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Allan, I'm running Snow Leopard. That's probably the difference here. While I have no proof at this moment that noticeboard was installed by Apple, I can tell you that my noticeboard.app has the same "modified date" as the date that I installed the recent App Store update. The first link that I posted here indicates that others as well suspect it is Apple software; see for example the comment by "shape". Again, hope this helps.

Interesting. I am typing this on my 2010 iMac 27 quad-core i7 that I've left running 10.6.8 and there is no Noticeboard.app there either under commercekit or via a Spotlight search.

My App Store version is 1.0.2 build 63.1 so I'm past the 1.0 update you reference.

When you do "Get info" on the app, what copyright info shows? Apple is good about sticking their legal copyright info language with all of their apps.

I still think it is an unwanted hitchhiker. Can you post an EtreCheck report? Might pop out a clue. The Mac community is being bombarded with adware that is more like malware. It's hidden everywhere in sites that seem to offer a legit download.

Thanks for hanging in with this situation, Allan. It's perplexing and I'd love to get to the bottom of it, one way or the other.

My App Store version is exactly the same as yours. The version number that I previously listed for the update ("1.0") is the version as listed under Software Update's "Installed Software" tab, "Version" column. Date installed for this is 3/18/14, 6:09 PM, which is the exact same timestamp that appears as "date modified" for the vast majority of the files in my /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ folder.

No copyright info doing Get Info on the Noticeboard.app. I contrast this with the comment by "shape" @ https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5996547?answerId=25253713022#25253713022

Using EasyFind, I found the following other files with "noticeboard" in the name:

/private/tmp/noticeboard/ -- a folder that contains a single file named com.apple.notification.mavericks.snowleopard.bundle

/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.noticeboard.plist

/Users/nemodomi/Library/Caches/com.yourcompany.Noticeboard/ -- a folder that contains a single file named Cache.db

I note that EtreCheck's Web site mentions that "EtreCheck is designed to run on OS X 10.7 “Lion” and above. People report that it works on 10.6 “Snow Leopard”, but some features may not report accurate, or any, results." That said, I'm posting the results regardless.

I must leave for work for several hours but look forward to reading your (and/or anyone's!) response when I get back. Thanks again to you and everyone here.

----------

Hardware Information:

Mac Pro (Early 2009)

Mac Pro - model: MacPro4,1

2 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon CPUs: 8 cores

16 GB RAM

Video Information:

ATI Radeon HD 4870 - VRAM: 512 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 26 days 18:16:50

Disk Information:

HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GH41N

WDC WD6400AAKS-41H2B0 disk1 : (596.17 GB)

(null) (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/Time Machine: 437.72 GB (34.52 GB free)

Backup (disk1s3) /Volumes/Backup: 158.01 GB (12.2 GB free)

Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk2 : (1.82 TB)

(null) (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

(null) (disk2s2) <not mounted>: 2.2 MB

(null) (disk2s3) <not mounted>: 7 MB

(null) (disk2s4) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s5) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s6) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s7) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s8) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s9) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s10) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s11) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s12) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s13) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s14) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s15) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk2s17) <not mounted>: 931.24 GB

Boot OSX (disk2s18) <not mounted>: 128 MB

Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk3 : (1.82 TB)

(null) (disk3s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

(null) (disk3s2) <not mounted>: 2.2 MB

(null) (disk3s3) <not mounted>: 7 MB

(null) (disk3s4) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s5) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s6) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s7) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s8) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s9) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s10) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s11) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s12) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s13) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s14) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s15) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk3s17) <not mounted>: 931.24 GB

Boot OSX (disk3s18) <not mounted>: 128 MB

Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk0 : (1.82 TB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

(null) (disk0s2) <not mounted>: 2.2 MB

(null) (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 7 MB

(null) (disk0s4) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s5) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s6) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s7) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s8) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s9) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s10) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s11) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s12) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s13) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s14) <not mounted>: 93.13 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s15) <not mounted>: 128 MB

(null) (disk0s17) <not mounted>: 931.24 GB

Boot OSX (disk0s18) <not mounted>: 128 MB

USB Information:

