Can i get a virus on the MacBook Apple Laptop from playing SSL ?

[Oliva011488303314]

So ive been playing this game for several years since 2009. BUT on a HP Windows PC i was a computer freak and downloaded music from Limewire Frost Wire and played SL now im not sure where the viruses came from either from both or one thing . and i got a new one then this time i just used recommended music websites and still used SL . That PC was a bit slow but not bad at all. Now that i have a Apple laptop im completely scared to download SL. Most say its safe but those used a big computer.. Mines a mini laptop that cost me 1grand... i need helpful advice could SL ruin my laptop wether from a virus or slow it down .... btw it has great wi-fi and stuff thats why i dont wanna damage it.. i need answeres from recently in this current year                              

 

Could i get a virus on the MacBook Apple laptop when running SL? What could cause a virus just to be aware of it when playing if i do again? AND could it slow down my laptop ? Or what may slow my laptop down?

[Marigold Devin]

Welcome to Second Life Forums, Oliva01

Lots of things can appear to slow any computer system down, and certainly none of us want viruses.

Wi-fi may certainly be great in many ways, but Second Life does not always work well wirelessly, and we would always recommend you are hard wired when logged into SL.

As for viruses - ensure you have good anti-virus software installed, one that has real time scanning turned on.  This does not mean, however, that every single virus will be caught and stopped, because the virus creators are always one step ahead, but it gives you the best chance. 

To keep your computer from running slow, ensure you maintain it with basic regular routines - do not keep everything on your hard drive (use separate media storage for anything valuable to you, such as videos or other data you wish to keep).

I am not, however, a Mac user, so I do think you will get more specific advice from other Mac users who also use these forums.

Please keep checking back on this thread, and if you wish to add more, you can do so by clicking on "options" at the top right hand corner of your original post to "edit".

Editing: typo.  I said "I was now... ", when in fact it should read, as above "I am not ..." Grrrhhh! NYFS (New Year Finger Syndrome)

[Orca Flotta]

i was a computer freak

Sorry, but I highly doubt that, Olivia. Else you wouldn't ask about viruses but you'd know what to do to avoid 'em. Particularly on a Mac since they are basically Unix (BSD) machines and hardly susceptible for all the stupid windoze virae. Oh, and by the way, no serious computer freak would ever be seen alive with a Mac and no computer freak would call SL a game.

But, to make it short: No fear, downloading any viewer from official sources is save. SL is a kinda save environment and viruses can't damage your hardware, however weak it is. Big computers can catch a virus in the same way like a tiny little laptop, it's all in the software. Hardware has nothing to do with it. Nuffin' at all.

You probably caught the viruses when pirating music from those other sites you mentioned, or when clicking unreflectedly on websites and links or opened email from unknown senders. Be aware, be vigilante, the best antivirus software sits between your ears!

 

PS: if you wanna be 99.999999% sure to not catch a virus, install Linux and just go your merry way. It's what I, and many other SL resis, did. As a result I don't have to worry about my installation anymore. I don't have any antivirus software installed and not even a firewall (apart from the hardware firewall in my router). As a side effect Linux will even keep our enemies the NSA at bay.

[Rhys Goode]

7 years in SL and never the hint of a security problem.  I have a separate email account for SL, and have never even gotten a single spam message.  

Watch where you click, and be very afraid of ripping off music from unknow sources, but do not worry about getting a virus from downloading SL.

[Orca Flotta]

I have a separate email account for SL

Zacly, Rhys. In RL hubby and me are sharing one email acc, little Orcsi has 2 for herself. Woah that bish has a much richer social life than me. :smileysurprised:

[Nalates Urriah]

As Apple increased its market share it became more of a target for crackers/hackers. If you keep the operating system updated, Apple is relatively safe, certainly more so than WIndows.

Some geeks tend to run even Windows without AV installed. But, they are very concious of what they click on and what they allow to install on their machines. The rest of are better off running a good AV package. I like ESET and hate Norton. But, check reviews and decide what you think is best for you.

The SL Viewer is pretty safe. But, it does connect to third party web sites, musice sites, and streaming media sites that Linden Lab does not control. I turn off the automatic media play in Preferences->Soundes. Some third party viewers have filters to only allow your approved sites to play media. Either of those steps will make the viewer safer.

As always the level of security with the viewer is relly a matter of what you click on. Clicking open gifts from strangers is a high risk activity. These clicks can open web sites or online files on Trojan sites and infect your computer.

[Oliva011488303314]

okay well thanks everyone . one more question since the old third party viewer i used is no longer running. what are other good best supported viewers to use? i was thinking of getting Firestorm .  What would you guys suggest ?

[Orca Flotta]

What would you guys suggest ?

