[linskyjack]

Hello all----

For her graduation I got my daughter a Mac Powerbook and she has been happy with it until yesterday---She got zonked by a virus. I was in shock because I thought Apples were immune to viruses---As best I can determine, she took the Powerbook down to the college help desk and they killed the virus---I asked her if she had opened any email from someone she didn't know and she hadn't. She also told me that the virus had infected other Macs throughout the campus---Does any body have any idea what could have caused this. The college requires anti-virus software (even for Macs) before hooking into the network---Any guesses of what might have happened?

[VegasACF]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

I asked her if she had opened any email from someone she didn't know and she hadn't.

Assuming it actually was a virus, it doesn't have to come from somebody she doesn't know. Viruses propagate without the witting participation of the end user. But I doubt seriously it was such a thing.

If she uses iChat (an instant messaging program that is shipped with the OS) there is a Trojan (not a virus, per se) that is a file called "latestpics.tgz" that has to be run to be activated. This malicious file, which poses as a set of pictures, is a compressed Unix shell application. The user is prompted for an admin password (if she's the only user setup in the system her password is all that is required) to launch the code. Users who do this will find their machines infected.

If she ever double-clicks on something that asks her for her password tell her she'd better be damned sure she knows what it is and who it came from. Otherwise she should "beware of Greeks bearing gifts."

Originally Posted by linskyjack

She also told me that the virus had infected other Macs throughout the campus---Does any body have any idea what could have caused this.

If, indeed, it is a virus, or the aforementioned Trojan, they tend to spread through what would be otherwise considered innocuous situations. Especially among college students who can't seem to pry themselves away from IMs for longer than, wait... I've got an IM I have to answer... ()

Originally Posted by linskyjack

The college requires anti-virus software (even for Macs) before hooking into the network

Right. And they monitor this how (I'm picturing brutish guards posted next to every ethernet port on campus)? And, even so, how does this anti-virus software deter Trojans? They are, as mentioned, seemingly innocuous files that require the end user to do their dirty work, or at least to get it started.

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Any guesses of what might have happened?

If, indeed, it was a virus it probably spread, well, like a virus. If it was the aforementioned Trojan, well, I'm sorry to say it, but your daughter is to blame. She double-clicked when she should have deleted.

[JohnWill]

I'm sure macguru will be along to tell you there isn't any such thing as a Mac virus, and it's all your imagination.

[AcaCandy]

Posting to follow along, I want to see this

Sorry LJ, no offense, I've been waiting for this for years, too good to miss

[ACTU]

College 's have the worst virus's ever. Think of there severs as dirty bath water. I get a lot of computer through my shop that belong to students and there the worst.

[linskyjack]

John and Candy--ME TOO! Actually the chat thing makes sense---- I think she uses AOL on her machine. The funny thing is she was brought up using PC's but isn't savy technically so I figured that if she isn't living at home anymore, it would probably be a good thing to get a MAC! Hey, I swallowed the Kool -Aid as dispensed by one of the great hucksters of all time--Steve Jobs. Now don't come down on me Mac people---after all, its just a computer. Admit that it can get trojans, viruses etc--that is the first step to recovery!

[VegasACF]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Admit that it can get trojans, viruses etc--that is the first step to recovery!

I don't know anyone who ever said otherwise. It's just that the Mac OS has had such a small footprint in the market that it wasn't worth programmers' time to code malware for the OS. That is changing, in large part due to the work of the person you deem a "huckster." Such is the nature of success in the world of computing. The more visible and widely-used an OS is the bigger a target it becomes.

It is worth noting again that Trojans require the affirmative action of the user in order to do any harm, not simply double-clicking the file, which is bad enough, but also blithely going along with its request for an administrator's password. Rather than misplace your ire in the person of Mr. Jobs, you should really be vexed by the actions of your daughter, assuming it is a Trojan that was the culprit (which is most likely).

It is also worth noting that you come here seeking help, and then you take the opportunity to make disparaging remarks. That doesn't seem a prudent tack.

[linskyjack]

I understand that but answer me this---what percentage of Mac users (until recently) have had virus protection on their computer---I doubt the number is very high because most people just believe that Macs don't get viruses (for whatever reason.) Anyway you put it, Steve Jobs is a con artist---Then again, so is Bill Gates----Whats the big deal.

[VegasACF]

That is statistical data to which I have no access, and, in the end has no bearing on the matter at hand. It makes little difference what "most people" believe, especially if reality differs. Most people once believed the world was flat. Most people once believed that the Earth was the center of the Solar System and the Universe. Holding a belief simply doesn't make it true.

