# Looking for viruses on a Mac? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544 "2014-11-24T23:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/1 "2014-11-24T23:47:09Z")
I’m sitting here watching my DSL WiFi router. The lights are just screaming along. Once I open Firefox, the lights start running just so very rapidly- as though I were downloading or streaming something. Problem is, I’m not. If I open my browser, and just load Google, the lights are running very fast and non-stop, no matter what I am loading or not loading. I smell a bug. Anyone have a good, and hopefully free, anti-virus or virus scan for Mac OS-X 10.6.8 ? Shut off machine, re-started. Shut down DSL, waiting 10 minutes, got new IP address. Same issues. Thoughts? ETA: Yes, it is a Passworded DLS Modem. A long string of randoms, not some stupid cutesy password like “12345678”… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/2 "2014-11-25T00:09:52Z")
You can download and run Clam AV, but I can absolutely guarantee it won’t find anything. You can also use Little Snitch (not free) to see who’s talking. But, I think this is pretty much normal behavior. Everything is so “wired” today that there is always a lot of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/3 "2014-11-25T00:12:05Z")
you could use the inbuilt activity monitor to look at network traffic ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/4 "2014-11-25T00:23:46Z")
My modem flashes its lights even when the computer is off. Chillax. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/5 "2014-11-25T02:41:38Z")
That’s because the computers and modems are talking about us while we sleep, or when we are not using them to do mundane tasks. Their triumph is inevitable, when the day comes. **Cartooniverse’s** computer is probably one of the local cell leaders, hence the volume of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/6 "2014-11-25T03:38:23Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You can download and run Clam AV, but I can absolutely guarantee it won’t find anything. > > You can also use Little Snitch (not free) to see who’s talking. > > But, I think this is pretty much normal behavior. Everything is so “wired” today that there is always a lot of traffic. Um. Sorry, but ClamXav found and quarranteened 13 items. Why the guatanteed failure?? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/7 "2014-11-25T03:41:20Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Um. Sorry, but ClamXav found and quarranteened 13 items. > > Why the guatanteed failure?? I will bet you 100% of them are Windows malware on email attachments. ---
**Author:** ![Anita\_Dayoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Anita\_Dayoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anita_Dayoff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/8 "2014-11-25T16:13:16Z")
None. There is some recent malware but you have to sign up for it. Antivirus software on a Mac does nothing but slow it down. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vegetable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Space\_Vegetable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vegetable)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/9 "2014-11-26T07:33:25Z")
So the activity is only when Firefox is running? Maybe Firefox is downloading an update. Check its About page to see if it’s up to date. Display its Download Progress page. Maybe it thinks you told it to download some big file, and it’s still working on that. Or maybe a Firefox extension is downloading. Try starting Firefox with extensions disabled. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-viruses-on-a-mac/705544/10 "2014-11-26T14:49:47Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I will bet you 100% of them are Windows malware on email attachments. I am sorry to say I deleted the folder and then Secure Emptied the Trash. :rolleyes: Shoot. Judging by the icons, 4 were email attachments. The rest were a mystery to me. I should have done a screen grab. Good ideas, **SpaceVegetable**. Will try these. Thanks !