The most known Mac OS X virus is called the Leap-A virus. It transmits itself by a Trojan horse, whose filename is "latestpics.tga". When opened, it executes some code, and copies some files onto your hard drive. It then tried to send latestpics.tga to everyone on your iChat buddy list. You will not be notified when this is happening, but if your buddies open the file, they too will be infected by the virus.
You can find more about the virus here:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/16/leapafaq/index.php
John A
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Hello,
A Mac is a computer, and even under OS X, a very cool and awesome OS, it is possible to get a virus. Not likely, but possible.
If you are running on Mac OS X as a local administrator, you have a better chance of deeply infecting your machine than if you are a normal user.
Also, the standard rules of needing to backup to avoid loosing materials during a hardware failure also apply.
If you are interested in scanning your computer (I scan mine once a week), check out ClamAV.
Christian
kc0arf
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Hey, lets try to stay on topic, and not bash Windows or Macs, lets try to help the guy who needs it :).
This is your second post going off topic, just to rant about Macs...
tayspen
<Insert title here>
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you're all just mac lovers. ...
Is that suprising? What did you expect on a Mac forum? If you're a PC fan, say so on a forum about PCs.
Sheesh.
John A
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well excuse me mr jeoprogrammer, if macs are so perfect then why doesn't vmware make their software available to macs? i know what you're gonna say: "well there are plenty of simulation programs for mac to go to a pc forum,bla bla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla." and macs can get viruses
As I stated before, there are viruses for Macs. http://www.symantec.com/press/1998/n980714.html
I'm not saying that Macs are better than PCs. I'm not trying to defend Apple. I am simply saying that you are not being very helpful on this forum (do you even own a Mac??!), so keep out of this if you are not interested in other people's Mac problems.
John A
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no i do not own a mac, i'm just trying to make you guys mad.
*Sigh*...... Will someone please close this thread?
And I'm noticing that TheNSS is deleting his previous posts......
John A
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Now a days, if you have XP on your intel mac, then a virus caught on your XP os can screw up your entire computer...including OS X.
Depends. Windows XP cannot natively read/write to HFS formatted partitions, so unless you download an external program that mounts HFS partitions, you will not get caught with a virus on OS X.
Also please note that even if a Windows XP virus infects your OS X volume, the virus will not do any damage when OS X is running (even if the viruses exists on the partition), so the damage will only happen when XP is running.
John A
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This 'virus' (trojan) IMs itself to your buddies. They have to accept the file, decompress it, double click it and then enter their admin password to install it. It is not a virus.
It all depends on how you look at it. Here's Macworld's analysis:Is this a virus, a worm, malware, or a Trojan horse?
Technically, it’s a bit of everything. It’s a virus, in the sense that it attaches itself to other executable code on your Mac. It’s a worm, in that it attempts to self-replicate and spread from machine to machine. It’s a piece of malware, because it can do bad things to your computer. Basically, it’s a piece of malware that’s delivered via a Trojan horse and then acts in both viral and wormy ways.
John A
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shuld i be always logged is as a normal user?
Even when you're logged in as Administrator, you are still required to enter your password to give any program full (administrator) access. Like pty said, you have to enter your admin password for the Leap-A virus to work! So this isn't like the nasty Windows viruses.shuld i use any antivirus with firewalls and all that stuff like on my pc?
If your Mac is connected directly to the Internet (no router), then you should use Mac OS X's built-in Firewall. It's easy to configure, and will be adequate for most people. As for antovirus software, my advice is this: if you don't do anything dumb, you have nothing to be worried about. If you only use commercial software, there's no way you should use it. And when downloading freeware/shareware, make sure it's from a trusted source.what is the maintance trick for mac's, shuld i divide my hdd for 2 partitions one for system second for my stuff?
Nope, that won't do one bit of good unless you keep one partition unmounted, in which case there's no point in even having it.
In short, Macs are still very secure, so don't sweat it. I download tons of software, I don't have antivirus software, and I've never ever gotten a virus on Mac OS X.
John A
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