[pcryan5]

Our security dept claims there are "increasing number of viruses that target the Mac O/S"
It makes sense - but I have not seen any discussion on this. True? False? In Theory True? thanks!

[TETENAL]

There is no known Mac OS X virus in the wild.

[DKeithA]

Yeah, sounds like your security dept. needs to hire some folks who actually know what they are talking about.

[OreoCookie]

There has never been a real OS X virus, only proofs of concept. This means, there are OS X vulnerabilities, but nobody has bothered to write a `real' virus.

Like any operating system, OS X has some vulnerabilities and weaknesses, but so far, there haven't been any viruses in the wild. Your security department is wrong. Just activate the firewall and keep your software and OS up to date.

[CharlesS]

Well, there were a couple over the years. I seem to remember one that spread via Bluetooth File Exchange and one that spread via iChat file transfer. However, the Bluetooth one has been long extinct due to an expiring certificate that it used, and I haven't heard much from the iChat one lately - I doubt it's still in the wild, so to speak. You'd have to be kind of an idiot to get the iChat one, anyway - it requires you to not only accept a random file transfer via iChat, but then to run the resulting downloaded app manually.

[analogika]

Heh.

There was one file available over peer-to-peer piracy circles that purported to be a complete MS Office install for Mac - at something like 250 KB or so - which was a script that would erase a user's home directory if double-clicked.

Do viruses count as viruses if they don't actually self-propagate and only possibly affect the terminally stupid?

[peeb]

No, a script that causes havoc when you run it is not a virus.

[analogika]

Which means there have been, to date, no viruses in the wild for OS X. Right?

[peeb]

Correct. Unless you count Office macro viruses, which can propagate on a Mac through MS Office.

[osiris]

...which is why many offices now require that Macs have anti virus software. We can act like carriers, or something like that.
I wouldn't have a problem with the software, if it didn't suck so much and have a half dozen daemons running all the time.

[peeb]

Some offices I work in require anti virus software for this reason - Macs can still transmit PC viruses, I run ClamAVX when I'm in their offices, it seems to make them happy, and doesn't noticeably mess with my machine.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by analogika 

Which means there have been, to date, no viruses in the wild for OS X. Right?

Did you read my post? There was once a virus for OS X that spread via iChat (Leap-A, aka the "Oompa-Loompa virus").

Granted, it wasn't particularly effective, and I doubt it's still circulating, but it's not accurate to say that there have not been any OS X viruses.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by analogika 

There was one file available over peer-to-peer piracy circles that purported to be a complete MS Office install for Mac - at something like 250 KB or so - which was a script that would erase a user's home directory if double-clicked.

Do viruses count as viruses if they don't actually self-propagate and only possibly affect the terminally stupid?

That's a trojan horse, not a virus. It doesn't use a weakness of the OS, but uses regular system functionality.

[larrinski]

Originally Posted by DKeithA 

Yeah, sounds like your security dept. needs to hire some folks who actually know what they are talking about.

I concur...

[analogika]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Did you read my post? There was once a virus for OS X that spread via iChat (Leap-A, aka the "Oompa-Loompa virus").

um.

While neither a virus nor the first appearance of malicious code on Mac OS X,

[...]

There are also a number of steps that require user interaction for a system to be infected: the user must first be sent the infected file (manually by email, or automated via iChat instant messaging), then the user must double-click and decompress the image, open the image, and finally provide his administrator account and password for the code to be installed.

So...no.

[EndlessMac]

Originally Posted by peeb 

Some offices I work in require anti virus software for this reason - Macs can still transmit PC viruses

As of right now that's really the main reason to have an anti-virus software for a Mac. If a person has a lot of business relations or friends with PCs then it would be a good idea to get one to prevent the spread of PC viruses. It's very important in the business world because you could loss a lot money if you give your clients viruses.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Did you read my post? There was once a virus for OS X that spread via iChat (Leap-A, aka the "Oompa-Loompa virus").

Granted, it wasn't particularly effective, and I doubt it's still circulating, but it's not accurate to say that there have not been any OS X viruses.

The reason you don't hear anything about it is because it could only propagate itself to other machines on the same LAN (as well as requiring users to manually run it). Therefore, to spread in the wild of the internet, it would have to be physically sent to or distributed to other people and for them to forward it on as well. IOW, it had no viable means of self-propagation and therefore did not spread beyond the few people who downloaded the original infected files.

As far as I am aware, if you count this one as a virus, it is still the only known one to have been distributed maliciously (as a trojan, fwiw) and to have gone on to transfer itself to other machines (though not to infect them due to required user interaction).

[ghporter]

Definitive answer: there are NO viable, destructive, autonomous instances of malware that impacts OS X in the wild at this time. Caveat: there COULD be a number of bad things that depend on the user's cooperation. The script mentioned above is a good example. The Internet is a nasty place sometimes, so you must be cautious about what you download and who you trust.

Further, your security guys need to start looking at CERT before they start talking out their ears. Some executive with a brain is going to catch them at their misinformation campaign and that will be bad for the security guys. For the information of all, CERT is THE U.S. center for reporting and managing computer security issues. Another good resource is MacVirus.org, which focuses entirely on the Mac platform. Their last biggie was the iPods that were shipped with a WINDOWS virus last year.

If they doubt you, have 'em contact ME. I'm a computer scientist with years of experience in computer security on a VERY LARGE corporate level. I DO run Norton AV on my MBP, but primarily because my school requires all computers on their network to be protected by an antivirus program. It makes me a better net neighbor too, since NAV-Mac will catch documents that contain macroviruses and such so I don't' pass them on to my Windows-using classmates.

[analogika]

Actually, I did receive an OS X virus once.

It was an e-mail that said:

"Hi, I'm a UNIX virus! Please delete some random files from your hard drive and forward me to everybody in your address book."

[badidea]

So what files did you delete and how did you get rid of it???

[kmkkid]

Originally Posted by badidea 

So what files did you delete and how did you get rid of it???

He forwarded the email then deleted it obviously

[analogika]

Uh, no - I reinstalled Windows, of course.

Duh.