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My Mac has been infected with a Trojan
- Thread starter sirozha
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You can change it? I would LOVE to be able to have it back up every 4 hours or so. I don't make a lot of new documents and things other than relatively unimportant C++ files, so I sometimes find hourly backups overly redundant.
[edit] saw link; thanks!
MacDawg
Moderator emeritus
Unfortunately, this thread sounds more like a thinly veiled advertisement for Kasperski than it does anything else. About the only accurate details the OP has provided were concerning the length of the trial version and the annual subscription price of this unnecessary software.
Yup.
Yup, it's a commercial.
Start a fire and see how many panic, and watch the sales numbers.
Fortunately there are people on here who really know stuff to keep newbies like me straight.
Yup, it's a commercial.
Start a fire and see how many panic, and watch the sales numbers.
Fortunately there are people on here who really know stuff to keep newbies like me straight.
LOL, now that you mention it it does read like an ad. 🙄 My BS meter spiked a good bit though with all the worry about Windows trojans doing something to OS X.
pianojoe
macrumors 6502
Hm... IF you gave your windows installation full priviledged write access to your Mac HD, and IF you opened the downloaded .exe from within your virtual machine, it COULD wreck your whole system.
So, technically, your machine (a Mac) could be infected by this file by running windows outside the sandbox. Doing so is not a recommended procedure FOR THIS VERY REASON.
So, technically, your machine (a Mac) could be infected by this file by running windows outside the sandbox. Doing so is not a recommended procedure FOR THIS VERY REASON.
GGJstudios
macrumors Westmere
.... and IF you reformatted your Mac HD to NTFS or installed MacDrive on your Windows side to enable read/write to HFS... and IF.....
Windows cannot read or write HFS+ volumes without an app such as MacDrive (as mentioned by GGJstudios).
pianojoe
macrumors 6502
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? All fresh merchandise, arrived today! Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Free gift wrapping available!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year! Just 60 if you take three!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
.
.
.
Your virtual machine may mount your Mac volume as a windows share. I admit, that's like drinking gasoline just to see what happens.
Kaspersky anyone? All fresh merchandise, arrived today! Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Free gift wrapping available!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year! Just 60 if you take three!
Kaspersky anyone? Only 40 bucks a year!
.
.
.
Your virtual machine may mount your Mac volume as a windows share. I admit, that's like drinking gasoline just to see what happens.
Indeed it sounds like a pretty dumb thing to do. Isn't there a safer way of moving files between the two? Never used a VM, so I'm clueless...
pianojoe
macrumors 6502
This is how I do it: I use a dedicated folder on the windows drive image as an "airlock". The Mac may write to this folder. Windows may not access my Mac partition, let alone write to it.
Thanks, that makes sense. I will keep it in mind should I ever need to run a VM with Windows (I hope it will never happen). 😀
DoFoT9
macrumors P6
sounds like a good method to do it. generally i dont use my windows partitions for internet usage and whatnot and i only share files from windows to mac (i.e. the mac can see windows files but the windows VM cant see mac files). parallels ftw 😀
TattooedMac
macrumors newbie
Time Machine backs up hourly by default. You can reset that interval to whatever you want (just not from the Time Machine GUI). I used Time Machine Editor to set it to every 12 hours.
The point is that the Trojan got backed up, and that is what worries me. So, even if you delete the .exe file from your Mac, you may already have it in your Time Machine backup. If you ever use your Time Machine backup to do a full system restore, you will get these Trojans back on your Mac.
This experience last night has made me more careful - I no longer believe that not running any type of protection is a good idea. YMMV.
MacDawg
Moderator emeritus
The only real issue with .exe files and Windows trojans/viruses being downloaded on your Mac is the possibility of passing them along to your friends using Windows, either by sharing files or through email.
If you are really concerned about that possibility, you can always run something like ClamXav. It is free and you don't have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription price for you, or for your multiple computers. If it makes you sleep better at night, run iAntivirus. It is free too.
The best antivirus on the Mac is common sense and general safe computing habits.
If you are really concerned about that possibility, you can always run something like ClamXav. It is free and you don't have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription price for you, or for your multiple computers. If it makes you sleep better at night, run iAntivirus. It is free too.
The best antivirus on the Mac is common sense and general safe computing habits.
I do not work for Kasperski - you guys are just a paranoid bunch. The reason I quoted the price is to let others know that this option was available. Before last night I did not know that Kasperski had a Mac anti-virus. I only knew that Norton had released their anti-virus for Mac. I thought Kasperski pricing was reasonable, especially when you have several Macs in the house and you don't want to pay full price for each license. I have not looked into Norton anti-virus for Mac because when I used to have PCs at home, I ran Norton for many years and watched each new version getting more and more bloated. So, there was no way I would use Norton on my Mac.
Before last night, I was happy that I did not have to run any type of anti-virus or malware protection. If my first post sounded like a commercial ad, please forgive me, it was almost midnight when I was writing it, and I thought I would post my experience because what had happened was a shock to me and also to my wife. She has asked me several times since then what she should do differently so that she does not get any virus or Trojan on her Macbook Pro. The only thing that I can say at this point is, "Let's keep Kasperski on for 30 days and see if we notice any performance hit." One thing I really enjoyed about owning Macs was that I had not touched my wife's laptop for months. I did not have to constantly fix something like had to do with her Windows laptop. However, if it is so easy to pick up a virus or Trojan (even if they do not harm the Mac itself), I think we are going to change our behavior patterns and run some sort of protection.
I will go ahead an edit my original post and remove references to the price. I will also refrain from ever posting here again - this is not a very friendly environment unless you are into masochism.
