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Free Virus Scan for OS X...bleh

Sdashiki

Sdashiki

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 11, 2005
3,529
11
Behind the lens
This computer is not mine, it is my job's. They require a virus scan every so often. I laughed and said there isn't one. Got a stern look and said seriously there isn't any. So I was told to go to McAfee for a free scan....

Wham bam you need IE 5.5 :mad: to do it....

IE 5.5 is no longer supported by M$....

I'm left with nothing.

not that I care, but someone somewhere does and I need to show I did something or whatever.

ClamXav - seems neato, anyone try it?
 
Download and install Disinfectant 3.7.1 in your Classic environment. You can accurately tell your supervisor that this will protect you against all of the Mac viruses that your system is vulnerable to. (Can't have nVir infecting your floppy disks, you know!)
 
ClamAV must be fine since Apple included it in the latest server software update. I haven't tried it but then, I haven't had anti-virus software since Virex 6 and Mac OS 9.x.
 
Isn't there an app out there that emulates a virus scan on a Mac? It actually does nothing, but shows graphics of files being scanned? I'm sure I came across this amusing little app at one point... Just find it and show it to your manager while it's "running"... ;) :cool:
 
You can start by not giving those guys so much attitude. You can get more bees with honey than vinegar. I'm sure you could have explained to them that you run an OS that typically isn't targeted as much as Windows (I wouldn't state that it is secure because no OS is secure). Either way, you've to provide proof to them that the machine isn't infected...you may as well dial down the 'tude and help them help the company.
 
Is you Mac networked with other windows PCs in your office? The way it was explained to me by an Apple Genius, even though Macs aren't affected by viruses, it is possible to spread them to others. I may be mistaken, but that is the way I understood it.:confused: :D
 
rjgonzales said:
Is you Mac networked with other windows PCs in your office? The way it was explained to me by an Apple Genius, even though Macs aren't affected by viruses, it is possible to spread them to others. I may be mistaken, but that is the way I understood it.:confused: :D
Click to expand...

No, this is technically correct. I could send you a virus in an e-mail attachment, and if you simply forwarded that message along, and adequate protection wasn't in place, others could get infected. Then there are things like macro viruses written to exploit Word or Excel, which you could encounter using Office on your Mac...
 
For those whose answer was "Macs don't get targetted and are therefore less at risk", that may be true - but say someone's working on a Mac in a small company (i.e. one that can't afford a server-based email virus scanner) and they receive a Word document from someone outside the company. They need to know if that Word document has a Windows-based virus in it because they may well need to pass it on to someone else. Macs don't operate in a vacuum... (Actually, before the nit-picking starts, they might well work in outer space as long as they had a power source. But you get my point...)

I've also heard that Macs can be susceptible to MS Office-based viruses, but I don't know how much credence to give to that idea, given that to do anything really serious the virus would presumably have to interact with OS X...
 
adriantoll said:
I've also heard that Macs can be susceptible to MS Office-based viruses, but I don't know how much credence to give to that idea, given that to do anything really serious the virus would presumably have to interact with OS X...
Click to expand...

The virus could not interact with OS X if it was designed in a Windows environment, but could affect the specific application (i.e. Word) and its associated files, still doing some damage.
 
adriantoll said:
I've also heard that Macs can be susceptible to MS Office-based viruses
Click to expand...

That Mac itself isn't, Microsoft Office and your Office documents are. Cheeky little Macro "viruses"

I don't even know if virus would be the correct term for those. More like childish annoyances.
 
dpaanlka said:
That Mac itself isn't, Microsoft Office and your Office documents are. Cheeky little Macro "viruses"

I don't even know if virus would be the correct term for those. More like childish annoyances.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agrere, I don't know if they even fit the proper definition of a virus. Nonetheless, annoying and potentially destructive little bastards... ;)
 
~Shard~ said:
Yeah, I agrere, I don't know if they even fit the proper definition of a virus. Nonetheless, annoying and potentially destructive little bastards... ;)
Click to expand...

They're easier to propagate in business. The default Word template is usually attacked so that every document from that time includes the virus. It's then passed throughout the office and to customers and vendors through e-mail. After the new document is opened with Word, the virus attacks the default template on that installation.
 
Sdashiki said:
This computer is not mine, it is my job's. They require a virus scan every so often. I laughed and said there isn't one. Got a stern look and said seriously there isn't any. So I was told to go to McAfee for a free scan....

Wham bam you need IE 5.5 :mad: to do it....

IE 5.5 is no longer supported by M$....

I'm left with nothing.

not that I care, but someone somewhere does and I need to show I did something or whatever.

ClamXav - seems neato, anyone try it?
Click to expand...

Clam XAV is OK, it just took 24 hours to scan my (200GB of data) drive. I'd get work to shell out for a copy of Intego Anti-Virus which takes about 30 minutes to do the same scan.
 
bousozoku said:
They're easier to propagate in business. The default Word template is usually attacked so that every document from that time includes the virus. It's then passed throughout the office and to customers and vendors through e-mail. After the new document is opened with Word, the virus attacks the default template on that installation.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification on that. I guess in that respect they can be consdiered viruses if they end up replcating themselves in that fashion.
 
dpaanlka said:
Other than propogating themselves, what exactly do they do?
Click to expand...

Under MacOS, not a damn thing. Under Windows, there's a destructive payload, but I forget exactly what it is that it does.
 
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