Do I have a virus/malware problem? Idiot needs help

Question

Hello, Received an email from 'Royal Mail Global' saying that they had failed in delivering a package and to open the attached '.zip' file. Without thinking, I opened the file- it didn't launch anything. I realise this is incredibly stupid and I am mortified. However, I am now concerned that I have a virus, malware, etc. As I am a computer idiot: how do I check if a virus is on the system or a malware programme is stealing all my details? People say "you'll be ok, Mac's don't get virsus" but how do you know? I have encountered no issues, as yet.... I run OS X and have a mac mini. Please help- will be eternally grateful. Thank you in advance

Answer 1

MacHagan wrote:
Hello, Received an email from 'Royal Mail Global' saying that they had failed in delivering a package and to open the attached '.zip' file. Without thinking, I opened the file- it didn't launch anything.
First of all, your Lion OS would have notified you if that was anything currently known to be dangerous. If it was malware it was almost certainly designed for Windows and of no consequence to OS X. If you are certain that the email is spam/junk/hoax then use the delete button in your e-mail client to get rid of it. Check the trash folder and delete it from there, if necessary. If this is a Gmail account, let me know as there may be one more step.
When you say you opended the file, I assume you used an open button or double-clicked the attachment symbol? And then it didn't launch anything, but it should have launch the Archive Utility to unzip the attachment. Did that not happen? Did you see anything after you "opened it"?
Even if it was unzipped, sitting in an attachment folder somewhere and is malware, it won't do anything at all until you attempt to open it. And as I said previously, it's almost certainly for Windows users, anyway.
If you followed the suggestion to use ClamXav (or any other A-V software), there are some special considerations regarding e-mail. Here are my standard cautions:
Never use ClamXav (or any other A-V software) to move (quarantine) or delete e-mail. It will corrupt the mailbox index which could cause loss of other e-mail and other issues with functions such as searching. It may also leave the original e-mail on your ISP's e-mail server and will be re-downloaded to your hard drive the next time you check for new mail.
So, if you choose to "Scan e-mail content for malware and phishing" in the General Preferences, make sure you do not elect to either Quarantine or Delete infected files.
When possibly infected e-mail files are found:
Right-click/Control-click on either the infection or file name in the ClamXav window.
Select "Reveal In Finder" from the pop-up menu.
When the window opens, double-click on the file to open the message in your e-mail client application.
Read the message and if you agree that it is junk/spam/phishing then use the e-mail client's delete button to delete it (this is especially important when the word "Heuristics" appears in the infection name).
If you disagree and choose to retain the message, return to ClamXav and choose "Exclude From Future Scans" from the pop-up menu.
If this is a g-mail account and those messages continue to show up after you have deleted them in the above manner, you may need to log in to webmail using your browser, go to the "All Mail" folder, find the message(s) and use the delete button there to permanently delete them from the server.
For instructions on how to handle any infections that do not involved e-mail, use the Help menu or go directly to this link Dealing with Infected Files.