Q: Safari is highlighting words and linking them to ads? also getting a lot of pop ups

The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Protection

An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

See these Apple articles:

  Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

  OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

  OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

  About file quarantine in OS X

If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using Dr.Web Light from the App Store. It's free, and since it's from the App Store, it won't destabilize the system. If you prefer one of the better known commercial products, then Thomas recommends using Sophos.(Thank you to Thomas Reed for these recommendations.) If you already use Sophos, then be aware of this if you are using Mavericks: OS X Mavericks- Sophos Anti-Virus on-access scanner versions 8.0 - 9.1 may cause unexpected restarts

From user Joe Bailey comes this equally useful advice:

The facts are:

1. There is no anti-malware software that can detect 100% of the malware out there.

2. There is no anti-malware that can detect anything targeting the Mac because there

     is no Mac malware in the wild, and therefore, no "signatures" to detect.

3. The very best way to prevent the most attacks is for you as the user to be aware that

     the most successful malware attacks rely on very sophisticated social engineering

     techniques preying on human avarice, ****, and fear.

4. Internet popups saying the FBI, NSA, Microsoft, your ISP has detected malware on

    your computer is intended to entice you to install their malware thinking it is a

    protection against malware.

5. Some of the anti-malware products on the market are worse than the malware

    from which they purport to protect you.

6. Be cautious where you go on the internet.

7. Only download anything from sites you know are safe.

8. Avoid links you receive in email, always be suspicious even if you get something

    you think is from a friend, but you were not expecting.

9. If there is any question in your mind, then assume it is malware.

You may have some kind of adware installed. See my Adware Removal Guide for help finding and removing it.

(Fair disclosure: The Safe Mac is my site, and contains a Donate button, so I may receive compensation for providing links to The Safe Mac. Donations are not required.)

You installed the "DownLite" trojan, perhaps under a different name. Remove it as follows.

Malware is constantly changing to get around the defenses against it. The instructions in this comment are valid as of now, as far as I know. They won't necessarily be valid in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for more recent discussions or start a new one.

Back up all data.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vsearch.agent.plist

Right-click or control-click the line and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "VSearch" selected. Drag the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Repeat with each of these lines:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.daemon.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.helper.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons/Jack.plist

Restart the computer and empty the Trash. Then delete the following items in the same way:

/Library/Application Support/VSearch

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/Jack

/System/Library/Frameworks/VSearch.framework

Some of these items may be absent, in which case you'll get a message that the file can't be found. Skip that item and go on to the next one.

From the Safari menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Extensions

Uninstall any extensions you don't know you need, including any that have the word "Spigot" in the description. If in doubt, uninstall all extensions. Do the equivalent for the Firefox and Chrome browsers, if you use either of those.

This trojan is distributed on illegal websites that traffic in pirated movies. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect much worse to happen in the future.

You may be wondering why you didn't get a warning from Gatekeeper about installing software from an unknown developer, as you should have. The reason is that the DownLite developer has a codesigning certificate issued by Apple, which causes Gatekeeper to give the installer a pass. Apple could revoke the certificate, but as of this writing, has not done so, even though it's aware of the problem. This failure of oversight is inexcusable and has compromised both Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. You can't rely on Gatekeeper alone to protect you from harmful software.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination  command-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Linc Davis wrote:

You installed the "DownLite" trojan

Linc, note that Downlite is not the only adware that inserts these double-underlined "link-ads". GoPhoto.it, for example, does the same thing. Certainly it may be Downlite, but it also may not.

I only mention this to clarify, because I see you frequently telling folks in a definitive manner that they installed Downlite, when it may actually be something else.

Thank you so much Linc Davis,your method of removal rid my computer of the double lined linked ads and annoying ads everywhere making normalise nearly impossible.

Thank you Linc Davis! It worked for me too! Got rid of those creepy ads. Thanks again. May God bless you

Thank you!!!

And as of a few days ago a new and different item is available to use

along with other information should the problem be of another nature...

•AdMedic - an adware removal method:

http://www.thesafemac.com/admedic/

...other pages at thesafemac detail methods of identification

and removal when other untoward items may be involved.

Hopefully this helps in resolving certain issues.

Good luck & happy computing!

I tried the search method suggested by some, but I could not find the ones they said I should look for.  So, I went to www.adwaremedic.com and downloaded and ran the app.  It was simple to use and it worked on the first try.  No more annoying highlighted words, ads in the middle of content, or sliders coming in from the side of the page.  The software is free, but since it worked so well, I went back and donated $10.