.H
Worm.MAC.Leap.A
Worm.MAC.Opener.A
Worm.MAC.Opener.B
Worm.MAC.Opener.C
Worm.MAC.Opener.D
Worm.MAC.Opener.E
Worm.MAC.Opener.G
Worm.MAC.Opener.H
Worm.MAC.Opener.I
Worm.Mac.Opener.J
Worm.MAC.Opener.K
Worm.MAC.Opener.L
Worm.MAC.Opener.M
Worm.MAC.Opener.O
Worm.MAC.Opener.P
Worm.Macos.Autostart.A
Worm.Macos.Macmag.A
Worm.Macos.Macmag.B
Worm.Macos.Macmag.C
Worm.Macos.Tetricyrcle.A
Worm.OSX.Inqtana.A
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.