Locked, no-name exe on desktop

P

Perishingflames

Registered
I just noticed there is a locked exe on my desktop that has the filename "___" Its last modified date says to be Friday, June 20, 1969. Anyone know how it could have gotten there or if it's okay to delete?

-Aaron
 
I don't know how you got it there, but if you like to make another, type following in Terminal.app (Ctrl-D means: hold Ctrl key and D)

Code: 
$ cd ~/Desktop
$ cat > __
echo "Hello"
Ctrl-D
$ touch -t 1069062010100 __
$ chmod +x __
$ ./__
(Outputs Hello)
$ chmod -rw __

So, then you have file, that is executable, named __ and its creation date
June 20, 1969.

However, I bet the file you have is leftover of some archive file you have extracted on your Desktop and the archive is from Windows. Since Windows does not have concept of executable bit for files, the files have it set by default.
 
___.exe is the name of a known trojan. On your mac, it's harmless (unless you're sharing your desktop with a virtual Windows machine)

Not only CAN you delete, but you SHOULD delete it. If you have a problem unlocking it to delete it, try following the directions in this Apple document.

If there's a question as to why it's there, it would be safe to say that you or someone unknowingly went to a malicious website that attempted to install something nasty on your machine. Thank goodness it's a mac in this case.

Good Luck
 
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