Malware question

[DevDream]

Is it possible for malware to spread from windows to mac is theyre installed on a macbook , sinde they share the same hardware, or does malware affect the os which affects the hardware rather than malware affecting hardware directly?

[Pete!]

As I understand it, a typical malware can only "infect" the operating system it was designed for, but the other operating system(s) can act as a "carrier", and infect machines it shares files with.

This article may be a bit "dated":
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2617132/mac-os-x/why-mac-users-should-care-about-windows-malware.html

[Digerati]

Asked and answered: http://exts.org/t/208579/#post-861769

[Corrine]

Just so you know, DevDream, it is considered rude to ask the same question at multiple forums.  The people answering questions and providing help are volunteering their personal time, which they could have spent helping others.

[DevDream]

Just so you know, DevDream, it is considered rude to ask the same question at multiple forums.  The people answering questions and providing help are volunteering their personal time, which they could have spent helping others.

I just wanted to be sure cuz I asked on one forum, a bunch of ppl gave me different answers. Also i sometimes post the same question at several sites just so I can receive an answer more quickly as i understand everyone has busy lives. No offence is intended.

This case has been solved anyhow , to do with hard drives. 

[Digerati]

Also i sometimes post the same question at several sites just so I can receive an answer more quickly as i understand everyone has busy lives.

Well, that's the rude or "poor forum etiquette" part. There are limited number of helpers, with many of us making rounds to all the sites and as noted, we are all volunteers who want to maximize our spare time helping the most people. So you "shotgun" or cross posting is like going to a busy market with all your kids and having them spread out in all the check out lines so you can get ahead of all the others who have patiently been waiting their turn in a single line - not people seeking help have busy lives too and you are taking away resources from them - not cool!

Since there are often many ways to resolve the same problem, it can also result in conflicting advice that can end causing further delays and confusion.

Also considered extremely rude is failing to go back to each site you posted your question and post followups. Leaving a thread dangling wastes everyone's time.

And for the record, I believe you have been told all this before at other sites.

[DonnaB]

As I understand it, a typical malware can only "infect" the operating system it was designed for, but the other operating system(s) can act as a "carrier", and infect machines it shares files with.

This article may be a bit "dated":
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2617132/mac-os-x/why-mac-users-should-care-about-windows-malware.html

To expand on Pete's reply...

This is not just limited to Macs. Let's say you have a smartphone that has a file on it that is infected with Windows malware. As Pete pointed out about the file on the Mac acting as a carrier, so can the file on the smartphone. Leo Notenboom wrote a great article concerning this > Can my PC get a virus from my smartphone?

As he points out:

Many smartphones can be connected to your PC and laptop. When they are, your smartphone appears as if it were a USB-connected disk drive. You may have been even treating your smartphone as if it were a thumb drive.

If this is the case, then it might be a different story, particularly if you have an infected file or program.

If Windows malware is on the smartphone, you plug it into your computer, and autorun is running, the Windows-based malware could start running and infect your machine.

If you’re using your smartphone to carry software from one place to another, there’s nothing special about the smartphone that would inoculate you from malware. It’s still going to have the virus. In that sense, the smartphone can certainly still carry viruses.

Corrine, I am sure you remember helping me with my sons W7 that was trashed with the ZA rootkit a few years back. That was the result of an infection he passed on from his Android that he used for storage and transferred the files to his computer. Time and time again he reinfected that W7 with a rouge AV till I insisted he install AV software on the phone.

[plodr]

Good post, DonnaB. If there were a like button here, I'd have clicked it.

[DonnaB]

Thank you plodr! :)

As for forum etiquette, here's a good link I bookmarked some time ago when I was learning about forum etiquette.

25 Forum Posting Etiquette Tips

Do not double post (post the same message twice in one thread) or cross post (place the same message across several forums).

It should include the posting of the same question in multiple subforums on the same forum as well.

[Digerati]

Thanks for that link, Donna. :)

or cross post (place the same message across several forums).

It should include the posting of the same question in multiple subforums on the same forum as well.

The problem is, a entire site is often referred to as a forum - even though a site typically has several forums on the site.

But you are right, to be more clear, it should say something like "or cross post (place the same message on more than one site or more than one forum within the same site)."

[DonnaB]

Yes. I have seen where members will start a thread on a forum in the Windows help forum then turn around and start a thread in the Hardware forum about the same computer not realizing the problems could possibly be related, which means you have helpers trying to fix a problem in one subforum providing instructions that could conflict with the instructions provided by another helper in the other subforum.

Happens all the time, but we are here to not only help, but to educate as well. :)

[Digerati]

but we are here to not only help, but to educate as well.

Exactly!!!! Where's that Like button now? ;)

[DonnaB]

Good post, DonnaB. If there were a like button here, I'd have clicked it.

but we are here to not only help, but to educate as well.

Exactly!!!! Where's that Like button now? ;)

;D  I "Like" you guys, too!

[DonnaB]

ooops! I think I messed up those quotes. Oh well. Still learning....

[Corrine]

Never stop learning!  :) 

Look how far you've come since that mess on your son's computer -- training completed and now teaching others.