I spoke to Mike the other night and he really had some nasties on that hard drive. Folks, Please, Please use the following web site to learn about threats and how they are spread by all of us:
http://www.us-cert.gov/
Also don't think just because you have an Apple product that you are safe, invulnerable or what not. YOU ARE NOT! A lot of the D.o.D. I.T. folks we have tell us that the Mac systems may really be the most vulnerable to cyber attack. We were told that it's just a matter of time and perhaps money before they are exploited too. There have already been some efforts to do so and you can thank you government for stopping them.
Probably part of what happened to Mike is the antivirus he was running found the virius in files on his hard drive and tossed the files rather than heal or cure them. The way these viruses spread through your machine is via the operating systems execution files. These files must be opened for your system to run. I quit using Norton and McAfee years ago because though they will probably stop the virus, they may not remove or cure it and they usually delete files essential to the operating system causing you computer to cease working properly. That will cost you more money. I use AVG Free and have never had it damage my operating system, delete files or so on. I have had it stop maleware dead in it's tracks.
http://free.avg.com/
No antivirus is fool proof and all of them can only detect known threats but there are certain things you can do to minimize your risks. If you send me eamils with an attached file I do not even open the mail, I toss it out. Think that email attachment from your best pal, family or so on is safe, think again. Viruses and maleware are normally spread via friendly email attachments, poronographic websites, downloading of unlicensed or unsigned software, freeware, shareware and so on.
Your government has spent your tax dollars on the U.S.-CERT program to help you avoid attacks via cyberspace. It's a great resource and vital to naltional security too. You and I are a vital link to national security.
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