Canon iP4600 series

Generic Flash Card Reader

Generic Flash Card Reader

Tablet PTK-640

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Macally Peripherals Hub in Macally ICEKEY keyboard

Macally Peripherals Macally ICEKey keyboard

FireWire Information:

Maxtor OneTouch 400mbit - 400mbit max

(null) (disk11s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

Maxtor (disk11s3) /Volumes/Maxtor: 232.76 GB (86.66 GB free)

Thunderbolt Information:

Configuration files:

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Kernel Extensions:

com.rogueamoeba.InstantOn (6.0.3 - SDK 10.6)

com.softraid.driver.SoftRAID (4.5.3 - SDK 10.6)

com.macally.iokit. MacallyICEKBDriver (1.0.0)

com.rogueamoeba.InstantOnCore (6.0.3 - SDK 10.6)

com.logmein.driver.LogMeInSoundDriver (1.0.3 - SDK 10.5)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.2)

com.bresink.driver.BRESINKx86Monitoring (8.0)

com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor (4.0 3844.408822)

com.parallels.kext.prl_hid_hook (4.0 3844.408822)

com.parallels.kext.prl_usb_connect (4.0 3844.408822)

com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge (4.0 3844.408822)

com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic (4.0 3844.408822)

com.google.filesystems.fusefs (2.0.3)

Startup Items:

ParallelsDesktopTransporter: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ParallelsDesktopTransporter

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[System] org.samba.winbindd.plist 3rd-Party support link

Launch Daemons:

[System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.barebones.authd.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.barebones.textwrangler.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.logmeinblanker.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.logmeinserver.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.raupdate.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.softraid.softraidd.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist 3rd-Party support link

Launch Agents:

[System] com.divx.dms.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.divx.update.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.ecamm.iglasses3agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.LMILaunchAgentFixer.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.logmeingui.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.logmeinguiagent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.logmein.logmeinguiagentatlogin.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.nemodomi.UpdatePodcastsAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.parallels.desktop.launch.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.softraid.SoftRAID_Monitor.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist 3rd-Party support link

User Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist

[not loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.LogRotator.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.Service.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.UninstallAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.BlueStacks.AppPlayer.UpdaterAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.Livestation.plist 3rd-Party support link

User Login Items:

uHD-Agent

Garmin Express Service

GrowlHelperApp

LMILaunchAgentFixer

Soundflowerbed

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper

Register

SurplusMeterAgent

Internet Plug-ins:

WacomNetscape: Version: 2.1.0-1 - SDK 10.8 3rd-Party support link

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 3rd-Party support link

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 3rd-Party support link

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 3rd-Party support link

Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.1.5f1 3rd-Party support link

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: (null) 3rd-Party support link

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20913.0 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin101736: Version: Unknown

DivX Web Player: Version: 3.1.1.9 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.465 3rd-Party support link

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6

GarminGpsControl: Version: 4.1.0.0 Release - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link

VLC Plugin: Version: 1.0.0 3rd-Party support link

WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.2 3rd-Party support link

EPPEX Plugin: Version: 3.0.5.0 3rd-Party support link

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

iTunes Plug-ins:

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.2

User Internet Plug-ins:

BlueStacks Install Detector: Version: 0.3.6 - SDK 10.7 3rd-Party support link

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player 3rd-Party support link

Growl 3rd-Party support link

WacomTablet 3rd-Party support link

Old Applications:

Singlemizer: Version: 2.0.6 - SDK 10.0 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Utilities/Singlemizer.app

Google Update Uninstaller: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.0 3rd-Party support link

Time Machine:

Time Machine information requires OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later.

Top Processes by CPU:

37% WebProcess

26% activitymonitord

7% Safari

6% Opera

4% WindowServer

Top Processes by Memory:

2.75 GB WebProcess

1.07 GB Safari

967 MB WindowServer

836 MB firefox

737 MB Preview

Virtual Memory Information:

143 MB Free RAM

9.18 GB Active RAM

4.44 GB Inactive RAM

2.22 GB Wired RAM

30.51 GB Page-ins

3.59 GB Page-outs

Noticeboard in Snow Leopard is located here:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Not iceboard.app

There's no version information that I can see, though.

