So my wife has a Macbook with OS X 10.6.8 running on it. Today she opened a virus from her e-mail and managed to not only unzip it, but also run the .exe file. I know, I know...

It's the virus found here:

http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/viewAlert.x?alertId=25204&vs_f=Threat%20Outbreak%20Alerts&vs_cat=Security%20Intelligence&vs_type=RSS&vs_p=Threat%20Outbreak%20Alert:%20Fake%20FedEx%20Logistics%20Services%20Delivery%20Failure%20E-mail%20Messages%20on%20February%2020,%202012&vs_k=1

I've never dealt with Mac's and viruses. What do I need to do about this? Is there a program built in or that I can DL to scan and see if the computer is actually infected? There's not much I can find online about it.

2/20/2012 5:46:05 PM

IBTMountainOfJokesAboutMacsNotGettingViruses

2/20/2012 5:51:51 PM

i, too, get FedEx delivery notices in the form of zipped executable files

2/20/2012 6:37:18 PM

Macs don't get viruses. Macs just work.



btw, your wife just failed the 21st century darwin test. kill her now

[Edited on February 20, 2012 at 6:40 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2012 6:40:19 PM

i get all the jokes. i've told them to her too...to the point i'm borderline doghouse

but seriously, do i need to do anything?

2/20/2012 6:46:11 PM

dang, i wanted to get in on the macs don't have viruses jokes

2/20/2012 6:52:07 PM

This is a serious question, and may make me look stupid, but how do you run an .exe on a Mac?

2/20/2012 6:52:26 PM

^double click it?

i don't know much about Mac virus removal, but if Mac viruses become more prevalent, maybe I need to learn

2/20/2012 6:56:22 PM

I know every time my dad tries to run an exe his MBP says it doesn't know what do to with the file. Neither does my MBA. macs use dmg

2/20/2012 6:59:29 PM

apparently there is a free Mac program called Darwine that allows you to run .EXE files

2/20/2012 7:04:47 PM

well, you learn something new every day. when i opened the file (that required yet another level of me telling the computer I knew what I was doing....seriously, how the hell did she open this shit), it brought up a textedit file headed by the line "this program must be run under win32"

at least she wasn't so awful that she somehow managed to do that

i will hold this shit over her head till the day she dies

2/20/2012 7:29:33 PM

So wait, did anything actually get installed (virus wise)?

2/20/2012 7:59:32 PM

I somehow doubt that anything actually installed.

2/20/2012 8:18:10 PM

sounds like a ClassicMixup

2/20/2012 8:37:28 PM

Your wife is fine, macs don't run .exe

However, make double sure when transferring files that you don't infect computers. If it's a stand alone and used recreationally, then there's no reason to fret.

2/20/2012 9:28:54 PM

I expected a thread about Boonana.

2/20/2012 9:50:36 PM

lewis i thought you didnt like poonanny or had an artificial one or something

2/20/2012 9:56:18 PM

https://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/209516/indepth_look_at_boonana_malware.html

2/20/2012 10:01:16 PM

no i don't believe anything was installed. you learn something new every day, and for me it was the whole "macs don't exe" thing

when she clicked on the exe file, it just opened up a text file of gibberish. that nugget wasn't told to me until after researching for a while and posting here.

it's all good - thanks

2/20/2012 10:54:28 PM

so..

Quote :

"Macs don't get viruses. Macs just work."

2/21/2012 12:41:22 AM

yay!

2/21/2012 11:42:14 AM

Quote :

""Macs don't get viruses. Macs just work Run Parallels so you can run REAL applications.""

2/22/2012 3:08:12 PM

Quote :

"i get all the jokes. i've told them to her too...to the point i'm borderline doghouse but seriously, do i need to do anything?"

So did you have the balls to tell her you were wrong?

OR

Did you take credit for researching and removing the virus thus saving the device?

2/22/2012 11:44:47 PM

^i guess you missed this part

Quote :

"i will hold this shit over her head till the day she dies"

2/23/2012 7:37:23 AM

ah well played sir

2/24/2012 12:35:48 AM

Defenestration should kill it.

2/24/2012 1:06:17 AM

macs dont get viruii

2/24/2012 11:29:41 PM

dude...I heard this guy didn't have virus protection...remember what happened to him?

2/25/2012 8:47:59 PM

...pancreatic cancer...

2/25/2012 9:59:29 PM

I'm having trouble determining who is the real n00b here. Wife who attempts to open an obvious virus E-Mail attachment, or husband who thinks a Windows executable file runs on OS X. "Oh noes! It totally infected the zero sector of the C: disk!"

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/invitation.asp

2/25/2012 10:29:25 PM