HT202225: How to avoid or remove Mac Defender malware in Mac OS X v10.6 or earlier

Learn about How to avoid or remove Mac Defender malware in Mac OS X v10.6 or earlier
jabbay25

Q: I'm getting a pop up ads on my mac

Help!

 

Past week some little pop ups show up on my safari that give me the option "Hide Ad" or "Open Ad" whenever i click hide it opens up a new page as well. This is annoying what do i do?

 

Thanks!

iOS 7.1

Posted on Apr 16, 2014 5:02 PM

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Q: I'm getting a pop up ads on my mac

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 17, 2014 6:28 AM in response to jabbay25
    Level 6 (19,395 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2014 6:28 AM in response to jabbay25

    I have found that many of these Ads are generated via Flash, so I install a browser extension called "ClickToFlash" which prevents Flash from running automatically.  You have to actually click on the Flash display to load the Flash content.  It will not auto-start.

  • by WZZZ,Apple recommended

    WZZZ WZZZ Apr 17, 2014 6:40 AM in response to jabbay25
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2014 6:40 AM in response to jabbay25
  • by TheNiki81,

    TheNiki81 TheNiki81 Sep 11, 2014 3:58 AM in response to jabbay25
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 11, 2014 3:58 AM in response to jabbay25

    I've also been experiencing problems with pop-up ads from malware on Safari and Firefox. I did all of the checking we're told to do on forums such as seeing if there is anything unusual in the Activity Monitor, deleted cookies and so on. Today, I also got malware on Google Chrome. After spending a long, long time trying to work out how to remove malware from my Mac or from the browsers, I was left confused and unable to remove it. Downloading anti-virus software didn't help either, as these sort of pop-up ads are not considered to be harmful to the computer, so the software seems not to to detect it. But I came across and article suggesting that I go to 'extensions' within Safari (click on 'Safari' > 'preferences' > 'extensions') and delete those. I only had one extension which I deleted and that has solved the problem. Sure enough, I had the same extension in Firefox (click on 'Tools' > 'add-ons') and Google Chrome ('Chrome' > 'preferences' > 'extensions'). Once deleted in Chrome's 'extensions' or disabled in Firefox's 'add-ons', the pop-up ads have disappeared. So in the end, I discovered the malware was affecting the browsers and not the Mac itself. How the extension on the browsers got there, I don't know. But I was really surprised as the eventual solution was very simple.

  • by It's Shanghai,

    It's Shanghai It's Shanghai Dec 16, 2014 10:12 AM in response to TheNiki81
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2014 10:12 AM in response to TheNiki81

    THIS WORKS!!!!

    I deleted the extensions on my google chrome and it works great again.

    Thank you very much

  • by angelo300,

    angelo300 angelo300 Jan 6, 2015 7:57 PM in response to TheNiki81
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 7:57 PM in response to TheNiki81

    this works!!!

     

    removing extensions solved my same problem!

  • by hashbrown022,

    hashbrown022 hashbrown022 Jan 14, 2015 7:40 PM in response to TheNiki81
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2015 7:40 PM in response to TheNiki81

    Same problem, same solution! So easy! Thanks for the post!

  • by ElCondorPasa,

    ElCondorPasa ElCondorPasa Apr 27, 2016 10:40 AM in response to TheNiki81
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 27, 2016 10:40 AM in response to TheNiki81

    Worked for me too. Not sure how this extention was added, but its gone now!

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Apr 27, 2016 3:58 PM in response to ElCondorPasa
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 27, 2016 3:58 PM in response to ElCondorPasa

    .

  • by WZZZ,

    WZZZ WZZZ Apr 29, 2016 5:47 AM in response to WZZZ
    Level 6 (13,112 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 29, 2016 5:47 AM in response to WZZZ

    .