Not in my install of Snow. The only app in that folder is store_help.app and it has not been modified since I bought the computer in 2011.

I've asked one of the real experts on adware to look in on this thread.

I apologize if I have been too hard on you -- it was not my intention to insult or injure anyone.

noticeboard.app does appear here on my 10.6.8 Boot Volume:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/

Versions/A/Resources/Noticeboard.app

It appears to have been added only to 10.6.8 in the last Mac App Store Update. (not in 10.8.5 or 10.9.2)

I am willing to believe Apple added it, and that its basic purpose is to drive "sales" of Mavericks and other items from the Mac App Store.

I am not present looking over every Reader's shoulder. I cannot help them make the fine distinction about whether this is an obvious SCAM or whether it is Apple's attempt in 10.6.8 to push items from the Mac App Store. (the glaring counterexample is MacKeeper).

So I would continue to suggest that in general one should assume such pop-ups are LIKELY to be a SCAM, and that you should never follow links to get products -- go directly to the source and pick them up yourself.

I don't see such a Noticeboard.app on my 10.9.2 system, or any other signs of it. However, I fired up a clean 10.8.5 system I had sitting around in a virtual machine and installed all the updates available in the App Store. At the end of that, although I didn't get a Noticeboard app there either, I did see some interesting things.

First, I saw a pop-up with exactly the same text that ivysaurr reported:

Is this the same as what everyone else is seeing?

The other thing I saw is that, despite having no Noticeboard.app in that CommerceKit framework, I did find some interesting things in the Console from the time of the updates I applied:

I don't know what that error at the end indicates, but the mention of something relating to Noticeboard on a clean Mountain Lion system suggests to me that this is normal. I'm not sure, though, why you're seeing it in 10.6.8, but Allan is not. It's interesting that he has a higher version of the App Store than you do... have you tried doing a software update and installing all available updates? Perhaps doing so will remove the app.

Alternately, what country do you live in? Perhaps there is a difference in App Store version for some countries. Allan and I are in the US - where are you?

Edit: Scratch that last thought, as I just saw Grant's latest post, and he's in the US. Don't ask me what's going on here. I've got some feelers out to some colleagues who have 10.6.8 systems... we'll see what they come back with.

Minehad the same text and buttons as that, but it appeared in the middle of the screen. I'm running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 on a late-2008 aluminum Macbook.

I was away for a few hours, and during that time some colleagues of mine dug up a wealth of good information. This appears to be part of an App Store update posted on the 13th, and which can be found here:

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/10/36/031-1521/hibwdnqmznyahx2tyiu7h40d jjz79cwd9c/AppStoreUpdate.pkg

Noticeboard.app is a part of this update:

So, it's officially legit.

It may be "officially legit" but should I not asked if I want to install it? This is what I found on my SL system following the path Grant provided..

Eustace Mendis wrote:

It may be "officially legit" but should I not asked if I want to install it?

So you were not asked to install AppStoreUpdate 1.0? I haven't had a chance to check yet.

OK, now that I've had a chance to Log into Snow Leopard, the first thing I was presented with was:

And my appologies to thomas_r. and the rest of you, the download information that he gave you was not the one for Snow Leopard. I'll get back to you with the correct link to package 031-3751.

"I apologize if I have been too hard on you -- it was not my intention to insult or injure anyone."

It's all good Grant, I feel you were trying to help get to the bottom of this as much as I was. My info to that point was obviously anecdotal, not conclusive. No hard feelings!

I don't really see a need for anybody to download this, but in order to correct my error, the correct download for the Snow Leopard version of Mac App Store Update 1.0 is

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/10/36/031-1521/hibwdnqmznyahx2tyiu7h40d jjz79cwd9c/AppStoreUpdate.pkg

And the noticeboard.app can be seen here:

thomas r., just to keep the details straight for everyone, my version of the App Store application is the same as Allan's; I clarified this misunderstanding in a prior post earlier today that you may have missed. I just wanted to clarify that point so as to eliminate that aspect as potentially contributing to any of this. Thanks.