Mac Virus - Help

Impspeed

Impspeed

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David
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Don't want this to turn in to a slagging match or mac-v-pc debate but simply put I've obviously inadvertently downloaded something I shouldn't and now have a virus on my Mac.

It's chiming music (as simple as that sounds) and starts and stops at random. Obviously annoying and quite embarrassing on the train and in public places when the volume is not down.

Done some research and it seems like it's this - http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/10/2...d-will-kill-you-annoy-you-with-chiming-music/

Before I format and reinstall Snow Leopard can anyone make any suggestions on removing. Trawling on the internet has so far proved fruitless and Avast doesn't find anything.

It's not malicious, more of a 'prank' virus from what I've read. Oh, and it's a 2010 MacBook Pro running 10.6 and all up to date.


DB
 
Sure there must be a couple of online scanning sites you can use?
 
There are security issues with everything connected to something like the internet.

With a Mac, you have to physically download the virus (basically I've obviously downloaded something stupid) whereas with Windows it's more a case where the virus can infiltrate the infrastructure of the system.

As Neil has said, Mac still have a small percentage of the market (12% now, maybe) so people don't necessarily produce viruses for it.

DB
 
Impspeed said:
With a Mac, you have to physically download the virus (basically I've obviously downloaded something stupid) whereas with Windows it's more a case where the virus can infiltrate the infrastructure of the system.
Click to expand...

not necessarily, i seem to remember there have been security flaws that allow remote access? i forget now though..
 
I've tried Avast (free trial) and I'm sure if Avast doesn't pick it up then McAfee won't.

Think I'll just format and start again this evening.

DB
 
Impspeed said:
There are security issues with everything connected to something like the internet.

With a Mac, you have to physically download the virus (basically I've obviously downloaded something stupid) whereas with Windows it's more a case where the virus can infiltrate the infrastructure of the system.

As Neil has said, Mac still have a small percentage of the market (12% now, maybe) so people don't necessarily produce viruses for it.

DB
Click to expand...

Have you opened activity Monitor to see what's running? Have you checked you're battery to see if its low?

I'm not aware of any virus like this on Macs -or any viruses at all actually.

(Sorry to be pedantic but its Apple who have a small percentage, not Mac :))
 
zoom said:
Have you opened activity Monitor to see what's running? Have you checked you're battery to see if its low?

I'm not aware of any virus like this on Macs -or any viruses at all actually.

(Sorry to be pedantic but its Apple who have a small percentage, not Mac :))
Click to expand...

Okay, seems like we may be getting somewhere - it's something in the activity monitor coming up called 'dashboard client'... I quit it and the music stops but then starts again pretty much immediately.

Usuage of the CPU this creates is around 20%


DB
 
Was it a widget you installed? Check and delete any you don't need - dashboard client is the widgets process....
 
Impspeed said:
Okay, seems like we may be getting somewhere - it's something in the activity monitor coming up called 'dashboard client'... I quit it and the music stops but then starts again pretty much immediately.

Usuage of the CPU this creates is around 20%


DB
Click to expand...

Dashboard client runs your widgets so it may be something in those.
 
smoothedit said:
Was it a widget you installed? Check and delete any you don't need - dashboard client is the widgets process....
Click to expand...

I think it might be. I never use Dashboard or Widgets so it's strange that it seems to be one, although I did download some when I first got the MacBook.

So it seems it's not a virus (me overreacting) and it's a faulty widget!

DB
 
Ha, I downloaded a 'Gingerbread Man' widget and it seems that's the culprit!

Thanks all for your help!


DB
 
Yep sounds like you have got a dodgy one (these can be installed straight from browser).

Just open dashboard and x any that are not genuine apple ones and see if that sorts it...
 
So, just to reaffirm, Apples can't get viruses!

;-)

DB
 
zoom said:
Thank God for that, guys. I never want to see the Words 'Mac' and 'virus' in the same sentence.

PS. Sorry for the double post, Smothedit. We must have hit 'Submit reply' at the same second'.
Click to expand...

;) no worries matey! Tis better to get the right answer twice than not at all!
 
The free macbook pro's they hand out and pwn to own says the can also, and 10k usd they get ontop of the free lappy.

this year they got full shell access and code execution via remote expliot in a webpage as far as i can remember, so thats it whatever the writer wanted to do he could, it was a proof of concept but highlights the need for some level of care. That was without flash as well just straight safari and snow leapoad fully patched.

As Apple get more of a market share I would suspect they will be targeted more, after all the bank account of a mac owner is much more tempting than a tesco netbook owner I would emagine.

thats in the lab i suppose, but its only a matter of time before one goes wild, unless there alreadyis, given nobody runs AV software nobody would ever know, well written and no visible adverse affects and you would never know.....
 
Impspeed said:
There are security issues with everything connected to something like the internet.

With a Mac, you have to physically download the virus (basically I've obviously downloaded something stupid) whereas with Windows it's more a case where the virus can infiltrate the infrastructure of the system.

As Neil has said, Mac still have a small percentage of the market (12% now, maybe) so people don't necessarily produce viruses for it.

DB
Click to expand...

You have to 'physically download' the 'virus' on Windows as well. Why do you think it only happens to idiots? It's because they answer 'yes' to the not-so-convincing Window saying that you have three trillion viruses and that if you don't click this second your credit card details will be stolen. It's the same thing just executed in a different manner. A 'virus' won't just find a windows machine and come into it willy nilly - the user must do something to let it in.
 
trencheel303 said:
You have to 'physically download' the 'virus' on Windows as well. Why do you think it only happens to idiots? It's because they answer 'yes' to the not-so-convincing Window saying that you have three trillion viruses and that if you don't click this second your credit card details will be stolen.
Click to expand...

Not true - vulnerabilities in IE mean you can get 'drive-by installs' just by visiting a dodgy web page. Think the latest version may have mostly fixed this though.
 
Mac and virus in the same sentence :eek:
 
grum said:
Not true - vulnerabilities in IE mean you can get 'drive-by installs' just by visiting a dodgy web page. Think the latest version may have mostly fixed this though.
Click to expand...

Aha... and those drive by installs have to be OK'd first. Killing the IE process without answering yes/OK to the dialogue box or whatever it is that popup stop whatever it is from trying to get in.
 
I wondered how many posts we would get to before the virus turned out to not be one after all :lol:
 
Some people have short memories.

It hit all the major news channels last year when a pirated version of iWorks '09 was released on the interlube with a Trojan Horse that gave others remote access to your Mac. (OSX.Trojan.iServices.A)

Shortly after that a variant was released with a pirated version of Photoshop CS4.
(OSX.Trojan.iServices.B)

Also, the very first 'in the wild', rather than concept, virus was written to attack the Apple II. It was about another 5 years before the PC was targeted.

So beware, there are Mac Viruses and Trojan Horses out there, it's just less likely that you will actually get one.
 
Ploddles said:
Some people have short memories.

It hit all the major news channels last year when a pirated version of iWorks '09 was released on the interlube with a Trojan Horse that gave others remote access to your Mac. (OSX.Trojan.iServices.A)

Shortly after that a variant was released with a pirated version of Photoshop CS4.
(OSX.Trojan.iServices.B)

Also, the very first 'in the wild', rather than concept, virus was written to attack the Apple II. It was about another 5 years before the PC was targeted.

So beware, there are Mac Viruses and Trojan Horses out there, it's just less likely that you will actually get one.
Click to expand...

Like we said NO viruses in the wild for MacOS X

Anyone using either stolen software or a 20 year old computer needs to worry (a trojan is not a virus) :suspect:
 
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