brain7000

Q: how to get rid of search.mykotlerino.com

I got alway search engine "http://search.mykotlerino.com" whenever I open the window or open the search in the safari lately. I used or I like to open with Google Search Engine but not lately. So, I have to type over the above mentioned search.mykotlerino.com in order to get into "google search engine "which I do not wished.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Nov 2, 2015 8:13 PM

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Q: how to get rid of search.mykotlerino.com

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  • by Camelot,Helpful

    Camelot Camelot Nov 4, 2015 1:00 AM in response to brain7000
    Level 8 (47,300 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 4, 2015 1:00 AM in response to brain7000

    Which browser are you using?

     

    Your system is infected with a browse plugin that overrides your search settings.  It shouldn't be hard to remove, but the specific actions depend on which browser you use.

     

    Check Stop pop-up ads and adware in Safari - Apple Support as a place to start.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 3, 2015 10:14 AM in response to brain7000
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Nov 3, 2015 10:14 AM in response to brain7000

    You may have installed one or more variants of the "InstallMac" trojan. Take the steps below to disable it.

    The criminal behind this attack tries to make the malware hard to remove by varying the names of the files it installs. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for a more recent discussion, or start a new one.

    Back up all data before continuing.

    1. Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents

    In the Finder, select

              Go Go to Folder...

    from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return. A folder named "LaunchAgents" will open.

    2. Inside the folder you just opened, there may be files with a name of the form

              something.AppRemoval.plist

              something.download.plist

              something.ltvbit.plist

              something.update.plist

    where something is usually a meaningless string, such as any of the following:

              Epolife

              InstallMac

              Javeview

              Kuklorest

              Manroling

              Otwexplain

    These are examples, not a complete list. The string could be anything. The point is that the same string will usually appear in the name of three or four files.

    You could have more than one copy of the malware, with different values of something.

    Move all such items to the Trash. If there are any other files with a name that begin with something, move them to the Trash also. After you've done that, there may not be anything left in the LaunchAgents folder; in that case, you can delete the folder, but otherwise don't delete it. Other files in the folder are not necessarily malicious (though they could be, if you also installed some other kind of malware.)

    Log out or restart the computer. The trojan will now be inactive, but there are a few more components of it that should be cleaned up.

    3. Open this folder in the same way as above:

    ~/Library/Application Support

    and move to the Trash any subfolders named with the same something you found in Step 2.

    Don't move the Application Support folder or anything else inside it.

    4. Open the Applications folder. If there is an item with the same name as in Step 3, or any of the other names listed in Step 2, or with the name "Zip Devil," drag it to the Trash.

    If in doubt, press the key combination option-command-4 to arrange the apps by date added. Look at the apps that have been added since you first noticed the problem. If there is one you don't recognize, drag it to the Trash.

    Empty the Trash.

    If you get an alert that the application is in use, force it to quit.

    5. From the Safari menu bar, select

              Safari Preferences... Extensions

    Uninstall all extensions you don't know you need. If in doubt, remove all of them. None is required for normal operation. Do the equivalent in the Chrome and Firefox browsers, if you use either of those.

    6. Reset the home page in each of your browsers, if it was changed. In Safari, first load the home page you want, then select

              Safari Preferences... General

    and click

              Set to Current Page

  • by brain7000,

    brain7000 brain7000 Nov 4, 2015 1:25 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2015 1:25 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks Linc Davis.

     

    Unfortunately my mini mac doesn't have the option to change the setting in preferences and or follow your suggestions 1, 2, 3 and 4.

    I tried to click the keyboard command "v" however nothing coming up.

     

    Again thanks for your time to response to my inquire .

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 4, 2015 6:10 AM in response to brain7000
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Nov 4, 2015 6:10 AM in response to brain7000

    my mini mac doesn't have the option to change the setting in preferences and or follow your suggestions

    Yes it does. If the instructions are unclear, please specify what you don't understand.

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Nov 4, 2015 6:26 AM in response to brain7000
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 4, 2015 6:26 AM in response to brain7000

    Easiest way to do this:

     

    https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

     

    Don't let anyone tell you it will violate your privacy or security, or that it's an Anti-Virus (which it really is not--it only looks for a few Mac trojans, and that's all to the good), or that it will cause any harm--that will soon be on the way. There have been ZERO substantiated instances of it doing any harm at all. Used by Apple technicians themselves, and the overwhelming majority of higher level contributors here at ASC. Developed by a long time ASC contributor who knows his stuff.

