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Need antivirus & malware software recommendations

P

Paul.Donahue

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 27, 2010
11
0
I just discovered that there is a virus on a USB stick that I own. I am afraid that it might also be on my harddrive and other external drives. What antivirus and malware software is recommended for the Mac?

Thanks in advance.
 
virsuses wont harm OSX currently none for Mac OSX. However there are trojans but they require a Password to work or visit a dodgy site.

But if you want to check Get ClamAV
 
Paul.Donahue said:
I just discovered that there is a virus on a USB stick that I own. I am afraid that it might also be on my harddrive and other external drives. What antivirus and malware software is recommended for the Mac?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

There aren't any Mac viruses. Trojans are possible, but only if you actually agree to install it.

You can download ClamXav to scan for viruses. They won't affect your Mac, but you could pass them on to PC's.
 
What should I do then? There was definitely a virus on the USB stick. When I brought it to a copy shop and plugged it in, the computer there instantly discovered a virus on it.

Are there any other suggestions besides downloading and scanning with ClamXav?
 
Should I run ClamXav on all my drives, as well as the USB stick? I've looked through many posts concerning this issue, but am simply left rather confused by the different points of view. Also, there was definitely a virus on the USB stick.
 
ClamXav is a decent, free av program. (Donations are encouraged if you like it)

I am constantly amazed at how may users flaunt there are no OS-X viruses and so do not even try to stop them. Bio-viruses knowingly passed on to other people constitute a criminal act and I imagine it is only a matter of time before computer viruses are treated the same. I suppose it is a choice for users but company IT departments typically require av on all computers that have access to company networks. This is common and, IMO, prudent.
:D
As for ClamXav you can set it to automatically scan removable media but I have it turned off and instead manually initiate scans on USB sticks so it doesn't try to scan my usb 1TB hard drive. You can also tell ClamXav which folders to have its Sentry keep an eye on when new files are created, such as desktop, downloads, pop mailbox folders and any special folders you've created for creating or saving files. I also have ClamXav update when I log in so it downloads virus defs on a daily basis. Don't worry, it's very light weight and you don't even know it's running. On any hardware made in this century it will run fine.

Try it and you may feel good you are not passing viruses to your Windows brethren. I have gone so far as forbid all non-protected computers on my home network. Too bad so sad!
:D
 
QuantumLo0p said:
Bio-viruses knowingly passed on to other people constitute a criminal act and I imagine it is only a matter of time before computer viruses are treated the same.
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO!

Oh!! You were serious? :D




To the OP:

Sure--scan away. ClamXav is likely as good as anything and being free/donationware is certainly the best place to start. QuantumLoop's odd legal opinion notwithstanding, it is true that it's bad form to pass viruses onto your friends even though you yourself might not be affected.

Oh...and dont try to get on his network. He'll have you arrested...
 
I just ran ClamXav on the USB stick, thinking I should do that first before running it on the Mac harddrive. However, nothing was found by the scan. I don't know how that could be unless there is something on the USB that ClamX does not recognize. Is that possible? Should I scan the USB stick with another program?
 
You're not clear on whether the virus you found on the USB stick was a Windows virus or not. Everyone else in the thread laughing off the "no viruses for OS X" are correct, but that doesn't mean you don't have a virus that will infect a PC.

In fact, that happened to me recently. I put some presentation files on a USB stick so they could load my presentation on a computer, and later on when I put the USB stick back in my computer, I found a Windows VBScript virus. Obviously it did no harm to my Mac, but I immediately warned those guys to scan their computer for viruses. Luckily I did not plug the USB stick into a PC of my own, or I might have been infected as well.

If you're on a Mac, you can just delete the file (and empty the trash). That should get rid of the virus. The resaon why you can't do that on a PC is because by the time you've plugged in the stick, the virus has already loaded itself into memory so after you delete it, it'll just save itself onto the stick again.

OS X virus scanners can still be useful if they detect Windows viruses so you don't accidentally infect someone else's PC.
 
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