MB Air and Viruses

[ET iPhone Home]

Hey Guys,

New to the Mac World and I'm very glad I made the switch. Own both a MBA and 4S. I'm also new to this MR Forum and learning lots.

Anyway, over at the iPhone forum, there are these nightly threads, created by an Asian Website (spammer) which are flagged by members and are later deleted by moderators. Recently, people have posted, on these spam threads, not to click onto the link posted by the OP. It may contain a virus. Well, early on, when I first joined MR, I had no idea about these spammers, I have click to a few, without thinking that it could contain a virus. Once you link to it, the site sells fake iPhones, digital watches, and unknown name brand tablets. Below the products are testimonials, by customers, to how great their purchases were.

Do I have anything to worry about? Could I have compromised my MBA which may now have a virus? How would I know? Is there a Free Mac Anti-Virus program to do a quick diagnosis and screening of all files? I've been told that Macs are worry free, but I'm not too convince about that.

Thanks for your feedback. I just want to take care of this immediately if there's any cause for alarm. Also, was planning on doing a Restore from original factory settings if this would help rid of potential viruses - that's where you hold the COMMAND + R key on start-up, right?

 

[GGJstudios]

You don't need any 3rd party antivirus software to protect Mac OS X from malware. 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 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 with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware Info​

You can't infect your Mac simply by clicking on a website.

If you insist on running 3rd party antivirus software, ClamXav is a good choice, since it isn't a resource hog, detects both Mac and Windows malware and doesn't run with elevated privileges. You can run scans when you choose, rather than leaving it running all the time, slowing your system.

 

[doktordoris]

What GGJ said. There are NO mac viruses, if a mac virus were to be created it would be front page, news at ten stuff. Mac antivirus software is simply a way to spend cash, use up HDD space, and risk buying malware like mackeeper, macdefender, et al.

 

[jcg878]

My institution forces antivirus software on all computers being used to access their network, including Macs and purportedly including home Macs. The only viruses it has ever detected have been on the USB flash drives of PC users sharing files with me. I didn't bother installing it on my MBA.

 

[Nameci]

The OP is used to the windows world still. The only antivirus that I have installed and never been used is ClamXAV. If you are really that paranoid.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Thank you guys. Yeah, I was somewhat paranoid waiting for something to happen. For a moment, booting up was slow, and I thought, "Virus".

I guess those warnings, posted by other members of this forum, was to warn pc users.

I need to reprogram my thought process. I've always been a pc user, and I've switched over. I'm very impressed with Mac. In fact, I have until the end of January 2012, to exchange my MBA. I am considering the 15.4 MB Pro. That's how much I'm liking the experience.

Thanks Again.

 

[GGJstudios]

I need to reprogram my thought process.

This is true. When something goes wrong on a Windows PC, one of the first thoughts is that it may be a virus or other malware. On a Mac, it's one of the last things to suspect.

 

[odin2free]

Thought macosx was built inside a sandbox...