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Has anyone here ever had a mac Virus??
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Besides the odd virus attached to a Microsoft Office file that only effects windows, has anyone ever had a virus (please not your experience from 15 years ago) that was a danger to their mac, if so what was it?
Coz all these virus questions and products, what is that about?? Are there even viruses (Virii) for Mac OSX? Is it all a rip off??
macmend
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macmend.com - the home of mac troubleshooting
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: London, England
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Closest thing I had was an applescript disguised at a .sit which deleted all my control strip modules. :o
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LC 16Mhz • LC 475 25Mhz • Centris 650 25Mhz • Performa 6200/75Mhz • G3 266Mhz • Snow iMac DVSE 500Mhz
G4 QS 733Mhz • 17" Powerbook 1.33Ghz • 15" MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.16Ghz • Mac Pro 8-Core 3.0 Ghz
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
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Nvir.b there's about 6 or 7 years ago, and it got back to me while filesharing with someone..
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: France
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I had the " 666" extension some years ago, but it never caused damage (I deleted it and replaced it by a folder with the same name so that it couln't come back... no anti-virus needed)
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-noliv
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Right Here.
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My cousin had the 666 virus on his iBook, even when we wiped the drive it came back! had to do a low level format eventually..
he got it from an infected game file that he pirated... just goes to show you
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Senior User
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
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I too had the 666 about 3 years ago, but it's a really stupid virus. Easy to get rid of. Otherwise nothing.
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Admin Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: New Yawk
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I got Sevendust around four years ago (aka 666), and it was a pain to kill off, but it never ended up doing anything. Other than MS Office macros, which Office itself detects, I've been clean. And nothing at all since I moved to OS X around two years ago.
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"Do not be too positive about things. You may be in error." (C. F. Lawlor, The Mixicologist)
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Trafalmadore
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I had the NVIR virus back in the 80s. It filled up my hard drive, which at the time was a whopping 20mb. I do not use anti virus software on any of the Macs I own or administer in our company. I have never seen a Mac virus here at work.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Santa Fe
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I saw one disguised as a JPEG on a college Appleshare network. I've never actually contracted one, though....
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: London, UK
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Also had 666 (aka Sevendust) three or four years ago. Another couple I have suffered from were Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer but they are gone now.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: somewhere in ohio
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I had the AutoStart worm that I contracted off the MacAddict CD in 1998. That was fun and odd at the same time!
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: The Sar Chasm
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No.
I've been emailed plenty of attachments from some of the attach/remail Microsoft things, but none infectd a machine, and I just deleted the attachments.
CV
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When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. -- Jonathan Swift.
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Birmingham
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i had a virus a few weeks ago, forgotton the name now, but its the one that pretends to be part of the printing system. only found it because i was bored and decided to try out download and try out virex.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: missing
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Not a single virus in five years when using my iMac and PBti and taking care of 1 PM G3, 1 PM G4, and two other iMacs at my job.
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, MN, USA
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My college is now requiring us to install anti-virus software (Norton Anti-Virus, specifically) to register for an IP when the school year starts. For PC users, they actually need to put in the verification code NAV gives them before they can register. We don't have to do that on the Mac side. I don't think it makes it any more optional though.
I don't understand why they would require NAV on our Macs. The most common virus was from years ago and didn't even hurt anything.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2001
Location: NYC
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I've had a few niggling ones, back in the day; nothing ever very serious. Can't even remember their names by now.
One of the nice perks of being a minority.
I do understand requiring a network of Macs to have virus protection, though. If Apple is able to gain even a smidgen of marketshare, the virus situation for Macs will definitely change, and fast.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
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Originally posted by lookmark:
I've had a few niggling ones, back in the day; nothing ever very serious. Can't even remember their names by now.
One of the nice perks of being a minority.
I do understand requiring a network of Macs to have virus protection, though. If Apple is able to gain even a smidgen of marketshare, the virus situation for Macs will definitely change, and fast.
Do you really think moronic VBScript kiddies will be able to learn AppleScript? We don't have MSDN you know.. when they'll put MSDN.apple.com in their Address bar in Explorer.. it won't work..
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC USA
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Originally posted by Xeo:
I don't understand why they would require NAV on our Macs.
