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    How to contract a virus/spyware/malware

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by wobble987, Mar 22, 2009.

  1. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    In mac, when you say download a virus, must it be open/run before it can excute itself? does it also require the user's password before it can continue?

    if you did not open/run it, then the virus will not excute and lay dormant inside itself or its package (trojan). is this correct?
     
    wobble987, Mar 22, 2009
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  2. Mr Z

    Mr Z Newbie

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    Do you mean a windows virus on your mac because thay just sit there. If you also run windows on your mac you should have an antivirus program in windows.
     
    Mr Z, Mar 22, 2009
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  3. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    thanks for the reply Z, no i meant mac virus/trojan in mac os x.
     
    wobble987, Mar 22, 2009
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  4. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

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    I'm pretty sure that it just lays dormant there, waiting for you to open/run the applications etc. Like in the iWork 09 trojan, you had to enter your password, and really in a sense "give it permission" to run on your system by doing that. Otherwise it will just be another file on your HDD. ;)
     
    Colton, Mar 22, 2009
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  5. Thom A$$

    Thom A$$ Notebook Consultant

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    Do you guys think it's useful to get an antivirus then?
     
    Thom A$$, Mar 22, 2009
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  6. Modly

    Modly Warranty Voider

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    Not for a while. Otherwise you are wasting your money.

    Frankly, I wouldn't be suprised if the only anti-virus company for Mac OS X were the ones that made that trojan. They were the first people to report it...
     
    Modly, Mar 22, 2009
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  7. fins4o8

    fins4o8 Notebook Consultant

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    I have NAV (Norton Anti-Virus) on my Mac and it does it's job esp for a heavy downloader like me. I like the fact it scans everything I open (IMG, rar & zip files). I have yet to find a virus but it's better to be safe than sorry. There are free Mac AV's out there though.

    If you plan to use BC with your mac then consider getting an AV for windows.
     
    fins4o8, Mar 22, 2009
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  8. Thom A$$

    Thom A$$ Notebook Consultant

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    okay okay... That's what I thought.
     
    Thom A$$, Mar 22, 2009
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  9. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

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    You should be good without an AV, but you can't be too careful. There are people out there trying to make a virus for Mac OS X, so they can be the first to say they made the first "Virus". ;) I use ClamXAv on major downloads, just to be safe. :) http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/clamxav.html
     
    Colton, Mar 22, 2009
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  10. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    thanks colton

    do third party anti-virus or firewall for os x slow down the system a lot like they do on windows?

    do all of the viruses require password to continue or is it just the iwork trojan?
     
    wobble987, Mar 22, 2009
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  11. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

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    No problem! :) ClamXav is just like a regular program, and doesn't run in the background, therefore it doesn't bog down the system. What I do is download what I intended to download, then I open ClamXav and select the downloads to be scanned by the AV. It will run through all of it's contents, thoroughly checking everything. It will then tell you if it contains a trojan or something that could harm your computer. It's a simple process, and has caught stuff that Norton hasn't caught on my brothers machine, with the same download. All the Trojans that I'm aware of have to be activated by password. :)
     
    Colton, Mar 22, 2009
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  12. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    beware if you are running VMware or Parallels with the integration turned on, so that Windows uses your OSX home folder.. desktop, pictures etc.. folders... if you get a virus in Windows, it can mess up your date in these folders on the OSX side as well...
     
    doh123, Mar 23, 2009
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