Q: Safari Default Search Engine changed to Yandex
-
Sep 18, 2014 2:13 PMby Kappy,How else did it get there on a secure system? Why are you being argumentative? If you think you have malware then see:
Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems
If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and AdwareMedic.
Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.
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
OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware
If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)
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 everything targeting the Mac.
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.
-
Sep 18, 2014 2:35 PMby edithatJH,After doing some research, I've learned that because of iOS8, the search engine options have been updated to: Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo.
No mention of Yandex.
I'm sure plenty of people think their systems are secure right up until something unexpected happens. So I'm being argumentative because you're just asserting without any evidence that Yandex is legit when everything else I see says it's not. In fact, it's more curious now because I don't have DuckDuckGo, I have Yandex.
BUT that did get me thinking...because of my job, I do have Russian Cyrillic input sources enabled in my Keyboard Preferences. Since I got Yandex instead of DuckDuckGo, I wonder if that influenced the choice of alternative search engine that was added to Safari.
So, probably not malware after all, but there was more to the answer than "just accept it!"
-
Sep 18, 2014 3:44 PMby John Galt,HelpfulDDG was added to Safari 7.1 in OS X 10.9.5 which was released earlier today:
There was no mention of Yandex being added, though I have not tested anything other than North American localizations. DDG was also added to iOS 8.
It is possible the option for Yandex was added without your explicit consent. If you have reason for concern, go to the Safari menu > Preferences > Extensions. If you see any extensions that you do not recognize or understand, simply click the Uninstall button and they will be gone.
Edit: Here you go - old news: https://gigaom.com/2013/06/11/yandex-becomes-safari-search-option-in-russia-ukra ine-and-turkey/
-
Sep 18, 2014 3:52 PMby John Galt,HelpfulGood to know. If you are not in one of the countries for which Yandex was supposed to be added, check System Preferences > Language & Region. If it's set to Turkey, Russia, or Ukraine that would explain its appearance. Other countries may have also been added since the article I linked was published.
