Uh oh... how to check for a virus?

[aprofetto]

My buddy recently received an email with some weird attachments. Anyways, he says he clicked on one and it opened up a webpage where it downloaded a file.

He's scared he's gotten a virus and asked me how to check, of which I have no clue.

How would you go about checking for a virus on a Mac?

Thanks guys.

 

[k2spitfire88]

Tell him to search for and download iAntivirus. It is a free antivirus program for Macs. You rarely have to use it, but it is a good thing to have. It runs fairly quick, and works well.

 

[t0mat0]

finding out what the file actually was and it's endign might help too - quick google search could hep there to work out what it might be. antivirus sweep should do this too.

 

[MisterMe]

...

How would you go about checking for a virus on a Mac?

...

Have your friend check his OS.
Is he running MacOS X?
If he is, then is not infected.

 

[manmeet]

Simple

That's simple!
Apple is made up of AV technology so there is no need to download antivirus but he can confirm it by calling software engineer!
But of corse he can download clamXav and iantivirus and he can also contact apple support.
By the way, is there any troubleshooting in the mac?
My e-mac was also finished because of freezing and I don't know the reason till now!

 

[0007776]

if he is running OS X he doesn't have a virus. as of right now there are no virus's for OS X. The best way to check is look at the news because if there ever is one you will hear about it there.

 

[aprofetto]

Alright guys, thanks. He's bringing over his MacBook today, so I will use iAntiVirus.

 

[TheSpaz]

Tell him to look in his Downloads folder. If the file he downloaded has the .exe extension then it's a Windows file and will not run in Mac OS X anyways, so there's no possible way the file can do any harm. Just delete it and feel good.

 

[yg17]

Does he have a Mac? If the answer is yes, he doesn't have a virus.

 

[aprofetto]

iAntiVirus came back with nothing being infected.

I think he's safe.

 

[alexlovesmacs]

iAntiVirus came back with nothing being infected.

I think he's safe.

See, I knew everything would be alright.

 

[Airforcekid]

There is no virus for OSX running any protection or scans is a complete waste of time when one hits (If ever!) everyone will be in the same sinkable boat. It could be a trojan but normally you only get those via torrents and just track down the email!

 

[Kelly Craig]

As the above posters said, there is no "virus" for OS X in existence that we know about.

That said it does *not* mean that downloading and running something from the web on your mac can't totally screw you over.

In short:
In OS X you cannot just "get infected" but you can "install something stupid".

Cheers.

 

[gilkisson]

When he boots his machine, does he see this image:

If yes, then there is a good chance he is infected. If not, then probably not.

 

[Kelly Craig]

But Viruses (under windoze) are features you didn't know you had.

But if you want to get right down to it, the Microsoft Operating System "IS" a virus.