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Mac virus?!

post #1 of 10
4/16/10 at 5:25pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all I apologize if this has been posted I searched the forum but couldn't find anything. My wife's macbook running 10.5.8 recently got really slow. I tried backing up with a new hard drive and that failed. Then something weird happened. I noticed the mail program on, which she never uses. I right clicked on the icon in the dock to quit, but at the top were lines in Dutch, and the menu bar at the top was also in Dutch! Also the mail icon changed to an icon that looks like the Apple developer tool thing with a pencil/brush/ruler that forms an 'A'. Screen capture is not working, so I can't show you. Other programs are mainly working except for Time Machine as mentioned, though really slow. Anybody heard of a Mac virus that affects the mail program? No I don't run anti-virus I never have on a Mac. Thanks
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post #2 of 10
4/16/10 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
Here is the log from Disk Utility I ran on the Macbook's hard drive. Hope that gives some ideas.

2010-04-16 20:37:24 -0400: Disk Utility started.

2010-04-16 20:37:31 -0400: Verifying volume Macintosh HD
Starting verification tool: 2010-04-16 20:37:31 -0400
2010-04-16 20:37:31 -0400:
2010-04-16 20:37:31 -0400: Performing live verification.
2010-04-16 20:37:31 -0400: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2010-04-16 20:37:32 -0400: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2010-04-16 20:37:32 -0400: Checking Catalog file.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Incorrect number of thread records
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Checking multi-linked files.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Checking Catalog hierarchy.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Invalid directory item count
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: (It should be 16081 instead of 16097)
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Invalid directory item count
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: (It should be 42 instead of 41)
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Invalid volume directory count
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: (It should be 177563 instead of 177547)
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Invalid volume file count
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: (It should be 657624 instead of 657021)
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Checking Extended Attributes file.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Checking volume bitmap.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Checking volume information.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: 2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.

2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400:
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400: Disk Utility stopped verifying Macintosh HD because the following error was encountered:

Filesystem verify or repair failed.
2010-04-16 20:39:56 -0400:
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post #3 of 10
4/17/10 at 5:22pm
It's not a virus. There are no known OSX viruses in the wild. A virus does not require user action to install itself on a system. A virus installs itself, as it were, 'under the radar'. I.e. invisibly.
It could be a Trojan though. I.o.w. malware that was user installed, because it (was made to look)ed like something harmless. A Trojan that uses Mail to "phone home" what it has found. And what it has found could have been harvested by a keylogger running in the background.

OR it is the HD failing! ("The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired").

In any case backing up your HD's data is your FIRST priority now!
Don't do anything else until you've backed up!
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post #4 of 10
4/18/10 at 5:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post

It's not a virus. There are no known OSX viruses in the wild. A virus does not require user action to install itself on a system. A virus installs itself, as it were, 'under the radar'. I.e. invisibly.
It could be a Trojan though. I.o.w. malware that was user installed, because it (was made to look)ed like something harmless. A Trojan that uses Mail to "phone home" what it has found. And what it has found could have been harvested by a keylogger running in the background.

OR it is the HD failing! ("The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired").

In any case backing up your HD's data is your FIRST priority now!
Don't do anything else until you've backed up!

Hi thanks for the info. You confirmed what someone else told me, the hard drive is failing. I had to do a manual backup because time machine won't work, but it's done. Now off to the Apple Store, hoping Applecare is worth it.
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post #5 of 10
4/18/10 at 5:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post

It's not a virus. There are no known OSX viruses in the wild. A virus does not require user action to install itself on a system. A virus installs itself, as it were, 'under the radar'. I.e. invisibly.
It could be a Trojan though. I.o.w. malware that was user installed, because it (was made to look)ed like something harmless. A Trojan that uses Mail to "phone home" what it has found. And what it has found could have been harvested by a keylogger running in the background.

OR it is the HD failing! ("The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired").

In any case backing up your HD's data is your FIRST priority now!
Don't do anything else until you've backed up!

Hi thanks for the info. You confirmed what someone else told me, the hard drive is failing. I had to do a manual backup because time machine won't work, but it's done. Now off to the Apple Store, hoping Applecare is worth it.
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post #6 of 10
4/27/10 at 1:47am
Virus information and antivirus software for Macintosh users. Macs aren't immune to viruses, but they are very rare
dryer vent fires
motor cycle battery charger
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dryer vent fires
motor cycle battery charger
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post #7 of 10
4/27/10 at 4:13am
see below
stimuli.ca | freshtunes.ca
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stimuli.ca | freshtunes.ca
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post #8 of 10
4/27/10 at 4:18am
You _could_ try restarting the mac while holding down the s key tp boot into single user mode, then at the text prompt, type:
Code:

fsck -y



After about 10 minutes, when the text prompt returns, type:
Code:

reboot



That's not guaranteed to fix your disk, but fdisk can sometimes fix things that are really 'effed.'

Most likely your hard disk is in its death throes.
stimuli.ca | freshtunes.ca
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stimuli.ca | freshtunes.ca
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post #9 of 10
5/3/10 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrish4161 View Post

Well if you are so much clear that you have a virus in your mac book then you have to install antivirus for that but may be I think your problem is not so much big problem that can't be solved. But from the next time use antivirus for the smooth working. There is only OS "linux" which doesn't have virus problem anywhere.



You're killing me

BSD Mac OS (NeXTSTEP) ~= Linux.... they are nearly the same thing (OS architecture-wise)

Linux is a clone of Unix... Mac OS X is a branch of Unix!

Linux only exits to be a rewrite of Unix from scratch, to have something free and open in a time when Unix was still proprietary....

They are both open and freely distributable at this point, though some of their derivatives are not.

There are some differences in the shell commands and such, but overall, Linux and Unix can run the same software, and be infected by the same viruses.

Most Unix/Linux virus infections happen due to either of the two: A, improperly configured network interface, or B, trojans, which rely on the user to be installed.

Not using a "root" (admin) account on a daily basis can prevent most serious infections...

Anyway....i'm not a teacher here, i just couldn't manage to ignore your misguidedness



Dan
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post #10 of 10
5/6/10 at 3:01pm
There seems to be a common misunderstanding among a lot of people as to the differences between a virus, a trojan, and a glitch.

A virus is a piece of self-replicating malicious code that can infiltrate a computer and propagate itself with NO input from the user whatsoever. There are ZERO viruses for Mac OS X.

A trojan is similar to a virus, but with one critical difference. It's a piece of malicious code that is forced to masquerade as a legitimate piece of software in order to trick the user into installing it, hence the "trojan horse" reference. Trojans cannot propagate themselves, they rely on trickery to spread. There are two trojans for Mac OS X that I've encountered. Of course, there could be more, but they're very rare.

A glitch is similar to both, but is unintentional. It's a fault within the operating system or application itself, and can be permanent or a one-time fluke. Glitches can cause symptoms similar to a virus or trojan, but they are NOT intentional attacks on your computer.
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