Viruses On Os X

mcshelll said:
I hope this is the right place to post this. How do I find out if I have malware on my Macbook pro?
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The only way to be 100% sure is to run a good anti-virus program that looks for all potential malware for the Macintosh. The best choice for this would be:

Intego's Virus Barrier ($70)
http://www.intego.com/virusbarrier/

There is a free demo. Maybe you can run it and it can just tell you if you are infected with any malware. (I don't know if the demo will do that.)

What I can tell you is that there are no actual viruses that can infect OS X. None. There are a few Trojan Horses, but they are extremely rare.

Generally when you have a problem with a Macintosh, you should investigate other possible reasons for the problem first. As a general rule, purchasing anti-virus software for a Macintosh is a waste of money.

mcshelll said:
I recently had a hotmail account hacked. I contacted them and they say it was from malware. I don't know how to find out if they are right.
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Three things come to mind here.

The first is that such companies love to tell you that it is all due to a virus. That makes it easy for them to do nothing for you and blow you off.

Second, it was a virus...where? On their server? If that is the case, you have no control over *their server*.

Third, if they are trying to say that you have a virus that is sending out spam to other users, this can happen...to a Windows user. Not a Macintosh user. There are no viruses, or even Trojans, that can successfully do this to you if you are running OS X. (Maybe they think that you are running Windows, or they don't know anything about the Macintosh.)

mcshelll said:
I do know my hotmail account was hacked into and spam sent to my contacts.
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It sounds like Hotmail's server was hacked, not as if you have malware on your Macintosh.

mcshelll said:
I changed my password as soon as I found out. Nothing more happened since then.
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Then it sounds like you are okay now.

mcshelll said:
Recently my laptop has acted odd in new ways. It freezes up for a bit and throws up the rainbowball fairly often and sometimes runs really slow.
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Try running all of the routine maintenance at:

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html

See if that helps.

mcshelll said:
I also have had a few odd pop ups. One happened recently right as I opened FF, before going to any web sites. So maybe they are right, how do I figure this out?
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What did the pop-up say? It may have been a legitimate dialog box.

In any case, you may want to turn on the pop-up blocker in FireFox:
FireFox menu --> Preferences --> Content tab --> Block Pop-up Windows check box

mcshelll said:
BTW I am sure someone will tell me I deserve this for being a hotmail user, but I have had the account 10 years and have kept it because I resist change lol.
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I haven't heard any complaints of any problems from Macintosh-using Hotmail users. A quick look at:
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/internetservices/topic4647.html
turns up now serious problems. If Mac users were having problems with Hotmail, the reports would be all over Macintouch.
 
As an aside, the only problems I have had with Hotmail has been on FF when using Addblock add-ons in the past--M$ really does not like you blocking their adds. No problems now. I have a problem with Safari showing weird fonts on Hotmail, but I think that is due to the fonts I am using . . . which I am trying to work out!

--J.D.
 
AFIK the only way your Mac can become infected is with the complicity of the user who must provide the password for the installation. The most common sources of malware are pornographic sites that suggest you download and install new or updated codecs or software to "better view the site" or file sharing sites offering cheap/free downloads of Apple and other software (the installers have been modified to install the malware as well as the software -- in trying to get illegal software you get more than you bargained for). The most common of these trojans is known under a variety of names but most commonly is called DNSChanger. You can download and run a free DNSChanger Remover tool that will tell you if your system was infected with this Trojan as well as removing the Trojan if it is present. For general protection I use the freeware/donationware ClamX AV which will also detect the DNSChanger Trojan.

I suspect the Hotmail response is because they are so accustomed to dealing with Windows products they gave you their automatic first response without knowing or understanding the implications of the fact you are using a Mac. The system symptoms you are reporting can have a variety of causes none of which are related to malware on your system.

You need to do some serious troubleshooting and a thorough review of your normal security precautions.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to get back here sooner, but hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary yesterday.
I am going to check out all the links posted, but I feel much better now. I should have known I would get great info here, because this site is the best!
 
