Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Virus?

D

dude66

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 8, 2012
3
0
Hi guys,
I am new here but I hope you can help.
After trying to download some music I was confronted with a threat From Irish Garda asking to pay some money because I visited a illegal site!! If my I did not pay they would shut down my internet provider!!
I panicked and force quit Google as could do it the proper way! Then I cleaned all my cookies and so on but my internet was still down!
After research (from other place) I reallised it was a virus! But removal were ONLY for Windows pc.!!
Anyway went home opened disk utility did a permission check and repaired. Straight away internet came back! Thank god!
But my worries is: Is it safe to use Imac? Did I do the right thing?
Please reassure me.
Regards.
Dude66:(
 
No, as in NO virus.

As for that thing you was, it was an add or popup.

Currently there are zero viruses affecting Mac OS X in public circulation, but there are other kinds of malware existing, that can infect your Mac, but that can be avoided via employing the proper security steps without the help of any anti virus software.
To learn more about malware in Mac OS X and what steps can be taken to protect yourself, read the following F.A.Q.:
 
dude66 said:
Hi guys,
I am new here but I hope you can help.
After trying to download some music I was confronted with a threat From Irish Garda asking to pay some money because I visited a illegal site!! If my I did not pay they would shut down my internet provider!!
I panicked and force quit Google as could do it the proper way! Then I cleaned all my cookies and so on but my internet was still down!
After research (from other place) I reallised it was a virus! But removal were ONLY for Windows pc.!!
Anyway went home opened disk utility did a permission check and repaired. Straight away internet came back! Thank god!
But my worries is: Is it safe to use Imac? Did I do the right thing?
Please reassure me.
Regards.
Dude66:(
Click to expand...

1. If they were asking you to pay money, then it wasn't the Irish police, but some scam artists.

2. It may have been a Windows virus, I can't judge that. A Windows virus wouldn't affect your Macintosh at all. "Permission check + repair" is to fix applications that have been installed improperly; it is very unlikely that it would have done anything good for you, and your internet would have worked without that.

3. Yes, it is safe to use your iMac.

Lot's of things that seem to be viruses are just cleverly designed websites. It's simple to design a website that tells you to pay money otherwise your internet access will be cut off. It is much harder to create a virus that stops the Internet to work on your PC, and harder yet for your Mac.

Sometimes this gives comical results, for example if your iPad claims that someone found 76 Windows viruses on it. Which quite obviously is a lie.
 
Thank you guys. But how do explain the loss of internet?
Dude66:confused:
 
dude66 said:
Thank you guys. But how do explain the loss of internet?
Dude66:confused:
Click to expand...

Is it still down? If so, how do you post here? And again, it was not a virus. A virus is just something many people think to have, when they cannot find an explanation for what is going on. Please read that Malware FAQ you have been linked to, if you want to understand malware.

And if it is still down, we need more information, to avoid guessing.

Tell us:

  • Mac OS X version
  • Browser used, including version
  • Tried other browsers, if so, which
  • Tried other user account on your Mac (System Preferences > Accounts / Users & Groups)
  • What connection you use between iMac and internet, be as precise as you can
  • What router you use to connect to the internet and how you manage it
  • Do you can share the link where it occurred
  • What else can you think of



To edit your thread title to a descriptive one, to get a knowledgable audience and help making the thread easier to find for people looking for the same information, just click on the
edit.gif
button on the bottom right of your original post and then click the
MR_Edit_GoAdvanced_button.png
button below your message.
 
Maybe the Irish Police really are after you XP..
It's not a virus, I'm confident saying that.
 
I hope it's clear to the OP and to everyone reading this thread: even on a Mac, it is NOT safe to download music or applications from dodgy sites. What the OP describes is a Trojan Horses rather than what's formally called a virus. Trojan Horses are invited in (as in: downloaded by the user). Don't do that. There's really very little Apple or anyone else can do to protect users from themselves.

Certainly, do not under any circumstance pay the requested ransom.

The system may still be infected. Try downloading ClamXAV from the Mac App Store and let it do a thorough scan. It's free and reasonably effective. (Note: It will alert if it detects Windows malware in your email archives... these are of no concern to your Mac. For now, focus on what it finds that is dangerous to your Mac.)

Once your system is verified clean, go forth and sin no more.
 
sjinsjca said:
I hope it's clear to the OP and to everyone reading this thread: even on a Mac, it is NOT safe to download music or applications from dodgy sites. What the OP describes is a Trojan Horses rather than what's formally called a virus.
Click to expand...
That's not completely true. It is quite safe to download music or movies. It is not safe to download pirated applications. There are no OS X Trojans in the wild that can be contracted by downloading music or movies.

Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.
 
sjinsjca said:
Not if they are bundled in an "installer".
Click to expand...

Then common sense should be giving up warnings, as to why it should be necessary to run a program to get music or movies, even pirated ones, but then again, common sense is rare, and as long as there is AV software to take away simple thought processes, it will stay that way in that regard.

I have visited my fair share of those dodgy sites (warez, porn, torrents) and in all my endeavours, I have never contracted any virus or other malware, but then again, I probably learnt my hard lesson when using Windows 98 and installing something malicious without giving a second thought.

Maybe everyone should go through it once or twice or thrice to learn something, as in life you are given that test and learn the lesson afterwards, unlike school, and hopefully some know the garbled rest.

And why does OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion correct complicated misspellings but cannot correct simple ones? Is that a virus?
 
sjinsjca said:
Not if they are bundled in an "installer".
Click to expand...

Anyone who downloads a movie or music containing any kind of installer generally deserves what they get. Also if you play in the mud without knowing what you're doing you're going to get dirty.
 
I haven't heard of a proper Mac virus since... since.. well, I don't know when. I can honestly not remember at any point there being a Mac virus alarm in the news. Malware, however, exist on any platform unfortunately.

Why your Internet is down might be due to a number of problems too hard to analyse for anyone without you providing more information about the issue. We're not mind readers.
 
sjinsjca said:
Not if they are bundled in an "installer".
Click to expand...
An installer is, by definition, an app. If the music or movie is in a music or movie file format, there is no risk of Trojans.

Sanatogen said:
I haven't heard of a proper Mac virus since... since.. well, I don't know when. I can honestly not remember at any point there being a Mac virus alarm in the news.
Click to expand...
The last Mac virus in the wild was for OS 9 and earlier. There has never been a true OS X virus in the wild, since OS X was relased over 12 years ago.
 
GGJstudios said:
An installer is, by definition, an app. If the music or movie is in a music or movie file format, there is no risk of Trojans.
Click to expand...

Ah, but I've also seen sites featuring free movies and music offering handy-dandy downloaders that (you guessed it) need to be authenticated (installed) so they can provide goodies such as increased download speed, resume-on-interrupt, etc. Sounds great, hm? And freeeeee!
 
sjinsjca said:
Ah, but I've also seen sites featuring free movies and music offering handy-dandy downloaders that (you guessed it) need to be authenticated (installed) so they can provide goodies such as increased download speed, resume-on-interrupt, etc. Sounds great, hm?
Click to expand...
Sounds like an app, not music or movies. A downloader isn't a movie or music. It's an app.
 
sjinsjca said:
Ah, but I've also seen sites featuring free movies and music offering handy-dandy downloaders that (you guessed it) need to be authenticated (installed) so they can provide goodies such as increased download speed, resume-on-interrupt, etc. Sounds great, hm? And freeeeee!
Click to expand...

Such apps prey on the ignorance of downloaders, and most of the time they are primarily made for Windows. And a torrent tourist landing on such sites, s/he made the wrong turn a while ago and should better inform her/himself how to pirate correctly.
That can probably be done by asking the neighbour's kid.
 
GGJstudios said:
Sounds like an app, not music or movies. A downloader isn't a movie or music. It's an app.
Click to expand...

Well, I agree, but see: the people these apps victimize don't really consider, "I'm installing actual executable software when I click 'yes' to this."

Instead, they clicked on the link for some movie, album, browser-bar or desktop enhancement, so they figure it's just another step in the download process.

The walled garden was designed for people like that.
 
sjinsjca said:
Well, I agree, but see: the people these apps victimize don't really consider, "I'm installing actual executable software when I click 'yes' to this."

Instead, they clicked on the link for some movie, album, browser-bar or desktop enhancement, so they figure it's just another step in the download process.
Click to expand...
There is no protection available that can shield a Mac from the negative effects of user ignorance or carelessness. I stand by my original statement: it is quite safe to download movies and music. It's another matter completely if the user doesn't know the difference between an application and a music or movie file.
 
sjinsjca said:
Well, I agree, but see: the people these apps victimize don't really consider, "I'm installing actual executable software when I click 'yes' to this."

Instead, they clicked on the link for some movie, album, browser-bar or desktop enhancement, so they figure it's just another step in the download process.

The walled garden was designed for people like that.
Click to expand...

yeah and the internet is by definition the exact opposite of the walled garden. it's 2013, anyone who doesn't understand that this is a bad idea is willfully ignorant and has no business on a computer.

my grandfather knows not to download files from sources he doesn't trust and he fought in ww2. everything ggj said is 100% true.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back