Can Macintosh computers spread the Klez virus?
Yes, Macintosh computers can spread the Klez virus. According to Symantec (www.symantec.com), other antivirus product vendors and Microsoft, the Klez virus can only infect Windows computers. It takes advantage of vulnerability specific only to Windows versions of Outlook and Outlook Express. However, since it is an e-mail-born virus, a Macintosh user can receive a Klez virus in an attachment to an e-mail. If the attachment is opened, it will not affect the computer, nor spread. But, should the user forward on this e-mail to PC users, they can spread the virus to them. Also, the virus may find a Mac user’s e-mail address on an infected PC user’s system and use that in the address field of e-mails. This would then make the recipient think the Mac user’s computer was infected and sending the infected e-mail, when instead it was a PC doing so with a ‘spoofed’ rather than real origination address.
