[X4U] Trojan horse on the Mac?

[Nick Scalise]

On Oct 19, 2006, at 9:48 PM, Bob Aldridge wrote:

> This question deals with a Trojan horse on the Mac and anti-virus  
> software.
>
> I have a situation I’m at a loss to understand and could use some  
> help from someone who may have encountered it before.
>
> I have installed some Mac’s at my church’s office. They have both  
> Mac’s and PC’s for now. The local cable company that supplies the  
> internet access stopped the outgoing mail because they said four of  
> the machines (3 PC’s and 1 Mac) were infected with something that  
> is sending out msg’s. They named the offending PC’s by e-mail,  
> including the Mac. Only one of the PC’s is the big problem,  
> apparently sending out a msg every 3 seconds, and the other two  
> PC’s and one Mac were only sending a few msg’s.
>
> Sounds like a Trojan horse installed itself on the PC’s and is  
> causing the big problem. Norton Anti-virus was up to date and did  
> not catch it. I’ll figure out how to clean the PC but I’ve never  
> heard of a Mac getting the same thing that infected a PC. And what  
> do I run to clean the Mac? I didn’t buy any Mac anti-virus because  
> I didn’t think Mac’s would get Trojan horse’s.
>
> My questions are: Is the cable company correct? Did the same Trojan  
> horse infect the Mac & the PC’s? And if so, how do I clean the Mac  
> of the Trojan horse.
>
> If you have a suggestion to how to clean the PC I’ll take it too.  
> Norton Anti-virus did not detect it.

My first question for the cable company is how they know which  
computers are sending which messages.

I generally avoid Norton, it seems to cause more problems than it  
solves.

There are 3-4 apps that I use to keep a PC safe from viruses,  
malware, etc. All free, of course:

AdAware - <http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/?
SpyBot - <http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html>
AVG Anti-Virus - <http://www.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-anti-virus- 
free-edition/lng/us/tpl/tpl01>
Zone Alarm - <http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/ 
znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=&lang=en>

I don't have any prophylactic apps on my Mac. I seriously doubt that  
your mac is truly sending out emails without your knowledge.

--
Nick Scalise
nickscalise at cox.net