iMac Safari appears open in Dock after sleep

2150ark wrote:

Do I have malware on my iMac? I quit all my applications, including Safari. A quick look at the dock indicates no apps open. But if the computer has been asleep for a while, when I wake it, the dock indicates Safari is open (small dot under the icon), despite there being no Safari window open. I'm afraid that I have been hacked. Clean My Mac indicates no infection. Running Sequoia on 2019 iMac.

OP wrote " Clean My Mac indicates no infection "

Disk Cleaner 

CleanMyMac , aka “ BrickMyMac 

There are two schools of thought when dealing with CleanMyMac aka “ BrickMyMac “

The steps in #1 below is predicated on the Offending  Application has been Removed as per the Developers Specific Instruction 

# 1 Some Contributors suggest restarting in Recovery Mode and choosing to Reinstall the Operating System over the existing installation. 

This may or may not replace elements of the  Home Folder ( User Account )  and replace any corrupted or removed elements and make things right.

The computer will never work the same once this software has been installed and used on the computer

#2 - Then there are Other Contributors ( like myself ) would suggest  from this link Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.

For Intel computer >> Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac followed by How to reinstall macOS

Thereafter to start from scratch and install all Required Applications directly from the Apple Apps Store or Directly from the Developer.

If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate things back as this will probably Re-Introduce the existing  issue at the time TM Backup was made