Blaming Steve Jobs for your daughter's problem is like blaming William Clay Ford, Jr. for you having driven over broken glass and getting a flat on your Taurus as a result. I doubt very seriously you can find a quote from Steve Jobs saying that a Mac is virus- and/or Trojan-proof.

[linskyjack]

I never blamed Steve Jobs for my daughters problem--and your astronomy analogy is a bit over blown. Here are the facts (even though you dont have the statistics handy).

The Mac is sold as a machine that is immune from the viruses, malware, trojans etc that infect PC's----That is one of the chief selling points. The vast majority of Mac users dont use virus software. Its that simple and has nothing to do with Steve Jobs and/or any other person.

[ACTU]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

I never blamed Steve Jobs for my daughters problem--and your astronomy analogy is a bit over blown. Here are the facts (even though you dont have the statistics handy).

The Mac is sold as a machine that is immune from the viruses, malware, trojans etc that infect PC's----That is one of the chief selling points. The vast majority of Mac users dont use virus software. Its that simple and has nothing to do with Steve Jobs and/or any other person.

I agree with you there. Just some hacker that was able to infect the Mac. So now it boils down to Mac's can get infected.

[VegasACF]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

I never blamed Steve Jobs for my daughters problem--and your astronomy analogy is a bit over blown. Here are the facts (even though you dont have the statistics handy).

The Mac is sold as a machine that is immune from the viruses, malware, trojans etc that infect PC's----That is one of the chief selling points.

That might have been your belief, but it doesn't make it true (which is the point I was trying to make about the Earth being flat, et al). I've never heard anybody say such a thing, and had I heard anybody say such a thing I would laugh in his face. Any computer on a network is susceptible to attack in any number of ways. Even my father understands that, and he's about as computer un-savvy as anyone I've ever met.

I highly doubt that one of the Mac's "chief selling points" is this preposterous notion that it's "immune from viruses, malware, trojans, etc. that infect PCs." How could something patently untrue be a "chief selling point"? No, I'd say ease of use, beauty of design and prior use of a Mac are the chief selling points. It might get mentioned by a salesman that there are fewer such things that attack, but it would be a strange thing indeed for such a notion to be a "chief selling point". In fact, a warranty such as yours (which claims total immunity) could open the manufacturer and the dealer to product liability, so such a representation would not be wise.

Originally Posted by linskyjack

The vast majority of Mac users dont use virus software.

And a lot of people having sex don't use contraceptives. So what? That doesn't mean that one of them isn't going to get pregnant, get an STD, etc. If a vast majority of people jumped off a building would you? If I told you I had a bridge I wanted to sell you in New York would you be interested in buying? Just because X number of people are taking a risk (no matter how slight) doesn't mean that you should.

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Its that simple and has nothing to do with Steve Jobs and/or any other person.

Then why did you bring him up in the first place? I don't like the guy's politics by any means (he's to the left of Chairman Mao, I'm to the right of Ronald Reagan), but he's doing some damned impressive things at Apple, and not by sleight of hand, either.

[AcaCandy]

Originally Posted by VegasACF

I don't know anyone who ever said otherwise.

Every Mac person I've ever spoken with has always crowed about their lack of viruses To the point where you just want to punch them in the face to shut them up. I'm having a blast, I can't wait to hear from some of my Mac friends who think they are 'safe.'

[VegasACF]

Originally Posted by AcaCandy

Every Mac person I've ever spoken with has always crowed about their lack of viruses To the point where you just want to punch them in the face to shut them up. I'm having a blast, I can't wait to hear from some of my Mac friends who think they are 'safe.'

Mmmkay... First off, it's a Trojan, not a virus. It requires the participation of the user. That makes it a DFO problem.

Second, the above poster claims this "immunity to viruses" (that doesn't exist) is "one of its chief selling points." As I mentioned, making such a claim would open the manufacturer and the dealer up to lawsuit after lawsuit because of strict product liability, so such a claim would never be made by them. Perhaps he, like you, has friends that (ignorantly) claim their Macs are "immune", but his (and your, and their) belief of that doesn't make it true. It only makes the believers sheep following a misguided herd.

Ignorance of the facts doesn't make facts less true. It only makes one ignorant. Fortunately, ignorance has a cure.

C'est la vie.

[AcaCandy]

I only believed it was a matter of time

The time has obviously arrived