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Yahoo Redirect Virus on Mac

I have google set as my default search engine and no matter what i do, as soon as i enter a subject in the address bar, it gets redirect to yahoo search engine which i don't like. I have tried doing all kinds of research to remove it and nothing seems to work. Also, I am not sure if these two viruses are related but Mackeeper also starting popping up all the time around the same time this started to happen. It opens up about 5 tabs on its own sometimes and i don't know how to fix that either. I am pretty sure that this is some sort of virus. If someone knows of the same problem and has gotten rid of it, please help!


Thanks


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Nov 23, 2014 11:02 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 24, 2014 12:03 PM

There is no need to download anything to solve this problem.

You may have installed one of the common types of ad-injection malware. Follow the instructions on this Apple Support page to remove it.

Back up all data before making any changes.

One of the steps in the article is to remove malicious Safari extensions. Do the equivalent in the Chrome and Firefox browsers, if you use either of those. If Safari crashes on launch, skip that step and come back to it after you've done everything else.

If you don't find any of the files or extensions listed, or if removing them doesn't stop the ad injection, ask for further instructions.

Make sure you don't repeat the mistake that led you to install the malware. It may have come from an Internet cesspit such as "Softonic" or "CNET Download." Never visit either of those sites again. You might also have downloaded it from an ad in a page on some other site. The ad would probably have included a large green button labeled "Download" or "Download Now" in white letters. The button is designed to confuse people who intend to download something else on the same page. If you ever download a file that isn't obviously what you expected, delete it immediately.

Malware is also found on websites that traffic in pirated content such as video. If you, or anyone else who uses the computer, visit such sites and follow prompts to install software, you can expect more of the same, and worse, to follow. Never install any software that you downloaded from a bittorrent, or that was downloaded by someone else from an unknown source.

In the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, select the General tab. The radio button marked Anywhere should not be selected. If it is, click the lock icon to unlock the settings, then select one of the other buttons. After that, don't ignore a warning that you are about to run or install an application from an unknown developer.

Still in System Preferences, open the App Store or Software Update pane and check the box marked

Install system data files and security updates

if it's not already checked.

41 replies

Yahoo Redirect Virus on Mac

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