OS X virus?

squash · July 15, 2002 12:08AM

I keep getting mail server errors from my isp. Not just a few...tons!!!! I sent a few back to them asking why i keep getting so many oddball errors from email addresses i don't even recognize.

The response i get from them is that I probably have a virus. Ummm, seems odd to me. What do all of you think..by the way. The virus in question was w32ksomething....I should have written it down.

Any thoughts would be great.

frawgz · July 15, 2002 2:22AM

No, you don't have that virus.

Unless you have Virtual PC and it's lurking in your Windows environment.

ebby · July 15, 2002 2:26AM

I heard someone on channel 2 say there are no OS X viruses out. Is this true? <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />

defiant · July 15, 2002 9:46AM

yes

jonathan brisby · July 15, 2002 9:54AM

So Norton AntiVirus 8 is just a scam then? <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />

squash · July 15, 2002 10:34AM

Hey thanks for the replies....I really didn't think it was me that had a virus. I am still getting these errors on a rate of 3 to 4 a day. Most have weird attachments with them.

I had done searches with google and looked at most forums, including Apples looking for anything to do with a virus and macs. I couldn't find anything on OS X.

I guess I'll just live with the errors until whoever has the virus figures it out.

[ 07-15-2002: Message edited by: SQUÅSH ]</p>

bombthroat · July 15, 2002 10:40AM

It's not likely you would have a Windows virus on your machine unless you had Samba running. Samba is a Windows protocol and could be harboring the virus but it won't have any effect on your system if you're using OS X. That's where Norton Antivirus for OS X comes in handy, just to make sure you don't get any Windows viruses on your computer and spread them to Windows users you may be in contact with.

squash · July 15, 2002 11:24AM

[quote] That's where Norton Antivirus for OS X comes in handy, just to make sure you don't get any Windows viruses on your computer and spread them to Windows users you may be in contact with. <hr></blockquote>

Oh if that was the case i'd feel really really bad

gordy · July 15, 2002 11:44AM

I've seen this virus in action. First, you don't have it, but someone [read: a PC user] you correspond with does. If you look closely at the email headers, you'll see the sender's email information. The message reads like an "Undeliverable..." message that would come from your email service. After viewing the headers, I determined that a friend of mine had the virus, so I emailed him. He had no clue, and not he can't remove the virus.

You have to feel sorry for PC users.

cyko95 · July 15, 2002 12:21PM

To say that there are no viruses out there that can attack OS X is a bit arrogant. I agree that we don't have to worry about it like PC users, but there are still some out there. For instance, viruses that are written in Java. That is cross-platform and PC, Mac, Linux, and even handheld OS can be affected by those. I personally have a copy of Norton handy, but never keep it installed due to the odds being in our favor. But the threat is still out there.

defiant · July 15, 2002 3:50PM

yes, it is arrogant to say that there are no viruses for OS X, but the naked thruth is:

there are no viruses for Mac OS X.

no, really. do we mac users have viruses like nimda,(fill in some virus from PC side), etc. ?

no, we haven't. see ?

cyko95 · July 15, 2002 10:46PM

[quote]Originally posted by Defiant:

<strong>yes, it is arrogant to say that there are no viruses for OS X, but the naked thruth is:

there are no viruses for Mac OS X.

no, really. do we mac users have viruses like nimda,(fill in some virus from PC side), etc. ?

no, we haven't. see ?

</strong><hr></blockquote>

Like I said before, there isn't AS MUCH OF A THREAT. And yes their are viruses that CAN attack OS X. There was a Java scripted virus just last year that hit Windows, Linux, UNIX (which, by the way, is what OS X is based on), and palm OS's. It wasn't malicious, but could be annoying.

On a different note, is anyone else getting tired of every little script someone writes being called a "virus." I remember when "viruses" were something to fear because the screwed up your system. Not just spammed your friends with itself or popped up a box that said something on a certain day. We should call those annoyances or just plain "bugs."

nexus · July 15, 2002 11:02PM

Hey SQUÅSH. Don't worry, it's definitely not you who has the virus. It is called Klez and affects only Windows machines. I work for an ISP and it has been causing all sorts of problems and is nearly impossible to trace. What it does on the machines it infects is, it goes into the address book and chooses addresses and uses it as the FROM line and then proceeds to send itself out to all of those addresses. It's very strange. So someone who has you in their address book on their Windows machine and it infected. The virus is, in turn, using youur email address when trying to spoof who the sender is. Pain in the freakin' A$$

squash · July 15, 2002 11:29PM

Hey thanks for the input. i solved my side of it by setting up my rules to automatically delete any email with "mail service error" in the title. I haven't had to look at any of these annoying emails since i did it. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

kickaha · July 16, 2002 8:11PM

cyko95: Yeah, slapping the word 'virus' on everything drives me bonkers.

Virus: a small snippet of code that replicates itself. Started in the Core Wars games at MIT in the 60's... two competitors would each write a small program (in assembler), and each would start running on the same machine. The idea? To write your program to every byte of memory (except for a minimal kernel of OS) thereby wiping out all copies of your competitor. Moving from machine to machine was *not* part of the definition.

Worm: A program that propagates across a network. This is closer to what most people think of when they think of a 'virus'. A worm, however, usually was self contained, not relying on some other application or the interaction of the user.

Trojan horse: Just like the construct of old, this ia a malicious program masquerading as a useful or benign one, tricking the user into running them, or at the very least, escaping detection by looking harmless. Excel macro 'viruses' are examples of these. So are most 'mail viruses'. They trick you into downloading them before they can do any action.

Most 'viruses' we saw on the old MacOS were actually worms, embedding themselves onto documents, and copying themselves onto other files without any file ever being opened. Most modern 'viruses', of the Outlook and Office variety, are actually trojan horses.

Thus endeth the lesson.

spiffster · July 16, 2002 9:11PM

(bows down before Kickaha)

OS X virus?

Comments