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Viruses

My Mac OS X may have recently been infected with a virus. Can somebody recommend software that can both find and destroy an existing virus, as well as protect against future viruses? Something for a reasonable price would be nice.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Virus prevention and destruction

Posted on Mar 1, 2013 8:42 AM

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Posted on Mar 1, 2013 8:49 AM

Use ClamXav or Sophos; any Mac OS X antivirus product which actually costs money should be avoided.


(77922)

24 replies

Mar 1, 2013 9:16 AM in response to MichelPM

Last week I found that my Yahoo email address had been hacked, and an email sent out to my entire address book. This may have happened because I clicked on a link in a similar email forwarded from an associate's email address, which could have been a virus disguised as an email link.


In any case, this happened about a week ago. When I went to log onto one of my online bank accounts today, it wouldn't let me in for some reason. When I called support to see what was going on, the person thought my computer might have picked up a virus and was trying to hack into my bank account.


So that's why I think it might have a virus, and now I am wondering what to do about it.

Mar 1, 2013 9:18 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

I am not sure about anything to be honest. I have owned Mac products for thirteen years now and have never had to worry about viruses/malware until this happened.


In searching online for more information, I've been somewhat confused by what's actually happening and what sort of software product I would need to fix it.


I'm not really a "computer" person, so that makes it more challenging. 🙂

Mar 1, 2013 9:34 AM in response to John Galt

Hi John,


Please see my response to MichelPM above. Other than that, I haven't seen any other symptoms. Perhaps it's some kind of malware or spyware?


Again, I am not really educated on these matters, so it's difficult for me to separate fact from fiction.


Having checked online, it does sound like Mac users have to worry a little bit more about viruses/malware than they used to, but to what extent I am unsure.

Mar 1, 2013 9:53 AM in response to Natgeo72

This is not the result of a virus. This common problem is the result of your email address becoming harvested from any number of sources, and being used to "spoof" the "From" address field in emails being sent by spammers. It is a simple feat to accomplish.


It may have occurred as a result of having sent an email to someone's virus - infested Windows PC whose Outlook address book was used to accomplish the same.


It is also possible, though less likely, that Yahoo had its email address database hacked.


In any event the response you received from your bank's support is incorrect. Bankers should avoid giving out such useless information and stick to doing what they know best, whatever that is.

Mar 1, 2013 7:38 PM in response to Natgeo72

From the sounds of it, your Yahoo email address got hacked. That's a very common occurrence, and does not involve malware on your Mac.


Now, as for your bank account issue, that's more troubling. It could be coincidence, but I wouldn't want to make that assumption. If you use the same password for your email account and your bank account, it could have been hacked. Or the hackers could have reset your bank account password and intercepted the reset notice that was sent to your Yahoo email. Or perhaps you provided sensitive information on some bogus site that you visited after clicking a link in an email. In any case, you need to change not only the passwords for those two accounts, but ALL your accounts, anywhere. Anything linked to that Yahoo address could be compromised.


But, again, none of this is likely to involve malware. Although there is Mac malware, it's fairly rare and often highly targeted at specific groups. See my Mac Malware Guide for more information:


http://www.thesafemac.com/mmg

Viruses

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