     

    You may do more damage by mucking around in directories and parts of the OS with which you are not familiar.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 4, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Nov 4, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Fortunately, if you're running OS X 10.6.8 as your profile indicates, you can't put your data and your privacy at risk by running an "anti-malware" program that some stranger on a website wants you to run.

    Your question brings up the subject of removing adware. This is a general comment on that subject.

    Under no circumstances should you ever allow anti-virus software to delete something for you.

    The only tools that anyone needs to detect and remove adware are the Finder and a web browser, both of which you already have. Anyone who has enough computer skill to install adware can just as well remove it without using anything else.

    Apple's general statements about malware protection are here and here, and here are its instructions for removing the most common types of ad-injection malware. Those statements don't mention any third-party "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product. Apple's method for removing adware involves only the Finder and a web browser, as stated above.

    You become infected with malware by downloading unknown software without doing research to determine whether it's safe. If you keep making that mistake, the same, and worse, will keep happening, and no anti-malware will rescue you. Your own intelligence and caution are the only reliable defense.

    The Windows/Android anti-malware industry had more than $75 billion in sales in 2014 [source: Gartner, Inc.] Its marketing strategy is to convince people that they're helpless against malware attack unless they use its products. But with all that anti-malware, the Windows and Android platforms are still infested with malware—most of it far more harmful than mere adware. The same can be expected to happen to the Mac platform if its users trust the same industry to protect them, instead of protecting themselves.

    You are not helpless, and you don't have to give full control of your computer—and your data—to strangers in order to be rid of adware.

    These are generalities. Regarding the "malwarebytes" product in particular, you may be told that there are no reports that is has caused damage. In fact, there are such reports; for example:

    I found malware or adware on my system the other day. I removed it with Maleware Bytes and since then Safari has not worked proper at all.

    preferences pane will not load

    Read that report and draw your own conclusions—not anyone else's conclusions.

    The developer itself admitted that the Windows version of the product has been known to delete essential system files.

    Whether the software damages the system or not, it prompts for your password in order to take full adminstrative control, and connects via the Internet to a server controlled by the developer. The developer's privacy policy, linked directly to the product page, reads in part as follows:

    "Without limiting the Privacy Policy, you agree that Malwarebytes may track certain data it obtains from your Computer including data about any malicious software or other threats flagged by the Software, data about your license, data about what version of the Software you are using and what operating conditions it runs under and data concerning your geographic location."

    (Emphasis added.) So the developer admits to tracking your location, as well as other unspecified data, and gives itself the legal right to collect any data it chooses. How it uses that right, you don't know. By running the software, you accept these terms.

    It's sometimes said that the Malwarebytes product only removes adware rather than malware as such (if there's a difference), and that it therefore shouldn't be stigmatized as anti-malware. The developer's own description does distinguish between adware and malware, and specifically mentions removing malware as a selling point six times. A self-described employee of the developer wrote in an ASC discussion, "Actually, it's also a malware removal app..." (emphasis added.)

    The question then is: as a security-conscious computer user, do you want to take risks where there is no benefit?

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Nov 4, 2015 6:29 AM in response to WZZZ
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 4, 2015 6:29 AM in response to WZZZ

    Since it's 10.6.8 MBAM is not supported. However, you can use the manual instructions to remove adware.

     

    http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Nov 4, 2015 7:48 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Nov 4, 2015 7:48 AM in response to Linc Davis

    You may do more damage by mucking around in directories and parts of the OS with which you are not familiar.

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Nov 4, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 4, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Linc Davis

    When there's no choice, you pick the least risky option, which would be the manual removal instructions from MBAM, a known and safe enterprise. Not yours, prepared by an anonymous stranger on the Internet. You should take your own advice.

  • by stevejobsfan0123,

    stevejobsfan0123 stevejobsfan0123 Nov 4, 2015 4:04 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 8 (43,853 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 4, 2015 4:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc Davis wrote:

     

    You may do more damage by mucking around in directories and parts of the OS with which you are not familiar.

    Hmmm, you mean like your own instructions?

    1. Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

    ~/Library/LaunchAgents

    In the Finder, select

              Go Go to Folder...

    from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return. A folder named "LaunchAgents" will open.

    2. Inside the folder you just opened, there may be files with a name of the form

              something.AppRemoval.plist

              something.download.plist

              something.ltvbit.plist

              something.update.plist

    Do you think the OP or most people in their are familiar with that part of the OS?