Viruses on Macs - A Warning

[Goody13]

I have always had Windows computers until July this year when I made the change to Mac with the 27" model. I was under the impression that Macs were pretty safe from viruses so I have only just chosen to install Avast today.

I have not visited any 'dodgy' sites so imagine my surprise when Avast discover not one, but two trojans, Win32:Crypt-QOF and JS:downloaderownloader.DPI

I am hoping that whilst these were present on my Mac, they would not have been able to be very active, and I was wondering whether anyone has any views on this.

It was easy to delete them, although it is not always that easy to delete viruses on a PC, which leads me to believe they were just there and not activated.

This can also serve as a warning that Macs are not immune to viruses, and I haven't used mine a great deal since I had it.

I'd be interested to read any thoughts or comments about this, apart from the obvious statement that I should have installed antivirus sooner!

 

[chrfr]

I am hoping that whilst these were present on my Mac, they would not have been able to be very active, and I was wondering whether anyone has any views on this.

You are correct in that they would not be very active on a Mac. In fact, they're Windows only so they cannot run at all on a Mac. You could infect a Windows computer with the files if the computer is unprotected and you sent the file to one, so deleting the files is not a bad idea.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

I have always had Windows computers until July this year when I made the change to Mac with the 27" model. I was under the impression that Macs were pretty safe from viruses so I have only just chosen to install Avast today.

I have not visited any 'dodgy' sites so imagine my surprise when Avast discover not one, but two trojans, Win32:Crypt-QOF and JS:downloaderownloader.DPI

I am hoping that whilst these were present on my Mac, they would not have been able to be very active, and I was wondering whether anyone has any views on this.

It was easy to delete them, although it is not always that easy to delete viruses on a PC, which leads me to believe they were just there and not activated.

This can also serve as a warning that Macs are not immune to viruses, and I haven't used mine a great deal since I had it.

I'd be interested to read any thoughts or comments about this, apart from the obvious statement that I should have installed antivirus sooner!

Although no computer OS is immune from Trojans (because you are essentially purposefully infecting yourself with a trojan), your Mac was not infected by one. Mac OS has built-in malware protection and many other layers of protection that protect it's users from threats. In fact, installing Avast (or any other 3rd party security product) on your Mac has likely now introduced vulnerabilities, performance issues, and stability problems that you would not have had without it. In other words, you took an extremely secure and safe Mac OS, and then installed unnecessary malware protection that in my opinion makes you less safe and more prone to problems with your Mac.

 

[Goody13]

Thanks for the replies and confirming my thoughts that those two hans would not have become active. How would they have got on to my Mac in thr first place though?

I only put Avast on last night so, the question is, does it make me less secure and should I uninstall it?

I do not understand how using AV makes it less safe. I appreciate it will slow it slightly but I do not think that will be a deal breaker. I don't want it less stable or secure though.