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Randy Singer said:
What did the pop-up say? It may have been a legitimate dialog box.

In any case, you may want to turn on the pop-up blocker in FireFox:
FireFox menu --> Preferences --> Content tab --> Block Pop-up Windows check box
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It was an actual ad for something, but I don't recall what exactly. I do have pop up blocker enabled on FF, but sometimes it doesn't catch them all. There is one site I visit monthly that blocks them on the first page, but the second click I make always launches a pop up ad. I just close it and it has happened that way for longer than I have had this specific computer. Another site that always has at least one pop up get through, is the NY Times site you mentioned. I do go there sometimes, but have not been there since some time in July. It is happening on more site for me now though, and they seem to be random.
 
perfessor101 said:
AFIK the only way your Mac can become infected is with the complicity of the user who must provide the password for the installation. The most common sources of malware are pornographic sites that suggest you download and install new or updated codecs or software to "better view the site" or file sharing sites offering cheap/free downloads of Apple and other software (the installers have been modified to install the malware as well as the software -- in trying to get illegal software you get more than you bargained for). The most common of these trojans is known under a variety of names but most commonly is called DNSChanger. You can download and run a free DNSChanger Remover tool that will tell you if your system was infected with this Trojan as well as removing the Trojan if it is present. For general protection I use the freeware/donationware ClamX AV which will also detect the DNSChanger Trojan.

I suspect the Hotmail response is because they are so accustomed to dealing with Windows products they gave you their automatic first response without knowing or understanding the implications of the fact you are using a Mac. The system symptoms you are reporting can have a variety of causes none of which are related to malware on your system.

You need to do some serious troubleshooting and a thorough review of your normal security precautions.
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I don't go to porn sites, but I do go to quite a few coupon and freebie sites. Anyone heard of issues recently at those type sites for macs? I ran the check though any and DNSChanger was not found.
 
Doctor X said:
As an aside, the only problems I have had with Hotmail has been on FF when using Addblock add-ons in the past--M$ really does not like you blocking their adds. No problems now. I have a problem with Safari showing weird fonts on Hotmail, but I think that is due to the fonts I am using . . . which I am trying to work out!

--J.D.
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I did sign up at Facebook, using that hotmail address, a few weeks before I found my account hacked. Facebook does scan your contact list for potential friend accounts already on Facebook, when you go through the sign up process. I do know the spam sent did come from inside my hotmail (from an ip in China, not mine), so it wasn't just that my contacts were stolen and spoofs sent. I have been wondering if they are related in any way though.
 
I think they are, however, I have had "throwaway" accounts spoofed when I have gone after scammers. Unless your sent box is filled with the outgoing e-mails, it was probably spoofed.

Be that as it may, if you use FF, make your life easier with AdBlock and No Script. With a few uses you will be able to view just about anything while preventing a lot of crap like ads and pop-ups. I would also recommend Disable Autoplay which prevents having a video/song immediately play when you go to a website--nothing like having "I Wanna [CENSORED--Ed.] with My Accountant, Baby!" blare though your work stereo because some idiot decided it was a "wicked funny" joke to send you!

Safari does not so easily lend itself to modification.

I do not use Facebook, it being yet another abomination that targets children and the weak--Hey! GET OFF MY LAWN!!--but spammers/scammers regularly troll such to gather e-mail addresses. If your e-mail is public . . . there you go!

--J.D.
 
I will add that I enjoy this thread since literally every 3-6 months I run into the typical "PC versus Mac" fight where a PC user declares Macs "just as" vulnerable as Windoz or claims that a Mac was hacked/infected/self-destructed right on stage in front of Steve Jobs! The story gets better every time I read it. It kind of is nice to be reminded that, no, really, things have not changed, no, calm down, do what you have been doing.

--J.D.
 