Several reasons:
1) Preventive maintenance. IF a Mac virus were to come out, you wouldn't be caught with your pants down. It would be a lot easier to tell everyone to update their virus defs file and run NAV than install it on all those machines, disinfect them and simultaneously try to prevent the virus from spreading to all the machines on the network.
2) Macs are carriers. Even though Macs aren't affected by all the PC virii out there, they can oftentimes act as carriers, helping to spread the virus throughout the network if they aren't scanned with NAV to remove the offensive files.
Believe me, once it hits the peecees it's over if they're not properly protected. I experienced this with the Nimda virus. Not pleasant at all for my PC users.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Riverside IL, USA
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I had a Word macro virus (or as MS called it, the "prank macro," because of course Microsoft products are not affected by anything as serious as a "virus") on my Quadra way back in the days of Office 6. Nothing since then. My g/f's cousin just lost 2 days and a lot of data to Klez. He told me later that he noticed while searching for antivirus software that "There really aren't any viruses that affect Macs, are there?". I resisted the urge to gloat and simply shook my head.
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Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.
-- Frederick Douglass, 1857
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
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just the occasional macro viruses. I turn off macros anyway, so they're dead in the water before they have a chance.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 1999
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Got Nvir.a about 6 years ago, but that was on a friends Mac Plus. A bitch to clean off. I have not had a real Mac virus on any Mac I ever owned.
But, there was the AutoStart worm that got onto a couple commercial CDs about 3 years ago. Solution was to turn off the CD Autostart in the Quicktime control panel. That's about the last one I remember that wasn't a Word Macro virus.
dan
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Senior User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Cary, NC
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Not a virus in many many years (not since early 90s)...
dumb question perhaps, but can we really even get them anymore? I ask b/c as an engineer I've been using unix for *censored* # of years... I've _never_ seen a unix virus in all that time.
Certainly I understand that we would be vulnerable to the various security holes that get discovered... but what sort of "traditional" virii can hit a Mac nowadays?
(or is it just the small market-share makes the Mac too un-newsworthy to invest the virus-making effort?)
Cheers,
Mike
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
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Originally posted by Zim:
Not a virus in many many years (not since early 90s)...
dumb question perhaps, but can we really even get them anymore? I ask b/c as an engineer I've been using unix for *censored* # of years... I've _never_ seen a unix virus in all that time.
Certainly I understand that we would be vulnerable to the various security holes that get discovered... but what sort of "traditional" virii can hit a Mac nowadays?
(or is it just the small market-share makes the Mac too un-newsworthy to invest the virus-making effort?)
Cheers,
Mike
There as been 2 or 3 Linux worms, and 1 Apache worm..
As for MacOS X, unless it's run as root, the /System part is safe, if run as an admin user, /Applications and /Library can be doomed, and a normal user only infects it's home directory.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Springfield, MA
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Originally posted by Xeo:
My college is now requiring us to install anti-virus software (Norton Anti-Virus, specifically) to register for an IP when the school year starts. For PC users, they actually need to put in the verification code NAV gives them before they can register. We don't have to do that on the Mac side. I don't think it makes it any more optional though....
Stupid win-centric policies! What about people who want to put a Linux or BSD box on the network? There aren't any anti-virus programs for those systems (AFAIK). Will the admins not allow them just because Win is inherently insecure?
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We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
-- Radiohead, Exit Music (for a film)
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Springfield, MA
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Originally posted by Drizzt:
There as been 2 or 3 Linux worms, and 1 Apache worm....
That's true, there were those, but they never really took off, did they? I don't remember hearing any reports about serious damages. I'm pretty sure their wasn't a critical mass of vulnerable boxen for anything like the MS worms to occur. Of course it could happen if you have servers runnning.
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We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
-- Radiohead, Exit Music (for a film)
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
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Originally posted by Mactoid:
That's true, there were those, but they never really took off, did they? I don't remember hearing any reports about serious damages. I'm pretty sure their wasn't a critical mass of vulnerable boxen for anything like the MS worms to occur. Of course it could happen if you have servers runnning.
The domage was minimalistic because the security patches were out before the worms..
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2002
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Wasn't 15 years ago, it was 12.
My LC2 got INT29 i think it was.
havn't got anything since. don't use virus pertection software either. had cable modem since 1996, never got nothing!
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---
Eric
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Vancouver, WA
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Been using Macs and sharing files for 13 or so years now... never a single virus.
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Senior User
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Alexandria, VA USA
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Not a virus but a nasty worm...
