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threats on my imac

Hello,

I have received two threats on my imac, and when I called Apple they said that I need to be careful because the Sophos Anti-Virus could read Apples software as foreign to Sophos and that it could delete some important files and it could crash my computer is this true??

They also say that Apple has it's own built in virus protection; however, if that is true...why didn't it catch these threats?? I am very frustrated and don't know which way to go here and I do hope that you will be able to help me!!??

This what I received from a drop down box:

On Sept. 5th ....Threat.....Mal/EncPk-MP------Filecase..5740759.zip--------------------------------------------Action clean up

On Sept. 6th.....Threat.....TrojAgent-ADLD---Filecase ..Secure Message.zip---------------------------------Action clean up

Thank you,

Darlene

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Parents

0 Diz over 11 years ago
Answer for Q1:
Malware targeted at Macs is detected by Sophos Antivirus as 'OSX/...'.
Therefore if SAV detected OSX/NetWrdRC-A you could search for the detection name Sophos gave it and you'd find the Threat Analysis page for the detection where you can read more. For example OSX/NetWrdRC-A can...
Allow others to access the computer
Steal information
Drop more malware
Download code from the internet
Reduce system security
Monitor browser activity
Open links to websites
Monitor System Activity
Enable remote access
...hence (a) it is for Mac and (b) that description makes it sound nasty.
Answer for Q2:
"Does a Mac need antivirus software?" is an often debated question. 'Virus' is a particular type of Windows-only computer threat - so it's best not to use that word. However Macs can get infected with other kinds of malware.
People (including computer experts) use the word 'virus' and 'mac' in the same sentence because most people have heard of the term 'computer virus', but don't know about 'Trojans', 'Spyware', 'Backdoors', 'Worms', 'Phishing scam', 'Spear phishing scam', 'Adware', 'Scareware', 'Ransomware', 'Rookit', 'Dialers', 'Keyloggers', etc. - to the newbie they are all one and the same thing...bad. Therefore it's best to say 'malware'.
Apple Macs can and do get infected with Mac malware - simple. You need antivirus software for peace of mind. The person at Apple is going to lean towards the 'you're safe' end of the argument. The later versions of Mac OS X have been designed so you can't immediately click on a file that was downloaded without a prompt and Apple thinks this will stop malware. First: if Macs don't get infected then why has Apple gone to the bother of putting this functionality in? Surely you should be able to click on anything you like and not be hurt? And second: Even though Mac OS X prompts you to confirm you are sure, if you click on the link (maybe by mistake) the program runs - you allowed it. All the blame is on you. Sophos Antivirus for Mac doesn't prompt you. It just sits in the background and lets you do your thing and if you ever click on a malicious file it jumps to stop it before you have let go of the mouse button.
To delete or not:
Where exactly are the files? Do you have a full path?
I can't email you this post - your subscription settings allow you to be emailed when a reply is posted.
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0 Diz over 11 years ago
Answer for Q1:
Malware targeted at Macs is detected by Sophos Antivirus as 'OSX/...'.
Therefore if SAV detected OSX/NetWrdRC-A you could search for the detection name Sophos gave it and you'd find the Threat Analysis page for the detection where you can read more. For example OSX/NetWrdRC-A can...
Allow others to access the computer
Steal information
Drop more malware
Download code from the internet
Reduce system security
Monitor browser activity
Open links to websites
Monitor System Activity
Enable remote access
...hence (a) it is for Mac and (b) that description makes it sound nasty.
Answer for Q2:
"Does a Mac need antivirus software?" is an often debated question. 'Virus' is a particular type of Windows-only computer threat - so it's best not to use that word. However Macs can get infected with other kinds of malware.
People (including computer experts) use the word 'virus' and 'mac' in the same sentence because most people have heard of the term 'computer virus', but don't know about 'Trojans', 'Spyware', 'Backdoors', 'Worms', 'Phishing scam', 'Spear phishing scam', 'Adware', 'Scareware', 'Ransomware', 'Rookit', 'Dialers', 'Keyloggers', etc. - to the newbie they are all one and the same thing...bad. Therefore it's best to say 'malware'.
Apple Macs can and do get infected with Mac malware - simple. You need antivirus software for peace of mind. The person at Apple is going to lean towards the 'you're safe' end of the argument. The later versions of Mac OS X have been designed so you can't immediately click on a file that was downloaded without a prompt and Apple thinks this will stop malware. First: if Macs don't get infected then why has Apple gone to the bother of putting this functionality in? Surely you should be able to click on anything you like and not be hurt? And second: Even though Mac OS X prompts you to confirm you are sure, if you click on the link (maybe by mistake) the program runs - you allowed it. All the blame is on you. Sophos Antivirus for Mac doesn't prompt you. It just sits in the background and lets you do your thing and if you ever click on a malicious file it jumps to stop it before you have let go of the mouse button.
To delete or not:
Where exactly are the files? Do you have a full path?
I can't email you this post - your subscription settings allow you to be emailed when a reply is posted.
:1013280
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

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