Can Mac computers get porn viruses?

Question

I share an iMac with a roomate-- and I know he is on some unfamiliar ghetto porn websites (just kidding), but he does look at porn from some of the more "popular porn sites," (apparently these are: Redtube, YouJizz, and Eskimotube, lol) where you don't download the videos but just look at them online.. Anyways, I know he uses Limewire (not really anymore), but maybe he downloaded a few pornos from that back when he was on it (I dont know, just guessing). We have always had popup blocker on I think, and clear Firefoxes cookies frequently.

Either way-- our computer may not have any virus at all, it just acts slower than usual (about 3 years old, and most of the hard drive is taken up-- so that could be why, but my friends old iBook lasted 7 years!). None the less, I would like to get the system checked to see if we have a virus.. Are Mac computers (Mac OSX) susceptible to such viruses? We use Firefox-- also, is there a system check for APPLE computers that we can run to see if anything bad is detected? Once we do this, will just clearing the file in the trash erase the problem, or no?

Thanks for dealing with all the questions

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

mac viruses are much rarer then windows (but do exist), however I have seen an increasing number of mac trojans that could still infect viruses.

However a trojan requires user interaction and needs to be installed, often people get trojans when some popup showing their computer is infected, a video doesn't work and requires you to install a "codec" to view and gives the address on where to get it, there are a number of more examples.

Now if any of those porns sites ask you to install something on your mac to view it, close it right away as it could be a trojan that infects your mac.


Also if by some reason you think you have any type of maleware on your mac, I would suggest an antivirus scan. Some free ones that exist for the mac are clamxav (http://www.clamxav.com/ ) or iAntivirus (http://www.iantivirus.com/ )

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

thanks everyone

Answer 2

There are Mac viruses, though Windows viruses are much larger in number.
Macs, like Windows PCs, can also slow down over time. With Windows, we call it "Windows Rot". With Macs...I have no idea.
If you think you may have a virus, you can try ClamXav (free): http://www.clamxav.com/