Anti-virus is not needed on your Mac, use spotlight to find the .exe and delete. If scared of threats and don't use common sense get Clam so you sleep better at night.
If you don't understand the Mac environment, don't post threads that spread misinformation. It does no good for recent switchers and throwing out how long you've been in IT means about zippy. I know people that are in IT for years with certifications for Windows but have absolutley no idea of a unix environment and sometimes even basic computer knowledge. An example is an IT my company uses swore up and down Windows does not run on Macs and was perplexed that you could dual boot a Mac. So who asks me about Mac related issues, they do. Same company swore our proxy server was causing our issues with the Internet and yet even though I have no formal certs I determined it was the ISP.
I'm not doubting you have an issue, but an exe will not cause your issue. Is it possible you were downloading other items at the same time or installed some sort of plug-in to view the video you wanted to see? Just from reading this thread it appears something might be missing. People here are very helpful but there is no need to get defensive when people state facts.
If you don't understand the Mac environment, don't post threads that spread misinformation. It does no good for recent switchers and throwing out how long you've been in IT means about zippy. I know people that are in IT for years with certifications for Windows but have absolutley no idea of a unix environment and sometimes even basic computer knowledge. An example is an IT my company uses swore up and down Windows does not run on Macs and was perplexed that you could dual boot a Mac. So who asks me about Mac related issues, they do. Same company swore our proxy server was causing our issues with the Internet and yet even though I have no formal certs I determined it was the ISP.
I'm not doubting you have an issue, but an exe will not cause your issue. Is it possible you were downloading other items at the same time or installed some sort of plug-in to view the video you wanted to see? Just from reading this thread it appears something might be missing. People here are very helpful but there is no need to get defensive when people state facts.
JNB
macrumors 604
"Codecs" are a notorious means to deliver a trojan, and the Zlob trojan has been around for over two years in the Mac world in the aforementioned OSX.RSPlug.A.
You had to authorize the installation of that, unless you've managed to find a way to disable the OS's default protections against installing any of this malware (or anything you attempt to install and run, even from Apple). In any case, that's likely the source of your Mac woes to the extent of whacking your DNS, not the exe.
As far as the windows executable, of course TM copied that over, no surprise there. Search across all relevant backup periods of the TM volume and delete.
VMWare has to specifically be directed to share volumes or directories between guest and host OS's. Normally the Desktop is common between the two, or you may choose to set up a dedicated share directory between them, but there's no inherent or automatic exposure between the two.
You had to authorize the installation of that, unless you've managed to find a way to disable the OS's default protections against installing any of this malware (or anything you attempt to install and run, even from Apple). In any case, that's likely the source of your Mac woes to the extent of whacking your DNS, not the exe.
As far as the windows executable, of course TM copied that over, no surprise there. Search across all relevant backup periods of the TM volume and delete.
VMWare has to specifically be directed to share volumes or directories between guest and host OS's. Normally the Desktop is common between the two, or you may choose to set up a dedicated share directory between them, but there's no inherent or automatic exposure between the two.
I am surprised this hasn't been asked yet.. can you provide the link where you think you downloaded this trojan? That way we can all take a look at it and finally identify it and come to a conclusion rather than using just someone's words against another's.
JNB
macrumors 604
I would agree with JNB it sounds like some sort of codec you got asked to install in order to view the video, but you would have been asked to supply your credentials to install. If you did get asked to authorize you were authorizing the codec(plug-in), not the .exe.
Is this the possible scenario that was not provided in the original posting and subsequent postings?
Is this the possible scenario that was not provided in the original posting and subsequent postings?
I would like to ask the moderators to delete this entire thread and remove my macrumors account - I have no use for it anymore. I am no longer interested in continuing this "discussion". Obviously, my initial post was perceived by most everyone as a commercial ad and not something I thought would be beneficial for others to know. I am not going to argue with everyone on this forum and I am not going to continue to read this thread. I am also not going to subject myself to statements like "you don't know what you are talking about," or "you don't know anything about the Mac environment," or some other nonsense. I have no way of proving to anyone that I actually know what I am talking about, that I am a highly-skilled engineer (not a Help Desk tech with 35 years of experience), and so forth. Someone already branded me as a Windows guy with a bunch of certs who knows nothing about Mac OS. Well, I am not a Windows guy - I am a Cisco guy, and I do have a bunch of certs - the ones that most of you would never be able to get due to the complexity of the subject matter. Somehow certain people assumed that I was convinced that Mac OS ran .exe files; I have never made this statement and neither did I imply anything of the sort. It is not my fault that a bunch of you have jumped to wrong conclusions. I do know both Linux and Unix contrary to the assumptions that some of you have made.
This discussion is a total waste of time for everyone (including myself). So, for the benefits of everyone, dear moderators, please remove this thread so that those who have not yet read it never see it, and so that everyone who has read it goes back to their happy ways. If this thread continues to be open for posts, I will not be returning to read it. Today is Sunday, and tomorrow, I have a life. If you continue to post here, please go easy on me because I will no longer be able to defend myself due to my unwillingness to continue this nonsensical discussion.
Ciao!
This discussion is a total waste of time for everyone (including myself). So, for the benefits of everyone, dear moderators, please remove this thread so that those who have not yet read it never see it, and so that everyone who has read it goes back to their happy ways. If this thread continues to be open for posts, I will not be returning to read it. Today is Sunday, and tomorrow, I have a life. If you continue to post here, please go easy on me because I will no longer be able to defend myself due to my unwillingness to continue this nonsensical discussion.
Ciao!
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