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Mac Virus??

sbrhwkp3

sbrhwkp3

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
558
85
Lake George, NY
My friend has the black macbook, and he uses his iPhoto library as a screen saver. He says he thinks he has a virus, because the pictures in the screen saver now have random cartoon pictures covering them, such as a duck with a british flag.

has anyone heard about this???? what the heck is it all about?
 
Macs are among the best for not getting viruses. It is more likely somebody snuck on to his machine and replaced those. In the case there is viruses, there is virus software.
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
My friend has the black macbook, and he uses his iPhoto library as a screen saver. He says he thinks he has a virus, because the pictures in the screen saver now have random cartoon pictures covering them, such as a duck with a british flag.

has anyone heard about this???? what the heck is it all about?
Click to expand...

can you post a screen shot ?
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
My friend has the black macbook, and he uses his iPhoto library as a screen saver. He says he thinks he has a virus, because the pictures in the screen saver now have random cartoon pictures covering them, such as a duck with a british flag.

has anyone heard about this???? what the heck is it all about?
Click to expand...

I don't believe your friend.
 
Damn it! Now you've gone and infected MacRumors!
 

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OnceUGoMac said:
I don't believe your friend.
Click to expand...

He wouldn't lie about stuff like that. He asks for help when he doesn't understand stuff going on with his mac, since he's relatively new to it, and I haven't even heard of this, so I figured you guys might know something.
 
Quick question ...

I don't have virus software ... and I've never gotten a virus on any of the macs I've ever gotten.

How does one get a job at a company making virus software for the mac? :D
 
arcobb said:
Quick question ...

I don't have virus software ... and I've never gotten a virus on any of the macs I've ever gotten.

How does one get a job at a company making virus software for the mac? :D
Click to expand...

Making virus software is highly illegal, are you sure you don't mean anti-virus software?
 
iMeowbot said:
Not a virus, and this kind of thing has happened before. The iChat Icons alias in particular would be a good first place to look
Click to expand...

Good catch there iMeowbot.

Sounds like the same problem...but there was not a final resolution mentioned.

Anyone search Apple help yet?

Have your friend try setting the screen saver to a specific folder, not just the library...

Let us know how it works.
 
imacintel said:
In the case there is viruses, there is virus software.
Click to expand...

There are no viruses for Mac OS X so please stop saying things like it is "unlikely" and "Macs are very good at not getting viruses." It is currently impossible to get a virus on Mac OS X, since there is no such thing!!! Do you really think this person is unlucky enough to be the first ever with an OS X virus?

Mac Anti-Virus software, which many recommend you don't even install, only exists so you don't spread Windows viruses to Windows users.
 
dpaanlka said:
There are no viruses for Mac OS X so please stop saying things like it is "unlikely" and "Macs are very good at not getting viruses." It is currently impossible to get a virus on Mac OS X, since there is no such thing!!! Do you really think this person is unlucky enough to be the first ever with an OS X virus?

Mac Anti-Virus software, which many recommend you don't even install, only exists so you don't spread Windows viruses to Windows users.
Click to expand...

well i was just going to say that, they should put a sticky at the top of the page about this, MACS DON'T HAVE VIRUSES,
 
Macmadant said:
well i was just going to say that, they should put a sticky at the top of the page about this, MACS DON'T HAVE VIRUSES,
Click to expand...

lol yes... at the top of every category index and thread, and even at the top of the posting window, there is always a notice that say "You do not have a virus."
 
dpaanlka said:
lol yes... at the top of every category index and thread, and even at the top of the posting window, there is always a notice that say "You do not have a virus."
Click to expand...

LOL an automated response to anything with 'virus' in the thread title...
 
Not to spoil the party, but THERE ARE MAC VIRUSES... The fact though is that most of them have minimum impact and may affect only independent programs as few if any resources are actually directly integrated withing the OS. By comparison, in MS software most programs work through the operating system and thus a virus can affect the entire computer.

See http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/ for some examples of viruses...

There are very few if any viruses currently circulating, and smart internet behavior will probably eliminate the risk of getting them. Still, it is very ignorant to just think MAC cannot get a virus. I love OSX and I'm a recent switcher, so coming from Windows, that was a big concern of mine. You are right, it does not seem to be a problem for Macs but in the next decade with my predicted rise of apple use, it may as well be a problem. As long as there's a computer some brilliant hackers out there will be able to mess it up. Right now, it's not fun to mess a Mac cause you will not get much impact with only about 5-10% of the market being apple. However, the more Apple makes commercials of "Oh, we don't get viruses" - some lonely person out there is gonna set to prove them wrong... Can you imagine the fame associated with that...

Also, since most users are Windows, a mac virus has a small chance of spreading too... As files have different protocols and programming, so a mac virus would get stuck on a Windows PC... haha
 
Romulus said:
Not to spoil the party, but THERE ARE MAC VIRUSES... The fact though is that most of them have minimum impact and may affect only independent programs as few if any resources are actually directly integrated withing the OS. By comparison, in MS software most programs work through the operating system and thus a virus can affect the entire computer.

See http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/ for some examples of viruses...

There are very few if any viruses currently circulating, and smart internet behavior will probably eliminate the risk of getting them. Still, it is very ignorant to just think MAC cannot get a virus. I love OSX and I'm a recent switcher, so coming from Windows, that was a big concern of mine. You are right, it does not seem to be a problem for Macs but in the next decade with my predicted rise of apple use, it may as well be a problem. As long as there's a computer some brilliant hackers out there will be able to mess it up. Right now, it's not fun to mess a Mac cause you will not get much impact with only about 5-10% of the market being apple. However, the more Apple makes commercials of "Oh, we don't get viruses" - some lonely person out there is gonna set to prove them wrong... Can you imagine the fame associated with that...

