New virus treath on internet

FUD.

But, no, viruses don't work on the Mac.

Macfriend said:

Hi

I just received an email stating that if I receive an "ecard for you", to discard it immediately as it contains a deathly virus. :yikes:

This will freeze the computer. By doing control-alt-delete, the virus will destroy sector zero on the HD, permantly rendering it useless.

Does this also apply to Mac computers?

Click to expand...

only if you have a mac running windows and accept the email under a windows based email program

if you are running OS X on your mac, you can discard the email and lower your blood pressure

guytoronto said:

FUD.

But, no, viruses don't work on the Mac.

Click to expand...

not so fast...
you forgot bootcamp and parallels

Some do, but they're rare. Ones that are made specifically for Windows (as most are) do not work on Macs. They can still get you if you're running Bootcamp or Parallels though, so it is suggested to have a virus scanner for both systems if you're running that other stuff.

MACSPECTRUM said:

not so fast...
you forgot bootcamp and parallels

Click to expand...

If you ran this virus in Parallels, the worst that's going to happen is you lose your Windows image. No harm to the Mac.

If you run this virus in Bootcamp, the worst that's going to happen is you lose you your Windows partition. No harm to the Mac.

Worst, WORST case scenario, the virus wrecks sector zero, boot from the Apple Restore Disc, run disk utility, and you're up and running.

I doubt this supposed virus has little gremlins that crawl into your hard drive with jackhammers that render it useless. Most likely, this is purely an e-mail chain fraud waste-my-time thingy.

jaline said:

Some do, but they're rare. Ones that are made specifically for Windows (as most are) do not work on Macs. They can still get you if you're running Bootcamp or Parallels though, so it is suggested to have a virus scanner for both systems if you're running that other stuff.

Click to expand...

Just to clarify:
There are no viruses for Apple OS X. None. No virus will (yet) affect your Mac.
There are still no "rare" viruses that affect OS X.

Sounds like a variation on one of the old chain letter virus hoaxes to me. Does it tell you to forward it on to everyone you know? The sector zero stuff sounds like a variation of the Olympic Torch Hoax.

You've received a postcard from a Friend!‎
From: mypostcards.com ([email protected])

July 24, 2007 12:45:18 AM
To:
[email protected]
Hi. Friend has sent you a postcard.
See your card as often as you wish during the next 15 days.

SEEING YOUR CARD

If your email software creates links to Web pages, click on your
card's direct www address below while you are connected to the Internet:

http://68.121.84.200/?8b69146019a1823497b969c2b1c85da

Or copy and paste it into your browser's "Location" box (where Internet
addresses go).

We hope you enjoy your awesome card.

Wishing you the best,
Webmaster,
mypostcards.com

Click to expand...

you mean this e-card, that happens to be filling my spam box, prolly about 10 times a day?

This phishing attempt has wised up to those recipients who have learned not to click on seemingly-valid email links in messages. This new method relies upon you calling the phone number provided, and handing over your credit card info to an authentic-sounding operator.

But as a general policy, I trash all unsolicited eCard emails and attachment emails without opening in any case.

There are so many different ways -- Macs are vulnerable to phishing schemes because the scammer is fooling the carbon-based processing unit, not the OS. MS Office files on the Mac are vulnerable to MS Macro viruses. HTML will be processed, JavaScript will be processed, and can display or link to whatever the scammer wants.

It's just not worth the risk. I have told my family even that if they send eGreetings I will delete without looking.

There are new virus threats everyday...for PC's that is. But thanks for the headsup - I don't open spam emails ever, on Mac or PC.