I think I caught a virus, am I right?

[indago]

Hi,

No not a virus, but I would download and run Malwarebytes you get it here.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/antimalware/mac/



Was this a new Mac?

I clicked on the malwarebytes link and got a popup saying that the site could not be verified as a legitimate site.

I am interested because I believe that I have a virus also.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Asia - No, that isn't a virus. It is simply a PC with file sharing enabled that is on the same network as your Mac.

-Do you share your Wi-Fi with anyone...a neighbor?
-Do you have File Sharing enabled in  > System Preferences... > Sharing?

indago - The link that oldscribe provided is a legitimate site. Are you running any third-party utilities such as MacKeeper/CleanMyMac, or do you have an antivirus or network monitoring app installed? Those may trigger that alert you are receiving.

C

 

[indago]

indago - The link that oldscribe provided is a legitimate site. Are you running any third-party utilities such as MacKeeper/CleanMyMac, or do you have an antivirus or network monitoring app installed? Those may trigger that alert you are receiving.

C

I have Avast installed and working on my Mac.

I believe that there is a virus embedded in my computer. Recently, my Microsoft Office 2008, specifically Excel, and Word, take a longer time to close, and in the menu bar at the top there appears the Apple icon and a scroll icon next to it. I never saw this before. Safari seems slower at times also, and sometimes freezes up.

What can I use to seek out this virus and get rid of it?

I am using:

MacBook Pro 17" 2.53GHz Core i5 (A1297) Mid 2010 MC024LL/A SKU17697 MC024LL/A GS17697

OSX Version 10.6.8 Safari Version 5.1.10 (6534.59.10)

 

[Cory Cooper]

indageo - thanks for the additional information.

-Can you post a screenshot of the "Apple icon and a scroll icon next to it."? It may help if we an see what that icon looks like.
-Microsoft Office apps are notorious for slowing down over time. I assume you have applied all of the Microsoft software updates?
-You could try to disable Avast so that you can download the Malwarebytes app.
-If Safari is slow, it could be due to Avast running real-time scanning. You could try to disable that feature. Also, you could check to see what Extensions may be installed in Safari > Preferences > Extensions.

Normally, we do not recommend installing/running antivirus software, as it really isn't needed on a Mac. They are known to cause slowness and performance issues, and never really find any viruses, as there just aren't that many/any in OS X.

C

 

[indago]

This is what I get while Microsoft Word is shutting down, which takes around 20-30 seconds now, as opposed to about 3-5 seconds previously.

When I began to use the WiFi at a motel, I logged on and my screen froze right away. I realized that I might be being hacked. I shut down the computer and looked into the status of my firewall. It was off. I turned it on, but since that time I have seen that the scroll icon showed in the menu bar along with the Apple icon when shutting down Word, and it took longer to shut down.

 

[Cory Cooper]

The scroll icon is the AppleScript icon. In Word, you will see the same icon next to Help in the menu bar. You could check that menu to see if anything is listed...nothing is there by default. Word stores installed AppleScripts and Automator Actions in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Word Script Menus. Maybe you added one at some point, which i executing when you close Word? Also, that icon does appear normally when quitting Word, as there are Microsoft scripts that run to save the Normal template and settings/preferences. But, it should only show for a second or so.

Another possible solution, would be to totally trash the ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data folder. Unless you use Entourage for email, or have any Office customizations, this folder can be safely deleted and it will be recreated the next time you launch one of the Office apps.

C