DELB-D
It infected and re-infected a lab I taught n at my university. It was a real pain to get rid of, but once we figured out how, it was all over for the bugger.
No other viruses since...unless you count Outlook.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: UK
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A friend in uni lost her final year project to the Autostart worm, but I've had nothing myself. Anyone have an OS 8/9 extension called NVWLS? When you installed it it disabled the vowel keys on your keyboard (NVWLS, geddit?), one for the practical joker.
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It'll be much easier if you just comply.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
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i had 666. when sending files to a friend with anti-virus he discovered it in a file and told me about it. used NAV to get rid of it.
the virus only did something if you turned on your machine at a certain time or something. idiot virus and idiot programmer--i can't believe people waste their time trying to mess up other people's files
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 2000
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In 1993 I got nVIR B on my first Mac, an LCII. After a while I figured out that it was on a floppy disk that my cousin gave me with some games. I don't think he purchased them either. Back then I didn't even know what piracy meant.
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Retired
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I got a cold once, does that count?
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Power Macintosh Dual G4
SGI Indigo2 6.5.21f
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
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I nearly got a virus in Win2K on VPC on OS X...does that count? =D
Seriously, though...if my Mac's drives are set up as shared folders inside of VPC, could a virus on the Win2K install destroy my files?
<gulp>
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Dundee, Scotland
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I was plagued by them back in 1992/93. Our university Computing Science was all mac and everyone was trying new stuff out.
Don't be complacent. The lack of Mac viruses is sadly as much to do with the low poularity of macs as anything else. It was hard to program compared to the easy-to-program world of dos and windows. Yet back then we had a number of viruses.
Don't forget also that worms and viuses pretty much started out on Unix, too.
Now we have a Mac that is Unix, is easy to program and is getting more and more poular by the day.
** You have been warned! ***
(exeunt to dramatic chord, stage left)
...
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada
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Originally posted by spacedog:
I nearly got a virus in Win2K on VPC on OS X...does that count? =D
Seriously, though...if my Mac's drives are set up as shared folders inside of VPC, could a virus on the Win2K install destroy my files?
<gulp>
If it deletes randomly over network, yes (but I haven't seen that yet), otherwise, no
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jun 2002
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i remember the autostart virus quite well. it was really funny because i actually could SEE my computer getting infected. suddenly there was a file visible on my hard disk which became invisible just a second later. and the name contained something with "start" or the like which was a ver obvious hint.
i ran a virus-scan and voila - problem solved.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 1999
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I've been using Macs exclusively since 1985 in both a home and corporate environments; 6 Macs are doing various tasks at my house right now. I have been using the internet extensively since the early nineties. I have never used a virus checker on my Macs. I have downloaded GBs of applications from links on MacNN, MacFixIt, MacInTouch, Version Tracker etc. and... I have never had a single instance of a virus on my Macs BUT... I have been affected by viruses on PCs which plague corporate M$ Email servers and generally bog down the mail servers all over the internet with extra traffic.
FWIW I do not allow any M$ Office document to execute a macro I didn't write. It doesn't matter if it came from the CEO or not; the macros are turned off or the whole document gets deleted. One exception to this rule is when I purposely open M$ office documents (known to contain viruses) so that I can verify the macro contents and protect our IT folks' vulnerable PCs form infection.
I really believe the days of Mac virus 'immunity' are numbered since the release of OS X. Sure, OS X is much more secure and has a lot of built in protections at its unix core but... OS X is the first implementation of Unix to be used by large numbers of 'average computer users' and on which M$Office runs natively. This two simple facts make OS X more vulnerable to M$ macro viruses and trojan horse applications than any other flavor of unix.
One of the main reasons that early attempts at Mac M$ macro viruses failed is that almost no Mac user left their system partition named 'Macintosh Hard Disk' (or whatever the default name was), most of us changed the name of our System Folder, and we put Applications anywhere we felt like. Most really nasty M$ macro viruses depend on knowing that every PC's hard drive in named C:, that applications, etc. are kept in very specific directories and/or key system components are usually hidden from the users view. Sounds a little like OS X.
asxless in iLand
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Dundee, Scotland
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Originally posted by asxless:
[B]I have never used a virus checker on my Macs. I have never had a single instance of a virus on my Macs
How do you know if you've never used a virus checker?