Also, since most users are Windows, a mac virus has a small chance of spreading too... As files have different protocols and programming, so a mac virus would get stuck on a Windows PC... haha
Click to expand...

Everything you just said has been rebuffed 10,000 times on these very forums.

Basic points:

Leap.A - You have to actively run this program to install it. It cannot install itself by itself. I have never heard of anybody seeing this in the wild.

Inqtana.A - Proof of concept, doesn't exist in the wild.

MAC - It's Mac, not MAC. It is not an acronym, the letters don't stand for anything, the word is just short for "Macintosh"

Ignorance - Emphasis was put on currently getting a virus. Macs cannot currently get a virus.

Next Decade - Um, Macs have been around for almost 23 years and Mac OS X has been around for about 6 or so now. 6 years with no viruses and two flimsy "malwares" is very impressive.

Limited Mac Market Share - In parts of the country, there are TONS of Macs. This is usually isolated to the big cities, and universities or other research institutes. The reason for this is that way out in the middle of nowhere, it is a lot harder to buy a Mac, and many rural people don't even know what a Mac is. I know in Peoria, for example (where I got to school in mid-state Illinois), there is literally not a single authorized Macintosh reseller anywhere around, and this is a relatively large city. The only reason a lot of people on campus have Macs is because they're from Chicago, or St. Louis. Also keep in mind that most Mac users are higher-income, or businesses of some sort. This would make it more enticing to attack Macs.

Aside from that, let's give Macs a hypothetical market share of 5%. If 5% of computers were Macs, and Macs were just as easy to write viruses for as Windows... with your logic I would expect 5% of the 114,000 viruses to run on Macs. But this isn't the case.
 
Perhaps... These posts actually give me some more peace of mind... Apple is ramping up its power in the computer industry, and who knows what will happen in the next decade. I'm sorry to say, and maybe I am wrong (as I said, I'm a recent switcher to the MB C2D, and am very happy with it), but I have tried apple a number of years ago and I was very confused... I think, without Steve, Mac OS was in trouble... So, only now with OS X and the Intel platform, the stage is set for many many switchers, and apple taking over the industry. The aggressive media campaign is a witness to that too.

How many switchers did Apple have in the last decade compared to the last year I wonder?
 
Romulus said:
I have tried apple a number of years ago and I was very confused...
Click to expand...

Mac OS 9 was just as different from Windows as Mac OS X is. Steve Jobs came back during the Mac OS 7 days.

Really, Mac OS X is generally closer to Mac OS 9 and below than Windows... and OS X has been around for 6 years now anyway... what part was confusing?

Mac OS 9:

macos9.jpg

Mac OS X:

macosx104.jpg
 
There's a good article about Mac OS and viruses... It says we are pretty safe but common sense is still widely needed...

http://comment.silicon.com/sebjanacek/0,3800005539,39130941,00.htm

As for what was confusing, I don't even remember anymore. That was on pre-98 systems. Perhaps I just did not have a good Mac friend to give me some direction. Right now though, in principle, I don't think OS X is that much different than Windows at the basic user level. Much simpler and oriented. Still, windows has it's own pluses.

The reason I went to OS X though was not so much for the interface but the underlying engine that is so much more stable and clean, even in principle.

I did install Windows XP in parallels, but I am yet to use it. It's just that said cushion out there to say that hey, if I'm screwed I could go back. By the day though, I'm going further away from it. I got to use a friends windows laptop yesterday, and I was so frustrated with it... So, all said, thanks...
 
Romulus said:
There's a good article about Mac OS and viruses... It says we are pretty safe but common sense is still widely needed...
Click to expand...
Well, common sense is always a good thing to exercise... but we should qualify pretty safe.

Since the release of Mac OS X, more users of this OS have been struck by lightning than have had their systems infected by viruses.

:rolleyes:

So on that note, I thing some common sense points should be put forward for Mac users:
  1. If you see a thunder storm, go inside.
  2. If you can't find shelter, do not stand in open fields.
  3. More important than (2), don't hold metal objects in the air.
And it should be noted that males are more likely to be struck by lightning than females... so male Mac users should exercise even more common sense when confronted with thunder storms than female Mac users.

What I find so disturbing is that while the threat of Mac users being struck by lightning is both higher than that of them getting a virus and more dangerous, we (to date) don't see any articles warning Mac users of this impending danger while the press can't seem to stop writing about Mac security flaws.

Where are these people's priorities! :eek:
 
Mac Virus?

I may be missing something but it doesn't look like this thread has answered the initial question (although the discussion about the theoretical possibility of macs getting a virus is interesting). The reason I'm posting is because I have seen the same weird symptom on my Mac Mini recently. I have been using it for nearly a year now with nothing odd happening. However I have recently noticed that when the screen saver is on (which I have set up to use my iPhoto library) sometimes the pictures are obscurred by weird looking cartoon graphics/icons. Two that come to mind are of a sunflower and of a purple monster face. They are quite blocky looking and despite the debate in this thread my first thought was virus. You'll have to trust me that I am not making this up, the images in iPhoto do not have these weird additions and I have not been experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. I'm not saying this IS a virus, just asking the question what people think it is and how I can get rid of it.
 
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