Email Virus/Spyware/Malware

Question

Level 1

4 points

Email Virus/Spyware/Malware

Greetings,

I am rather curious as to how things work nowadays. Is it possible to get a virus/trojan/spyware/malware simply by browsing through your Mail Inbox and going through emails without clicking on any links in the email or opening up attachments? Perhaps exeuctable code secretly hidden in the email message?

I received a spam email from an online social network called Twoo which stated that I had a message waiting for me on the website. I didn't click on any links whatsoever, I just read the email. Afterwards, I deleted it and considered it as spam.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 20, 2014 1:51 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 20, 2014 1:58 PM in response to jfarrugia

It is spam just as you suspected

All you need to do is delete it

It will not impact your Mac

Allan

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Answer 2

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:00 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Hey Allan!

Thanks for the prompt reply. However, what happens if it was an email disguised to look at spam? Is it still possible nowadays that code injected in email messages can launch or download a virus/trojan/spyware?

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Answer 3

Apr 20, 2014 2:01 PM in response to jfarrugia

Not on a Mac

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Answer 4

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:03 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Do Mac users use any anti-virus protection or are there any notable anti-virus programs which folks use? I just switched from Windows and we all know how things are back there 😉

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Answer 5

Apr 20, 2014 2:09 PM in response to jfarrugia

Most Mac users very quickly discover that AV software on a Mac is more of a problem then it claims it will solve. The majority of them are only able to discover Windows virus since that is all the is available at this time. To do that they use an inordinate amount os suystem resourse while search for nothing. They usually manage to corrupt files systems while doing that. They are also know to have false positive on file important to the system. So once they are quarrentined the Mac is dead. They do all of this great stuff if you install them. I personally prefer to go without them and avoid the problems they cause.

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Answer 6

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:06 PM in response to jfarrugia

Many of us choose not to pay for software to detect something that doesn't exist.

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Answer 7

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:08 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Any recommendations I should do to prevent viruses from infecting my Mac? I heard that's impossible as there are certain security protocols in place which prevent from doing so. Spyware/Malware can be easily prevented from being installed as the user is prompted with a security dialog asking for a password when a program is about to be installed.

How about malcious code hidden on websites or emails or network viruses?

Are there security protocols in place for that?

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Answer 8

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:09 PM in response to Lanny

Lanny wrote:

Many of us choose not to pay for software to detect something that doesn't exist.

Meaning to say viruses don't exist on Macs? 😉

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Answer 9

Apr 20, 2014 2:10 PM in response to jfarrugia

Short answer no.

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Answer 10

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:11 PM in response to jfarrugia

There no active virus for the Mac. Excluding Trojans, Malware, and Phishing attacks.

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Answer 11

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:11 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Allan Eckert wrote:

Short answer no.

No being that there aren't any security protocols in place or viruses don't exist?

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Answer 12

Apr 20, 2014 2:11 PM in response to jfarrugia

There is malware but not virus.

The AV software is extremely poor at detecting malware, such as trojans and phishing attacks.

Allan

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Answer 13

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:13 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Allan Eckert wrote:

There is malware but not virus.

The AV software is extremely poor at detecting malware, such as trojans and phishing attacks.

Allan

Thanks for clearing that up. How about keyloggers which are somehow secretly installed on Macs?

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Answer 14

Apr 20, 2014 2:15 PM in response to jfarrugia

If no one has physical access to your computer for a long enough time period to install them, you don't have them either.

Allan

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Answer 15

jfarrugia Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 20, 2014 2:27 PM in response to Allan Eckert

Allan Eckert wrote:

If no one has physical access to your computer for a long enough time period to install them, you don't have them either.

Allan

Thank you for your answer. So it's not possible for anyone to try gaining access or including malcious code in email messages. I don't need to worry about receiving any suspecting emails. I just have to be careful with phishing emails and emails with strange attachments?

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