# Solved: Mac Computer question on spyware,adware,antivirus programs-Can I use the same ones



## xfile47 (Jun 21, 2004)

I am going to help a person clean up there computer. They have a Mac computer. I was just wondering. Haven't worked on Mac's. Can you use the same programs like adware SE, spybot, spyblaster, ie-spyad, scriptdefender, ewido, etc as on other computers? I know some downloads say to use one for windows and one for macontosh, so if they don't say that means the program can be run on either? And do you run Hijackthis the same as you would on any other computer? Any infomation will help. Thanks

Can someone give me some info on this?


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

None of those work on MACs 

very few spywares will attack macs

and I am moving this to the Mac forum as it's so specialised that security isn't the right place for this one


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## xfile47 (Jun 21, 2004)

ok, didn't no there was, sorry


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

A couple sites that I recommend regarding this are:
http://www.securemac.com/
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/malspyware.html
http://www.maccrazy.net/news.php?ID=241

Some news/issues are dated, but gives ya a place to start. 

Also, might check such out as this:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/securi...S_X_less_secure_/0,2000061744,39229157,00.htm


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

there are no viruses or adware affecting a Mac. That said the direction you should be moving is to use ONYX http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html to run and cron the unix routines and optomizations also use disk utility nbuilt into a mac to restore disk permissions or in Onyx (free utility). Also run Alsoft Diskwarrior ( www.alsoft.com ) from the cd to optimize the operating system by rebuilding the directory. Should do very well with this strategy to optimize your Mac. There are NO viruses or adware affecting a Mac.


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

macguru said:


> there are no viruses or adware affecting a Mac. There are NO viruses or adware affecting a Mac.


That is NOT correct

There are Very FEW viruses & adwares/spywares that affect a MAC but they do exist and are steadily increasing

The informed opinion in the AV community and several of the researchers use Macs as a test bed to run programs that examine malware is that any *nix virus/worm can affect a Mac as well 
The *nix worms are on the increase and intended to attack servers and macs get the fall out

There are also a few Mac specific viruses/trojans/worms and they are steadily increasing as Macs become more mainstream and it becomes worth writing them as there will be some benefit to then writer as more macs are in use and worth infecting


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

I am not aware of any viruses or adware for Mac OS X nor do i believe does anyone else in the mac tech support community. I am sure I am correct but if you are aware of any viruses or adware on the Mac please post them rather than discussing something without factual backup. No viruses zero viruses affect Mac OS X and that is that no unix viruses affect Mac os x the kernels are different. Facts please not speculation or what you think is correct please.
You are speaking without experience on the Mac side.


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## slarti (Jan 18, 2005)

I have always heard from people(usually pro windows folks) that there are Mac OSX viruses, but no one can name any. No one I have spoken to has ever had one. Search this forum for mac viruses. There are no actual virues found. Search the windows forums. the majority of the problems are spyware/virus issues.

Although on my PC I don't get viruses. I don't know why so many people do. I guess i just keep it clean.


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## [email protected] (Nov 11, 2005)

there is 1, it was in 1997 and it was written for Microsoft Office.


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

eeeeh Whats up Doc?
That would be for Mac classic or os 9 as there was no Mac OS X at that time....repeat there are NO viruses or adware on Mac OS X........


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## [email protected] (Nov 11, 2005)

I never said the virus was for OS X. I said Microsoft Office, I would expect you to know the difference with your name and all.


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

This thread has been about viruses on Mac OS X yes that would be a Microsoft Office Macro Virus. Ok the posts here are misleading now and I would respoectfully submit that there be some honesty so as not to mislead people.


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## [email protected] (Nov 11, 2005)

well taken but I did not lie or mislead, I said 1997, that had to mean Classic. Maybe I was being too assuming.


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## slarti (Jan 18, 2005)

Doc, you just seem hostile today.


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

OK we're all good here thanks OS 9 has a few viruses and word macro viruses. Mac OS 9 is ALSO way obsolete. Mac OS X can have malware applications that delete critical OS parts but unless you are downloading illegally obtained software where such things would be hidden away it is doubtful those types of programs would be encountered. No viruses or adware exist on OS X no adware exists for os 9. Glad we reach an understanding here.


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## slarti (Jan 18, 2005)

Okay, had enough trolling for one day. Good night everyone.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

A few articles that shed some additional light on this subject that might be of interest:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4620548.stm

http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/...e_mac_os_x_adds_more_privacy_and_security.htm

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/02/20/security.html

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1777202,00.asp

Yes, the dates of these articles vary - however, the meat of the discussion is still pertinent in their discussion of the threats, current and/or potential, that face a Macintosh.

