Low End Mac's Virus Page

Read our Nimda Worm Special Report

Why, you may ask, does Low End Mac track Windows viruses? As a public service - our logs show that over 40% of you visit this site on Windows PCs. We sometimes have virus links before the big PC and general news sites. Imagine the look of surprise when you ask your IS Director about the latest Windows virus, the one you just read about on Low End Mac, and he hasn't seen anything yet....

Besides, viruses are one area where Mac users can pick on Windows users. We don't have Melissa, Love Bug, etc. Every few years someone creates a Mac virus, giving us one more pro-Mac argument.

A Mac virus is a fairly rare thing. The Autostart Worm can be disabled by turning off CD-ROM autorun in the QuickTime control panel. However, the Windows world knows over 20,000 viruses, including email viruses such as Melissa and LoveLetter, which can inundate your mailbox, send data back to their creators, and really make a mess of a PC's hard drive.

Latest Viruses

• Two new epidemics wreak havok on PCs, Seng Li Peng, atNewYork.com, 10.03. Not one new Windows virus this week, but two. Opasoft and Tanatos threaten Windows users.
• Bugbear virus spreading rapidly, Paul Roberts, Yahoo/IDG, 10.03. "Once activated, the virus shuts down vital processes used by antivirus and firewall software, records user keystrokes to capture passwords, sends copies of itself...."
• It's a bug, a bear and a worm, Michelle Delio, Wired, 10.03. "...the Bugbear worm, also known as Tanatos, is coded to allow a malicious hacker complete control over infected computers." [Windows computers, of course.

Recent Viruses

• Aliz worm turns, bites Windows users, John Leyden, The Register, 11.23. Email worm infects Windows PCs - even if it's only previewed.
• Nimda Worm Special Report
• Code Blue worm reported, 2001.09.07. Infects Windows NT/2000 running IIS, works differently from Code Red. For more details see Yahoo/Reuters, Symantec, Wired News, McAfee.
• Remote Shell Trojan infects Linux, Security Alert, 09.05
• Slashdot. Trojan creates a backdoor on Linux servers (and there are a lot of Linux servers).
• Hackers may profit from spam, ZDNet, 2001.07.03. "Spamming trojan" sounds like another Windows/Outlook-only problem, but with a new twist.
• Homepage worm, discovered 2001.05.09
• A guide to nasty worms and viruses, Montreal Gazette, 9/15/00. Exactly what is a Trojan horse, a virus, a worm?
• Life Stages, June 16, 2000, another Windows and Outlook one
• Love Bug II, May 18, 2000, also Windows only
• LoveLetter/Love Bug, May 4, 2000, Windows only (also below)
• Melissa, March 1999, Windows only
• The Autostart Worm, May 1998, last major Mac virus

Other Virus Articles

• Macintosh malware database, Security Portal. Including renamed viruses, but excluding macro viruses, the Mac has passed the 100 mark.
• Virus infection rate soars, The Register, 1/2/2001
• Win98 Central. MessageLabs claims 1 email of 700 is infected. Almost makes Mac users feel left out. ;-)
• Kriz virus makes return appearance, ZDNet/Yahoo, 12/20/2000. Virus piggybacks on other viruses, strikes on Dec. 25, wipes hard drive and BIOS on PCs, currently ranked #8 infector by Trend Micro.
• More than 54,000 virus threats exist today, ZDNet Asia, 12/18/2000 [Win98 Central. And 99.9% of them can't touch the Mac. :-)
• Virus writers send Christmas gifts, Yahoo/Reuters, 12/4/2000. "...the first two Christmas viruses already spreading fast." In the Windows world, of course.
• "Creative" virus spreading quickly, c|net, 12/1/2000. "The virus, dubbed 'Creative,' carries no destructive payload, but automatically emails itself to a victim's entire email address book." Windows and Outlook Express; user must run file "creative.exe".
• MTX virus won't let you get help, ZDNet, 11/29/2000
• Win98 Central. "The bug has one very sinister feature: once it infects a user, it's programmed to stop the victim from visiting antivirus Web sites...."
• BleBla infects users upon arrival, ZDNet, 11/17/2000
• Win98 Central. Code executes upon previewing or reading infected HTML email, can connect to Internet to download payload. Only infects Microsoft Outlook on Windows.
• Is tech-savvy virus dangerous or not?, ZDNet, 11/15/2000
• Win98 Central. "Called Hybris, the Internet worm is 'perhaps the most complex and refined malicious code in the history of virus writing.'"
• Viruses: The next generation, Kim Zetter, PC World
• Win98 Central. "In 1993, there were 3200 known viruses in the world. Today, there are more than 40,000...." Thanks Jobs for Macs!
• Sonic.Worm approaching, ZDNet, 11/1/2000 [Win98 Central. "Sonic.Worm is an email virus that keeps itself up-to-date by downloading enhancements from a web site." Windows only, of course.
• Cuddly PC virus turns children into Web victims, Yahoo/Reuters, 8/24/2000. "Kids, not corporations, are this time the target of the cyber-vandals."
• Pokey computer virus hits U.S., slow to spread, Yahoo/Reuters, 8/23/2000. "I choose you, Pikachu!" Virus similar to Love Bug, which means Mac users are safe, Windows users should be careful.
• Life Stages worm, Trend Micro. First discovered on Friday, June 16, 2000, the fast spreading Windows Outlook virus follows patterns set by the Love Bug.
• Viruses on the Mac, Stephen Beale, MacWeek, 5/7/2000. "The first Mac viruses, nVir and MacMag, appeared in 1987...."
• Media forgets Mac immunity in new virus threat, Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl. "This is one time when the lack of full support for Visual Basic on the Mac is definitely a blessing."
• Phillips Files: A virus alert (not) and a gamers alert, R. P. Phillips, MacMilitia. "...the news media has, again, overlooked the obvious solution to these virus attacks."
• Core Breach! ILOVEYOU Microsoft, Scott McCarfty, GraphicPower, 5/5/2000. "All in the name of integration, Microsoft has created an array of tools that play into the hands of the twisted minds of malicious pranksters who wish to make their mark in the world by seeing how much havoc they can wreck on business."

Homepage worm

• Homepage worm rated X, Will Knight, ZDNet News, 2001.05.09.
• Homepage worm spreads pornography, Robert Vamosi, ZDNet, 2001.05.09.
• Porn virus spreads downunder, Rachel Lebihan, ZDNet Australia, 2001.05.09.

Melissa.W (a.k.a. Melissa-X, Melissa 2001)

• Mac users hit by Melissa macro virus, The Register, 1/19/2001. "The likely suspect in this case is not Office but Outlook. Microsoft released a public Outlook for Mac beta at MacWorld Expo last week, and we wonder whether it's that that has provided long-infected documents with a path to other systems."
• Melissa-X disguised as Mac doc, ZDNet, 1/18/2001. "The virus . . . can be spread on either a PC or a Macintosh. Like other Melissa variants, though, only Windows PCs will send mass email copies of the infected file."
• Melissa comes to the Mac, Macworld, 1/18/2001. New Melissa variant can infect Macs running Office 2001 and Word 98.
• See McAfee and Symantec reports on Melissa (also see The Melissa Virus).

Love Bug II

• New, nastier Love Bug virus threatens computers, Yahoo/Reuters, 5/19/2000. "Herbie: Love Bug II" causes more severe damage than earlier Love Bug virus. (Thank goodness it's also a Visual Basic Script, leaving non-Windows systems essentially immune.)
• New virus more destructive than "Love," c|net, 5/18/2000. "...the virus alters itself to sneak around traditional virus scanners." Clever - glad they're not targeting the Mac.