Hello to everybody. So there are some videos and photographs that are on my old phone that I am certain has viruses. It is a huwaie phone, and I want to be able to access those files beyond the phone. I would like to transfer them to my iMac and my Mac book pro, but am worried that if I do that, it may also transfer a virus. I wanted to do it in the way by emailing the files from the old phone to my email address that I use on my Mac, and download them and have them, but I am worried that doing so, would cause viruses to my iMac and my Mac book. Can this happen? What do you suggest I do? Many thanks.
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Help on transferring files
- Thread starter Pinkly Smooth
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A virus is written to run on a specific type of processor and operating sytems, just like any application is. If there is a virus on your Huawei phone it would not be able to infect your Mac. If you are able to email those files there would be no risk. Even is you were to connect your phone to your Mac over a USB cable, there should’ve be any infection risk. If you did, the Mac might see the phone as a storage device (sort of like a thumb drive and you might be able to find tghe files and copy them over). I don’t have any recent experience on an Huawei’s operating system to know if it would expose the files in that way.
if it has sd card you can put a card in , back the photos and videos to that card, then put it on the mac.
Another way you can do it sign up for a free tier from Microsoft Outlook, maga , or filen.io , upload your files there then access via browser on your computer and redown load them
Another way you can do it sign up for a free tier from Microsoft Outlook, maga , or filen.io , upload your files there then access via browser on your computer and redown load them
Hi thanks for the reply. So I'm in the all clear then to transfer the files via email? The last thing I want is my iMac or my Mac book pro to get a virus. I appreciate the help.
Hi, I don't use an sd card. I think I'll just upload and send the files from my phone's mail to my iMac mail, and access it there by downloading them.
Don't know the phone but does it have a virus scanner? I'd start there first.
You could put the files on an SD or some other card, then run a virus scanner on the card before you access the files.
How do you know it is infected? Picture malware is relatively rare.
As has been said, it's very unlikely that malware on the old phone could infect your Mac.
But for a belt and braces approach, download an antimalware for the Mac, run it and then email or download the files so that it will check them before they arrive. You can uninstall the program afterwards.
Malwarebytes has a good reputation so you can try that.
But for a belt and braces approach, download an antimalware for the Mac, run it and then email or download the files so that it will check them before they arrive. You can uninstall the program afterwards.
Malwarebytes has a good reputation so you can try that.
by now I thought Virus scanners is basically a marketing scam, most OS seem not to need it?
Both macOS and Windows have fundamental protection included for several years already.
Protecting against malware in macOS
In macOS, malware defenses are structured using the followingApp Store, or Gatekeeper combined with Notarization, and XProtect.
support.apple.com
Windows Security: Defender Antivirus, SmartScreen, and More | Microsoft Windows
Protect your privacy, identity, and devices with Windows Security. Explore Windows 11 security features like Microsoft Defender Antivirus that help keep you and your PC safe.
www.microsoft.com
There are good products out there that are not marketing scams. This is a highly controversial topic. Hundreds of posts about whether virus programs are needed. Apple Support often recommends running Malwarebytes. I use Sophos.
As for the risk of transferring malware to your Mac - I don't know, although it seems pretty unlikely. As for the mechanics of transferring the data, you could use a direct USB connection and Android File Transfer. I have used it quite a bit in the past with several different Android devices.
www.android.com
The New Quick Share App for Windows | Android
Wirelessly share photos, documents, and more between Android devices and Windows PCs by downloading the Quick Share for Windows App.
Does this Huawei use Android? I thought they had a proprietary OS.As for the risk of transferring malware to your Mac - I don't know, although it seems pretty unlikely. As for the mechanics of transferring the data, you could use a direct USB connection and Android File Transfer. I have used it quite a bit in the past with several different Android devices.
The New Quick Share App for Windows | Android
Wirelessly share photos, documents, and more between Android devices and Windows PCs by downloading the Quick Share for Windows App.
Me either. I thought I had read somewhere that they had their own OS though it could be a clone of Android for all I know.
Hi. I have Malwarebytes. Im not sure I understood the process you are talking about. Do I lets say, run a scan before downloading the files from email, and then after downloading them, run a scan again? Is that what you are saying?
Both macOS and Windows have fundamental protection included for several years already.
Protecting against malware in macOS
In macOS, malware defenses are structured using the followingApp Store, or Gatekeeper combined with Notarization, and XProtect.support.apple.com
Windows Security: Defender Antivirus, SmartScreen, and More | Microsoft Windows
Protect your privacy, identity, and devices with Windows Security. Explore Windows 11 security features like Microsoft Defender Antivirus that help keep you and your PC safe.www.microsoft.com
this seems contradicting . Also surprised Apple Suppport recommend using anti-virus. I have been sailing the web for decades on macos on issues. Every other mac user facing same experience as I know.
Yes. The two opposing sides of the argument. The built-in protections are sufficient vs run a virus checker such as Malwarebytes.
Apple Support has asked me run it on several different support calls to run it. When asked they said they did recommend running it when necessary.
Wouldn't go through the bother of emailing them. Just put them on a memory card and scan the card with a virus program before copying them to your system.
As others have said viruses can't infect across OSes, so assuming your phone uses a proprietary OS or Android or something else other than iOS/macOS, there's really no risk to damaging your Mac by simply importing the photos from your device.
Are these personal photos and videos taken with the phone, or ones you downloaded from the internet? It seems highly unlikely that your own photos or videos could be infected with a virus, but I suppose anything is possible.
Are these personal photos and videos taken with the phone, or ones you downloaded from the internet? It seems highly unlikely that your own photos or videos could be infected with a virus, but I suppose anything is possible.
I think there are some virus/malware that would immidiately spread just by plugging it into the device. A friend of mine once just visited a shady website (according to him) and his laptop malfunctioned.
Not saying that this will be the case here.
Its not the files themselves, he is convinced the phone has a virus and might transfer over to his computer.
Maybe. Certainly visiting a shady website can cause problems. Can't find anything about risk involved in just doing the mount.
We are talking about photos and videos which generally require you to open the file to activate the payload:
How Malware Hides in Images and What You Can Do About It
There's a hidden threat that you need to be aware of.
I just transferred the files. Before doing so, I did a scan off of Malwarebytes and it was clean. Then after downloading the files onto the iMac, I did another scan and it came out clean again.
I have another question, if it's alright. I could not transfer all files as one of the videos was too large for email. My next thought is to use the android file transfer, but I am worried if using that program will pass viruses or malware from my phone into the iMac, or is it the same thing as doing so with the email? Many thanks.