I am a Mac user whose Hotmail account was recently hacked into as well, so it IS happening to Mac users. I didn't have a strong password, so I have changed it now to something stronger, so am hoping my problem is resolved. The Hotmail support told me the same thing....that malware is the culprit - even for us Mac users.
 
wcr1951 said:
I am a Mac user whose Hotmail account was recently hacked into as well, so it IS happening to Mac users. I didn't have a strong password, so I have changed it now to something stronger, so am hoping my problem is resolved. The Hotmail support told me the same thing....that malware is the culprit - even for us Mac users.
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Do you also have a facebook account? If not, we can rule that out. My email is not public there, but I am still suspect of it a bit.
I have to admit that my password was not strong also. It is very strong now. I have learned my lesson that!
 
Doctor X said:
I think they are, however, I have had "throwaway" accounts spoofed when I have gone after scammers. Unless your sent box is filled with the outgoing e-mails, it was probably spoofed.

Be that as it may, if you use FF, make your life easier with AdBlock and No Script. With a few uses you will be able to view just about anything while preventing a lot of crap like ads and pop-ups. I would also recommend Disable Autoplay which prevents having a video/song immediately play when you go to a website--nothing like having "I Wanna [CENSORED--Ed.] with My Accountant, Baby!" blare though your work stereo because some idiot decided it was a "wicked funny" joke to send you!

Safari does not so easily lend itself to modification.

I do not use Facebook, it being yet another abomination that targets children and the weak--Hey! GET OFF MY LAWN!!--but spammers/scammers regularly troll such to gather e-mail addresses. If your e-mail is public . . . there you go!

--J.D.
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I will check those programs out, thanks. I do hate when websites just start talking to me, grrrr. It would be great to stop that one for sure.
As for the attack being a spoof, I think the information from the headers proves they are spoofs. Hotmail said that, plus it looked like that to me when I read the headers. However, there are no copies in sent my file, so i could be wrong. I had thought you could uncheck a box and there not be a copy in the sent file, but I have not looked at that in a long time. It used to be that way.
 
I don't mean to come off sounding like a naysayer, but someone guessing a weak password should not and is not considered "hacking," nor does it matter whether or not you use Windows, Mac, Linux, UNIX, DOS, BeOS, or any other flavor of operating system in this case.

Hotmail is available to everyone, regardless of platform, so the type of computer you use has absolutely zilch to do with the "hacking" of a Hotmail account.

A weak password is usually the culprit, as many here have found, and exploiting a weak password is the simplest of "hacking" techniques, though it can hardly be called "hacking." Your Hotmail password was simply guessed by someone -- it was not "harvested" by malware installed on your Mac.

It does sound like Hotmail tech support is handing out canned answers to common problems:

"Someone hacked into my account!"

"Well, that's because more than likely you're infected with malware."

I think, more than likely, that Hotmail accounts that have been compromised have been compromised because people choose extremely poor passwords, or use the same password across multiple sites -- both extremely unintelligent things to do, like using the exact, same key for your house, car, boat, lockbox, safe, and safety deposit box. Once they have one, they've got them all because little to no precaution was taken to protect anything.

This happens quite frequently (in fact, more frequently than it should, simply because of laziness). It's akin to building a fortress, complete with a moat, motion-sensing sensors, motion-sensitive lights, laser beams, crocodiles, sharks with lasers on their heads, spike pits and banana peels strategically placed throughout said fortress, then putting a plastic Fisher-Price lock on the front door -- rendering every other security precaution moot. A weak password is the weak-link "chink" in the armor that the sword passes through without effort: all that protection for nothing.

Lessons learned:

1) Don't use a weak password. Ever. At all. At any time. For anything. Use a password that is at least 8 characters long, and includes both upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. The 8-character requirement is because even with the super-est of super computers on the planet, all put together, all working in unison, it would take more years than you will live and your children will live to go through all the possible combinations of letters, numbers and symbols. It is programmatically infeasible to guess a strong, 8-character password in any reasonable amount of time. With 7 characters, you're talking a day -- maybe hours. 6 characters takes minutes. 5 characters would take seconds. You get the drift.

2) Don't use the same password for two different ANYthings. "But I can't remember all those passwords!" Tough titty. Get over it. Get a better memory. Get a piece of paper and a pencil. Get something.