More seriously though. Most mac viruses were about disk sharing. If yhou shared a mac with 400 other students your disks would get infected. If you had a few Macs in an office and disks were rarely inserted from an outside source then you would never see a Mac virus.
That was then. Now is different. Every day you are sent tens (if not hundreds) of emails. You download software installers and you assume they are kosher..
how do you know?
Macs have always been an easy target for a Virus. There is nothing fundamentaly different about a Mac that makes Virus writing impossible. More likely is that if you are a virus writer you want/aim to hit as many machines as possible. Macs are just a little insignificant if world domination is your aim.
But watch out... Unix isn't immune. Macs aren't immune. If OSX becomes popular then virus writers will start to notice the wonderful free development tools and splendid documentation that comes with a modern Mac.
Swings and roundabouts I guess..
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Tasmania, Australia
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Originally posted by Mactoid:
Stupid win-centric policies! What about people who want to put a Linux or BSD box on the network? There aren't any anti-virus programs for those systems
Yes there are. Eg, McAffee VirusScan for Unix, Sophos AntiVirus, to name a couple.
Of course, they are usually looking for Windows viruses more than unix viruses, for cases where the unix server is being used as a file server for windows clients.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Sep 1999
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Originally posted by sambeau:
How do you know if you've never used a virus checker?
I should have said I have never been infected and damaged by a Mac virus
Macs have always been an easy target for a Virus. There is nothing fundamentaly different about a Mac that makes Virus writing impossible. More likely is that if you are a virus writer you want/aim to hit as many machines as possible. Macs are just a little insignificant if world domination is your aim.
I agree but Macs have benefited from this 'security by obsurity' coupled with the increased difficulty of writing viruses that can't depend on C: being the name of your system partition, etc.
But watch out... Unix isn't immune. Macs aren't immune. If OSX becomes popular then virus writers will start to notice the wonderful free development tools and splendid documentation that comes with a modern Mac.
That was my point. The game has changed. What was past, is past. The future is a lot more risky. A Mac running OS X unprotected on a cable modem is a hackers dream target. The underlying core can do full spoofing of IP# and MAC addresses This lets a hacker deliver a Mac OS X trojan App that cranks up a unix deamon that turns the Mac into a zombie stealth machine for DOS attacks.
be careful out there - asxless in iLand
(
Last edited by asxless; Aug 20, 2002 at 11:16 PM.
)
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Madison, WI
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Hmm, how did the auto-start worm work / what did it do?
I have always wondered, I prolly had it inatvertantly once I forgot about it, and then went through my MacAddict Disks, or something (MB not if it was really nasty eh?
-Owl
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2002
Status:
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I believe that I had one about seven years ago, but I can't remember what it was now, or if it caused any damage. Since then, nothing.
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[vash:~] banana% killall killall
Terminated
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: On my couch
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Actually, this forum kind of begs the question.
Are their any 'good' virus checking/blocking programs out there for OS X? I mean not just M$ Outlook virii but actual OS X programs?
I've 'switched' only a short while ago and was, of course, wondering. Old PC habits die hard....
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2000
Status:
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Sevendust (666), easy to kill, but a very very clever little virus.
With OSX this may change, but anyone running OS9 - you do NOT need virus protection.
I've not seen a live strain of nvir floating around for years.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Australia
Status:
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I once had that stupid virus that makes all the vowels on your keyboard stop working.
I got of a cd I got (and still have) but they were using the virus as a joke app. and it had a fix program with it so no harm done.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: London, UK
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Does the original iTunes for X installer count? Probably the most damaging "virus" the Mac has had in a long, long while
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Banned
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Fightclub
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Never.
Although I made a "virus" once. It was a little RealBASIC app that posed as an extension called "Apple Modem OT Prefs" or something like that.
It would silently turn Balloon Help on every five minutes.
Drove my friend wild...
hahaha
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: London, UK
Status:
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yes - it was called UMAX scanner
s
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Occasionally Useful
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Liverpool, UK
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Originally posted by gorgonzola:
I got Sevendust around four years ago (aka 666), and it was a pain to kill off, but it never ended up doing anything. Other than MS Office macros, which Office itself detects, I've been clean. And nothing at all since I moved to OS X around two years ago.
likewise, same period of time. i got Sevendust when i networked my iMac to artley's iMac. funny that. Artley's Law: if it's not broken, break it.
other than that, i've been clean too
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