Of course, there is Apple's own sites:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/security/

http://developer.apple.com/internet/security/securityintro.html

Again, as I've said before in regards to this issue, 'nothing is impossible, there are just various degrees of probability'.


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

Definite confirmation 
MAC OS Can & does sufffer from viruses/trojans/worms and now this has been widely acknowledged in public expect to see alot more 
the code is now in the "public" domain so the script kiddies wil take it up

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/16/mac_os-x_virus/

http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_138578.htm

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/osxleapa.html


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

....will be trojan hoese worm type programs requiring administrator serial number access. Thus any exploits will remain limited and never propogate much. The security situation is held down due to the design of security in Mac OS X which is far superior to Windows, and remains so.:up:


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

I agree Mac is more secure by design than windows but it still suffers from the same problems 

Pebkac

(Problem between keyboard & chair) 

in otherwords a tendancy to blindly say yes and push any button when requested


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

dvk01 said:


> I agree Mac is more secure by design than windows but it still suffers from the same problems
> 
> Pebkac
> 
> ...


In most regards to the above,,, :up:, esp. the PEBKAC


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

dvk01 said:


> Definite confirmation
> MAC OS Can & does sufffer from viruses/trojans/worms and now this has been widely acknowledged in public expect to see alot more
> the code is now in the "public" domain so the script kiddies wil take it up
> 
> ...


Ummmm... I really don't hold much faith in reports of the sky falling from those that profit from such news.  

However, if desire to read probably more truthfull/accurate reports:

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/16/leapafaq/index.php


> Leap-A malware: what you need to know
> 
> The worst thing you can do whenever a virus scare hits is to panic. The second worst thing you can do is not keep yourself informed.
> 
> ...


Some interesting descriptions of what exactly to call this mess can be found here... 
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/16/oompa/index.php

Macworld's take on antivirus software is here:
http://www.macworld.com/2005/02/reviews/antivirussoftware/index.php
...and then a review of their top-rated s/w:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16289&vid=199530

Again, as said before - only the foolish have no concerns or cares...


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

We knew it was only time as Mac becomes more popular and it's worth the time and energy to attack them

I guarantee we will see a lot more and it's no good pretending that every MAc user is a security conscious as some on here because they aren't

I know all these need some degree of user intervention but so do the majority of windows attacks if you ahve a fully updated system

http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_138608.htm

http://news.com.com/Bluetooth+worm+targets+Mac+OS+X/2100-7349_3-6041091.html


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## Cheeseball81 (Mar 3, 2004)

This was on Yahoo.com today:

*Second Apple worm targeting Macs found: experts *
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060221/tc_nm/apple_worm_dc


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

....Zero. One reqiures a non-patched version of OS X another is proof of concept andf BOTH require that TWO warnings imposed by the operating system be ignored, one which states "you are downloading an application" and the other requiring an administrator password. In short anyone who gets a worm has asked for one. Advise you do not open or download anything you have not specifically asked for.
You see it could be possible to write a virus or worm for Mac OS X. It was never denied. BUT the security implementations put in place by Apple engineers make it very unlikely that happens.


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

and now a zero day exploit that needs no user intervention and is extremely dangerous for all mac users 
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=163
http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1138&rss


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

.....This temporary workaround:
The best immediate recourse against such an attack is to deactivate the option "Open 'safe' files after downloading" in the "General" section of Safari's preferences. Alternative web browsers such as Camino or Firefox do not support the automatic execution of files. These browsers can be prompted to automatically download a file by using the refresh command in the HTML source code of a web page. However, the file will not be executed.

If only windows viruses could be so easily mastered. Face it Windows is a cheese for viruses and trojans and Macs are just way safer. Dosen't it just make windows users squirm.....


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

read the sans diary and it's links and you will see it isn't that simple as other things are being brought into play 

It's fine if you are a knowledgeable user with the MAC but many people bought them for their security and assume wrongly that they are protected completely regardless of what they do and what they say yes to 

Come into the real world Macguru and accept that Mac is vulnerable in Normal everyday use by the "AVERAGE" user and the problem will get worse as there are enough macs in use out there to make it worthwhile for the scumware purveyors to attack them


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

Get a Life. I'm not posting to an idiot thread anymore. It has stopped being a resource for users since as I post fixes here other folks have to chime in with crap. Now I am supposed to think that I have some responsibility or need to acknowledge the state of competency of end users or NOT to satisfy some one's EGO? Nah...... Mac OS X is a wonderful OS light years ahead of Microsoft, any bugs or issues are swiftly dealt with and whether or not you agree means NOTHING as there is NOTHING left to discuss anymore.


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## macguru (Oct 9, 2005)

To effectively patch against the current unadressed weakness in Mac OS X try this plugin here......which effectively patches that weakness.

http://haoli.dnsalias.com/

Enjoy......


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