Viruses and exe's

[marty1990]

I know I'll probably get told you can't get viruses on OS X, but asking anyway for peace of mind.

Friend uploaded a file for me, a PSD for a job we have on. He used a host I'd never head of, 'king' something. I entered the captcha etc and clicked download. An exe downloads, and apparently I downloaded a download manager to be specifically used with the hosting site. I cancelled my other downloads and deleted the exe. Running a scan with ClamXav now. Any chance my Mac could get a virus or not?

 

[blesio]

Mac can't get a virus from an exe which is a Windows executable. But I'm sure there are Mac specific viruses out there.

 

[Nermal]

You're fine; the exe can't run in OS X so it's not possible for it to infect your system.

 

[Weaselboy]

Nah... you are fine. An .exe file would not run on your machine to install the virus even if it was one.

At this point there don't seem to be any viruses out there in the wild for OS X, but there is a fair amount of malware. But just downloading a file like that would not give you malware.

 

[GGJstudios]

I know I'll probably get told you can't get viruses on OS X, but asking anyway for peace of mind.

Friend uploaded a file for me, a PSD for a job we have on. He used a host I'd never head of, 'king' something. I entered the captcha etc and clicked download. An exe downloads, and apparently I downloaded a download manager to be specifically used with the hosting site. I cancelled my other downloads and deleted the exe. Running a scan with ClamXav now. Any chance my Mac could get a virus or not?

.exe files can't run in native OS X. 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 over 12 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). 3rd party antivirus apps are not necessary to keep a Mac malware-free, as long as a user practices safe computing, as described in the following link.

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Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

When the MR Guides are back online, read the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ. Until the MR Guides are available, you can read most of the same info in the Mac Virus/Malware Info post, on which the FAQ is based.