How do I get rid of the nsa malware/virus?
MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
There is no NSA virus, except in the minds of those that want to believe one exists. Beware of those offering an NSA virus protection tool.
Please post a screenshot that illustrates what you are experiencing:
Screenshots (Mac):
To take a screenshot hold ⌘ Shift 4 to create a selection crosshair. Click and hold while you drag the crosshair over the area you wish to capture and then release the mouse or trackpad. You will hear a "camera shutter" sound. This will deposit a screenshot named "Screen Shot...." followed by a date and time on your Desktop.
When you post your response, click the "camera" icon above the text field.
This will display a dialog box which enables you to choose the screenshot file (remember it's on your Desktop) and click the Insert Image button. If you are not using full screen mode you can simply drag the image into the text entry field.
⌘ Shift 4 and then pressing the space bar captures the frontmost window.
⌘ Shift 3 captures the entire screen.
Don't capture or upload any information you consider personal. To edit an existing screenshot, read How to edit a screenshot.
Drag the screenshot to the Trash after you post your reply.
My wife's macbook pro just got the same thing an hour ago. I'm trying to get info as well. If I find anything I'll post again
Thanks so much.
If the scam webpage continues to appear write back for additional instructions.
I am assuming the webpage resembles this:
Yes, I think that the web page looked something like that. I did force quit and then I rebooted my machine. Once started safari again, the same thing happened. So I think I still have a problem, but right now it's (safari) is working for me.
If Safari is working OK for you, there is no reason for concern. It's not a virus. It's simply a scam web page created in a pathetic attempt to defraud gullible users into paying a "ransom" to unlock Safari, which might not work even if you paid. They are very common and can be created by anyone, anywhere on Earth, in minutes.
Holding a Shift key when re-launching Safari causes it to load only your chosen Home page. Otherwise, its default behavior is to reload all previously loaded pages, which would include the scam website.
To remove any code potentially left behind by the scam website, go to the Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy, and select Remove All Website Data... > Remove Now.
You will need to sign in again with all websites that require authentication (such as this one).
Thanks so much. I just followed all the steps you instructed and hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks again.
Just did this because the same thing happened on my mac like two hours ago... So far this seems to have worked.
Thanks so much. Mine seems to fine as well.
I got this problem last night and was pretty panicked because I couldn't quite Safari and I couldn't shut down. Finally pulled the plug in deperation and it came back on start-up. Finally got a fix:
force shutdown of Safari: Option+command+esc
reset Safari
The responses given so far are less painful than the above, so if they work for you, go for it. If not, try the above.
Got the NSA virus bug on Safari this morning.
Holding shift and relaunch Safari does not work, same virus page re-opens and locks up Safari.
So whats next, download Safari again?
running OS X 10.8
Read John Galt's reply on 9/6/14 at 6:03 pm.
That did worked for me and I haven't gotten the bug back.
Re-launch with shift key does not prevent the virus page from loading again. The virus locks up Safari so cannot get to Safari/Preferences.
Go to the Apple menu and then click "Force Quit" then click on Safari. This quits the Safari application. Then follow the rest of John's instructions.
how do i get rid of nsa virus