Really depends on your fave gui:

V3: Firestorm

V1: Singularity, since FS in Phoenix mode sux balls

[Oliva011488303314]

Yeah cause ive been thing of getting Firestorm , but im just in fear of slowing down my laptop or getting a virus . Like besides video streaming is there anything else i should aviod when playing SL again? 

[Perrie Juran]

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Oliva01 wrote:

Yeah cause ive been thing of getting Firestorm , but im just in fear of slowing down my laptop or getting a virus . Like besides video streaming is there anything else i should aviod when playing SL again? 

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I am going to stick my neck out here.  I've broached the question to several people I know who have expertise in this field (I really don't have it myself) but have not heard back from all of them yet.

While it is true that there have been Flash Player exploits and also there may be a possibilty of being directed to a malicious Web Site via MOAP (Media On A Prim), I can find no record of a Virus being introduced simply via streaming Media or Music.

If someone has verifiable information to the contrary I would love to see it.

 

[Orca Flotta]

If someone has verifiable information to the contrary I would love to see it.

 No, Perrie, no contradicting information. And, same as you, I tend to open multimedia streams whenever I feel like. In 7 years on SL I haven't caught a virus yet. What I did though, rather stupidly clicked a link to some questionaire that promised some L$ for filling it in. That was stupid since my L$ account was emptied swiftly and I also was suspended by LL. After complaining and telling them that I'm not the fraudster they let me back in and also recovered my money from the original bad guys. Well, that was years ago (08 I believe) and was a wake up call and ever since that  day I employ my little brain before clicking on  anything.

[Perrie Juran]

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Orca Flotta wrote:

If someone has verifiable information to the contrary I would love to see it.

 No, Perrie, no contradicting information. And, same as you, I tend to open multimedia streams whenever I feel like. In 7 years on SL I haven't caught a virus yet. What I did though, rather stupidly clicked a link to some questionaire that promised some L$ for filling it in. That was stupid since my L$ account was emptied swiftly and I also was suspended by LL. After complaining and telling them that I'm not the fraudster they let me back in and also recovered my money from the original bad guys. Well, that was years ago (08 I believe) and was a wake up call and ever since that  day I employ my little brain before clicking on  anything.

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Thank you Orca.

The major flap about streaming music, video & MOAP (when MOAP was introduced) was the potential to reveal your IP address to whomever was doing the streaming.  That was supposedly how the banned Red Zone worked to identify Alts, by associating IP's with Avatars.  But it was well known the number of false positives it generated.

During all the discussion about these features IP was brought up a lot, but I don't recall anyone bringing up the potentential of a malicious payload being delivered via them.  I'm not going back to reread all that stuff now, but that is my memory.

Every so called 'hack' that I have read about in SL involved a secondary act by a User, usually following a link supplied by a hacker.  You can not send a link via a Stream.

If people are worried about revealing thier IP, there are ways to obfustacate that.  But that is the nature of many services on the Internet such as voice (when you 'call' someone, not voice in general), web cam, etc.  You make a direct connect. 

[Hawkeye Hawks]

FWIW for historical purposes:

In 2007, pre-MOAP,  there was an exploit in Apple's Quicktime that without any user action directed the SL user to a malicious site that was able to steal all of the user's lindens. The exploit was not in the Second Life viewer but was made possible by a glitch in Quicktime. When the glitch was discovered LL recommended that users turn off streaming video in their preferences.

http://www.spamfighter.com/News-9506-Second-Life-Exploit-Allows-Hackers-Steal-Linden-Currency-from-Avatars.htm

http://cavers.ca/hackers-exploit-flaw-in-apple-quicktime-to-rob-second-life-residents/

To assume that SL users are free from viruses that can affect their SL experience and security is foolish. Just last week Blizzard Entertainment announced that there was a trojan circulating that allowed exploiters to steal players' accounts in World of Warcraft. The trojan was introduced into the player's system either by their browsers that misdirected them to a malicious site for a 3rd party download of a World of Warcraft related download or through a malicious ad. This was a zero-day attack that had persisted for a while before it was discovered. When the trojan was first discovered there was no A/V program that was able to remove the trojan, but within hours of the announcement some A/V programs were able to develop a detection and removal tool that was able to do so.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/2/5267872/world-of-warcraft-users-warned-of-malware-that-steals-account

There is no such thing as 100% security anywhere on the net.

 

[Perrie Juran]

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Hawkeye Hawks wrote:

 

There is no such thing as 100% security anywhere on the net.

 

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Absolutely.

And I know there are people always looking for holes in the wall to slip through.

I fully endorse exercising good Internet habits to protect one's self.

I stay careful myself.

I leave Media off myself until I actually need it.  But I don't not use it.

At a certain point it almost becomes "You'd be safer staying off the Internet."