I'm using osx 10.8.5 and my Mac has been compromised. Every time I am on Youtube and other sites tons of strange ads pop up on the bottom and right side of the screen. Sophos scanned clean. Any suggestions?
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)
Did you mean "turn off Time Machine"? If so, definitely do not disable your backups in a misguided attempt to deal with some Windows malware attached to an e-mail message! Also, you should not allow your anti-virus software to look at, much less touch, your Time Machine backups. That can cause your backups to become corrupt, and then you think you're safely backed up when you really aren't.
ferraby_love wrote:
So then its a virus? If its so what can I do now?
No, it's not a virus. Go back and read my first response to you above. That's where I gave the instructions for what you need to do.
Hi Thomas
Thank you for your recomendations on adware it worked a treat after my 11 year old son managed to load it on!!
Cheers
Andrew
Nevermind.
Didn't notice that this was an old posting.
now i see a virus on my mac "ads by google" it supoused to be a google chrome virus but now is on safari why apple is not blocking it
It's not a virus. You installed adware of some sort. Either try AdwareMedic (it's linked to more than once in this topic), or look for extensions in whatever browser you're using. Turn them all off. Then turn them on one at a time to see which one is generating the ads. When you find it, turn it back off and delete it.
i remove turned off extensions and use tsm tool and look for these files that were not on my mac
Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support
is it possible google is inserting ads now
do any one can see ads on this site
The page you linked to is greatly outdated. There are many more types of adware not listed there.
Even if I pause AdBlock, I'm not seeing any Google specific ads on that page. A few that don't appear otherwise, but nothing out of the ordinary. Try The Safe Mac's adware removal page. It's a list of manual removal methods for all known adware.
i think this is the problem
We are all familiar with the ubiquitous Ads by Google. They show up on various sites, including Google’s own products such as their Search and Gmail. It’s generally okay because advertising is what pushes the entire Internet infrastructure forward and allows people to use valuable services for free as long as advertisers and large data aggregates establish the respective relationship. Sometimes these ads might get annoying, although experts at Google are obviously doing their best to reduce the intrusiveness level. The legitimate sponsored data displayed by said company is but one of the facets of this article’s subject matter. In this specific context, you are going to get advice on minimizing the number of such ads on web pages in case they disturb you. Fast forwarding this a little bit, it can be done by opting out of Google’s ads that are based on your preferences and other personal data
The other side of the coin is about the activity of cybercriminals designing browser add-ons which generate unwanted adverts. In particular, some of these apps mimic Ads by Google. It’s important to understand the difference here: the regular advertisements are shown because webmasters authorize Google to embed the respective sponsored content; whereas the illicit ones are displayed by a piece of software (commonly referred to as ‘adware’), usually a browser extension running inside the computer without the user’s clear consent. The fake counterparts of Ads by Google are on the rise because, first of all, it’s not problematic for the fraudsters to sign their objects however they like, and secondly, because users tend to take ‘all things Google’ for granted.
If it’s the malicious variant that you encountered, the symptoms are typically as follows: there has appeared a new questionably reputable entry on your browser’s add-ons list; the ads appear on random sites in larger quantities than usual; in-text links and interstitial adverts begin getting embedded in web pages. Another nuance to take into consideration is that these impostor applications mostly infect computers with the help of third-party programs such as free media converters, video and music players, file downloaders, etc. What happens is you install a harmless free utility – and all of a sudden your browser gets hijacked and the visited websites are flooded with exorbitant sponsored content that doesn’t belong there. So mind what you install and at least look at the stuff that may be deliberately hidden during this process.
The sections below cover two different scenarios: one is how to opt out of interest-based Google ads; the other is about eradicating any adware application that imitates Ads by Google or fakes sponsored information by other legitimate services of this kind.
Opt out of preference-based Ads by Google
Be advised this procedure will result in eliminating some ads on Google-owned services (Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps) and on all the other sites whose admins have authorized Google’s advertising to be displayed on their web pages. Importantly, these transactions only apply to relevant ads that are based on the user’s interests and demographic criteria such as age, gender, etc., which means you will still see some ads.
If you are going to cut and paste from some article, then please credit the article with a link so others can read the whole article in context.
Pete
edmundo wrote:
do any one can see ads on this site
Yes. I don't see exactly the ad you see, after reloading the page multiple times, but I do see ads of exactly the same size at the top of the page, next to the road.cc logo. I suspect that what you are seeing is normal for that site.
but I do see ads of exactly the same size at the top of the page, next to the road.cc logo.
Yes, same size and position if I turn AdBlock off. In other words, intentionally paid ad placements that everyone will see if you aren't using some kind of ad blocker.
Thank You so much for sharing this!!! It helped me.
hi Thomas,
I'm in need of your help, when I go to all my files it takes a while before the files appear. Does it mean that I have a virus, and how can I fix it?
It's extremely unlikely to be a virus since there are no known viruses that affect OS X, and there has yet to be one.
I'd be much more concerned that it's one of these two possibilities, or it could be both.
1) The hard drive is full, or nearly so. Click on the drive's icon on the desktop and choose Get Info from the top menu bar. What does it say the capacity of the drive is, and how much free space remains?
2) The drive is physically failing. Back up all of your data immediately.
My Mac has a Virus!
