suspicious malware xg4ken found in cookies

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Level 1

9 points

suspicious malware xg4ken found in cookies

I have some suspicious antics going on while researching on google. So I thought it was time to delete my history and check the cookies. I found this one- xg4ken which seemed odd so I googled it and a list of searches came up with virus/malware/adware links including how to get rid of this virus....

My question is - is this a known virus and is there a list posted to warn of such current malicious threats ?

I use malwarebytes ( the free version) but it always reports clean. Thanks for any info...

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Mar 15, 2021 11:29 AM

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Answer 1

marune1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 29, 2021 9:09 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you for responding. There is still a couple of issues with You tube & 2 days ago with access to certain accounts.

Decided to take my computer in for a diagnostic test & cleaning. Thank you for your help and support!

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Answer 2

Mar 17, 2021 3:04 PM in response to marune1

Cookies are not executable data. They're data. Not code. Purge your cookies at most, and off you go.

xg4ken is purportedly associated with browser-hijacking apps.

If (if!) there's an issue here with browser hijacking, there's another app component involved here.

If you'd like to discuss the particulars of the "suspicious antics" arising here, that's another topic.

Usual local preference is not loading any apps I didn't go looking for. Which tends to reduce the exposure.

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

83,451 points

Mar 15, 2021 11:57 AM in response to marune1

Not one I have known about, but Avast and Malwarebytes do a good job of removing known malware from your Mac.

Cookies from unwanted sources generally are not a problem. You can manually remove them on any browser. However, scripts have been known to rewrite Google Chrome's policies, and you have to edit them directly in the terminal to get them back under control.

For more about the Google Chrome policy bug, https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/6453928?hl=en

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Answer 4

marune1 Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 17, 2021 2:55 PM in response to a brody

Hi and thank you.

I have the free version of malwarebytes suggested when I bought my mac and run it frequently but it always comes up clean.

Is the free version sufficient? Does it hurt to download an extra malware app? I just want to be sure my computer is safe since hacking seems to have escalated. As of this date I notice my computer is slow in booting up along, my finder window minus the side bar, and other quirky incidents . I did an E-check and the result showed a list of 32 bit apps, 4 unassigned apps and Adobe flash player which I know I uninstalled months ago. Not sure where those came from. So, I would like to know how to get rid of old software and its components, manually check for any intrusive files in my libraries(?). That would be a good start. Also, I have had some gmail issues concerning not being able to send attachments and small blue boxes w/ a question mark inside you tube videos that suddenly started happening. But I guess that would be a google issue. Thanks for any advise , tips etc. and will check out the link in your previous response.

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Answer 5

Mar 29, 2021 10:47 AM in response to marune1

marune1 wrote:

Thank you for responding. There is still a couple of issues with You tube & 2 days ago with access to certain accounts.

Decided to take my computer in for a diagnostic test & cleaning. Thank you for your help and support!

One of the all-too-common caused of these sorts of problems can be add-on security apps, add-on anti-malware apps, add-on cleaner apps, add-on VPN apps, and similar "system" apps. It's also quite possible that one or more of these add-ons is present, and is reporting a false positive; of erroneously reporting an issue which does not exist.

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suspicious malware xg4ken found in cookies

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