Strange file from USB, is it a virus?

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Level 1

8 points

Strange file from USB, is it a virus?

Hello!

So basically I had my annually writing test in English on my school today, hopefully the last one on College. When I was going to finish and deliver my work, I got approached by the teacher who gave me a USB stick to put my .doc file on. I didn't think much of it, as this is basically what we do on these type of tests. However, when I put the USB in my mac, and navigated to the USB through finder, I noticed a strange looking file (.lnk format), with a student name in my class as the name. I know for a fact that this guy is a gaming/tech-guy, but I am very in doubt of his skills. However, do you think this is an infectious file? I looked it up, and it is an autorun file. The student that I am talking about finished very early, so I I suspect that this is planned. However, I might be totally wrong, but it is still rather annoying. The teacher of mine is very bad with computers, so I don't know if she even will notice it..

Am I infected by a virus, and if so - how should I proceed to remove it? I switched to mac a couple of years ago, but I am not as familiar with typical virus-directiories or viruses for mac in general as I am with Windows (I see myself as experienced with malware and removal (Botnets, RAT's etc) on Windows).

Thanks in avance.

By the way; I don't know if this is the right category to post in.

iOS 9.2.1, null

Posted on Apr 21, 2016 3:01 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 21, 2016 3:46 AM in response to iskaal

A .lnk file extension is the extension used by Windows for shortcut files i.e. 'aliases' in Mac speak.

If it is really just a shortcut/alias then it will certainly not be a virus. Be aware that it is common for Windows malware to disguise itself either by using a false file extension or using a double file extension e.g.

malwarefile.lnk (but actually an executable)

or

malwarefile.lnk.exe (hiding the .exe file extension)

There is near to zero chance of anything like this affect a Mac.

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Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,688 points

Apr 21, 2016 3:35 AM in response to iskaal

There are no viruses that can attack a mac, not yet anyway, so your mac will be fine.

if you are unsure of the file drag it to the trash and then delete it.

your mac can get malware which can be located and removed by this. https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

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Answer 3

iskaal Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 21, 2016 3:58 AM in response to John Lockwood

Thank you, good to hear that. I didn't click the file, but my Mac gave it an executable-icon, so I was very suspicious. I guess I have just developed a slight paranoia, but better safe than sorry. Again, thanks.

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Answer 4

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,081 points

Apr 21, 2016 7:45 AM in response to iskaal

What you're describing sounds like Windows malware which hides your files and replaces them all with .lnk files, which, when copied to other volumes and transferred to other computers, will spread the infection when opened.

Fortunately, as John has said, your Mac is safe. This can't affect it, even if you tried to open that file. However, you need to warn the teacher and the other student (who is probably the origination of the infection, and thought he was copying his document to the drive instead of a malicious file), as well as anyone else who might have had access to that flash drive (who may have gotten nosy and tried to open it). Anyone running Windows who tried to open that file may be infected.

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