3) Your password should change, at the very minimum, twice a year, and ideally once a month. Yes, it's tough to remember all those new passwords. No, no one has sympathy for you. If that's the toughest thing you have to do to protect your sh*t online, well, I'd say that's a pretty easy life you've got going there.

4) There are no malware/viruses/trojans for Mac OS X that "harvest" Hotmail password nor spies on your keystrokes. At all. In existence. That's not the culprit, no matter what the boneheads at Hotmail tech support say.

A good password is something like, "Gg6y(0!h54".

A horrible password is "JLH_1976". That's my initials and my birth year. An equally pathetic password would be "1J9L7H6", for very obvious reasons. Choose a password that is gibberish -- has absolutely no meaning -- no significant dates -- no initials -- nothing that means anything to you at all. If you can remember the password without having typed it several hundred times, you have chosen an inferior, pathetic and lazy password.

Right now, we should all be hearing each other's feet scrambling out the door to the nearest password-protected website to change our passwords, once again.

[End rant]
 
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Doctor X said:
I will add that I enjoy this thread since literally every 3-6 months I run into the typical "PC versus Mac" fight where a PC user declares Macs "just as" vulnerable as Windoz or claims that a Mac was hacked/infected/self-destructed right on stage in front of Steve Jobs! The story gets better every time I read it. It kind of is nice to be reminded that, no, really, things have not changed, no, calm down, do what you have been doing.

--J.D.
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This made me laugh because someone from my internet provider tried to tell this exact crap recently. He even pulled out the Steve Jobs story and claimed Macs can be hacked faster on a direct attack than pc's.
 
mcshelll said:
This made me laugh because someone from my internet provider tried to tell this exact crap recently. He even pulled out the Steve Jobs story and claimed Macs can be hacked faster on a direct attack than pc's.
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If you search up there you will find a challenge on of the Gurus offered to see just how vulnerable a Mac versus a PC is. I have extended it to a number of "Mac iz jst az hakzorz az PC LOL!"ers since he posted it . . . not one of the cowards have taken him up on it.

It last happened on a thread on a non-computer forum dedicated to . . .

. . .





. . . wait for it . . .



. . .



. . . protecting your PC.

--J.D.
 
mouquiflu said:
I accept with information:
1) Virus may also come on MacOS X, even if currently there is no known virus infection on our plateform. Therefore it is not a bad idea to have antivirus SW on your Mac with uptodate definitions.
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Macintosh anti-virus software requires the software developer to have a sample of the virus they are trying to provide you protection from, to be able to program the anti-virus software to be able to recognize and protect you from a particular virus. No Mac viruses currently exist, so Macintosh anti-virus software can't protect you from those viruses. At least not yet.

OS X has been out for over 8 years now. So far, there are no Macintosh viruses (there are a few incredibly rare Trojan Horses, but not a single virus), though Windows apologists have been going around for all 8 years saying that there will be lots of them "any-day now." They may be right, but so far their track record of predicting that the Mac will have viruses has been pretty poor.

Note that OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) has anti-virus software built-in.
http://www.macworld.com/article/142457/2009/08/snowleopard_malware.html
Apple can update this software via Software Update as needed.

mouquiflu said:
2) If you use VPC you are vulnerable to Windows viruses.]
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That's not necessarily a concern. Most Macintosh users who are running Parallels, Fusion, or Bootcamp are running them because they only need access to one or two mission critical applications from Windows. If you don't use Windows on your Macintosh to access the Internet or to get e-mail (and the included Macintosh software is just fine for those tasks, in most cases) then the vector for receiving a virus is cut off, and a user has no real concern about getting a Windows virus.
 
Hi bro,
Viruses sometimes acts very rude to your system's information's and in most of the cases it damages or corrupts it by using executing any arbitrary code coded in it.

So, it is better for you to use any anti-virus software in this regard. The anti-virus software's are effective enough to prevent virus invasions and protects your valuable data's in the system. In case some of your data's are already been corrupted or lost due to viruses then in such circumstance I will prefer you to use any Data Recovery Mac software and recover the data's effectively.

All the Best!
 
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