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

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.

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
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Low End Mac's Virus Page

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