Pulse Secure.app will damage your computer - Malware

Just yesterday I received the pop-up pictured below. From doing a little research, it looks like this is a known malware attack, but I can't figure out how to clear it. I'm running Big Sur v11.5.2 and BitDefender v9.0.0.3 (I do not have Traffic Light turned on for BitDefdender), yet the problem got through. A full scan with BitDefender didn't find a problem. I downloaded MalwareBytes this morning and ran a check with it, also no problems found. Any suggestions on how to repair? Thank you!!!

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Aug 26, 2021 6:27 AM

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MalwareTrouble Author

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Aug 26, 2021 11:52 AM

While all the universities are cash-strapped right now, I'm fortunate to work for a big monster one with excellent resoures.

They got back to me right away and told me to delete the Pulse from the App folder, and delete the Pulse folder as well, then re-install off our internal intranet.

While I thought I had done this before to no avail, it now appears that this worked and I'm no longer getting the popup. I'm considering this resolved.

My thanks to all of you who weighed in with guidance and suggestions: it was all good and despite the time sync, I'm grateful that I've spent a few hours cleaning up stray "stuff" on my laptop in the process.

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24 replies

Aug 26, 2021 2:28 PM in response to etresoft

Thank you for the additional guidance - I hugely appreciate it. Wish I could contribute on this forum but I'm not knowledgeable enough - I'll "pay it forward" to others in need in areas that I can help them - thanks to you al!

Aug 26, 2021 8:04 AM in response to Owl-53

Again: a heartfelt thank you for the guidance.

The only login item is Dropbox, which I left turned on. No other entries in login items.

Ran Etrecheck and posting the full report below...

Pulse Secure.app will damage your computer

Aug 26, 2021 9:45 AM in response to MalwareTrouble

My company went away from Pulse Secure, though I don't know why. I would try to re-install it from wherever your IT folks tell you to. You should get a new certificate that way

Aug 26, 2021 10:33 AM in response to MalwareTrouble

Now if you can just get my tiny, cash-strapped university IT department to provide same service (they try, they really do!).....

Best of luck.

Aug 26, 2021 11:54 AM in response to MalwareTrouble

Yeah, Pulse Secure seems to store stuff in various nooks and crannies.

Sep 23, 2021 4:48 AM in response to MalwareTrouble

I have the same issue. Did someone find the solution for it?

Owl-53

Level 10

102,643 points

Sep 23, 2021 7:11 AM in response to Pedro Canelas

Re-read above from Original Posters answer and or re-read the posting above from @ IdrisSeabright

faccie76

Level 1

8 points

Sep 28, 2021 7:58 PM in response to MalwareTrouble

Thank you for asking this! I had the same issue. Did you ever find any malware? Or was it just a popup from an outdated version of Pulse Secure?

Aug 27, 2021 8:52 AM in response to MalwareTrouble

I got the same message and my university's IT department said the version of Pulse Secure I was running was outdated. They walked me through removing the old version and installing a newer, safe version. Call your IT department. :)

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Pulse Secure.app will damage your computer - Malware