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Shut down the computer.

Press the power button. Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key.

The Shift key should be pressed as soon as possible after startup,but not before the startup sound.

Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo on the screen. Startup will take longer than usual.

Login to your account. Launch Safari.

Enter this address in the Safari address bar manually.

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php

Install , open, and run it by clicking “Scan for Adware” button to remove adware.

Once done, quit AdwareMedic.

Once done, quit Safari and restart the computer from  in the menu bar.

Clark9160 wrote:

I've seen that the only other suggestion is to download Adware but I'm hesitant to do that since whenever I go to that page, the virus protection on my computer blocks this page.

When you say that you've seen suggestions to download "Adware," do you mean AdwareMedic? Adware is bad software that displays ads on your computer; AdwareMedic is an app designed to remove such software.

If you were trying to download AdwareMedic, from adwaremedic.com, and that page was blocked, I'd like more details, if you could help. (I'm the developer of AdwareMedic.) What anti-virus software do you have installed? If none, that's probably actually the adware blocking access to the page, which has happened before. I'd like to find out what adware that might be. If you can successfully download AdwareMedic by following dominic23's instructions, I would be greatly appreciative if you could send me a system snapshot (choose Take System Snapshot from AdwareMedic's Scanner menu, then either post that snapshot here or submit it directly to me at The Safe Mac).

There is no need to download anything to solve this problem. You may have installed a variant of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware. Follow Apple Support's instructions to remove it.

If you have trouble following those instructions, see below.

Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for a more recent discussion, or start a new one.

The VSearch malware tries to hide itself by varying the names of the files it installs. To remove it, you must first identify the naming pattern.

Triple-click the line below on this page to select it, then copy the text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:

/Library/LaunchDaemons

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.

A folder named "LaunchDaemons" may open. Look inside it for two files with names of the form

com.something.daemon.plist

and

com.something.helper.plist

Here something is a variable string of characters, which can be different in each case. So far it has always been a string of letters without punctuation, such as "cloud," "dot," "highway," "submarine," or "trusteddownloads." Sometimes it's a meaningless string such as "e8dec5ae7fc75c28" rather than a word. Sometimes the string is "apple," and then you must be especially careful not to delete the wrong files, because many built-in OS X files have similar names.

If you find these files, leave the LaunchDaemons folder open, and open the following folder in the same way:

/Library/LaunchAgents

In this folder, there may be a file named

com.something.agent.plist

where the string something is the same as before.

If you feel confident that you've identified the above files, back up all data, then drag just those three files—nothing else—to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password. Close the Finder windows and restart the computer.

Don't delete the "LaunchAgents" or "LaunchDaemons" folder or anything else inside either one.

The malware is now permanently inactivated, as long as you never reinstall it. You can stop here if you like, or you can remove two remaining components for the sake of completeness.

Open this folder:

/Library/Application Support

If it has a subfolder named just

something

where something is the same string you saw before, drag that subfolder to the Trash and close the window.

Don't delete the "Application Support" folder or anything else inside it.

Finally, in this folder:

/System/Library/Frameworks

there may an item named exactly

v.framework

It's actually a folder, though it has a different icon than usual. This item always has the above name; it doesn't vary. Drag it to the Trash and close the window.

Don't delete the "Frameworks" folder or anything else inside it.

If you didn't find the files or you're not sure about the identification, post what you found.

If in doubt, or if you have no backups, change nothing at all.

The trouble may have started when you downloaded and ran an application called "MPlayerX." That's the name of a legitimate free movie player, but the name is also used fraudulently to distribute VSearch. If there is an item with that name in the Applications folder, delete it, and if you wish, replace it with the genuine article from mplayerx.org.

This trojan is often found on illegal websites that traffic in pirated content such as movies. 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.

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

Install system data files and security updates (OS X 10.10 or later)

or

Download updates automatically (OS X 10.9 or earlier)

if it's not already checked.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Step 1

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

Step 2

The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Clark9160 wrote:

I keep getting alerts from Trend Micro that there are websites that are 'dangerous' and being blocked. So, I don't know if it was directly to Adware Medic, or just in general since there are so may pop ups appearing due to this virus.

First, note that Trend Micro is not very good on the Mac, and I'd strongly recommend that you consider removing it.

As for the problem, one possibility is that Trend Micro is triggering a lot of false positives. That seems unlikely if this is happening with many different sites, but more likely if it's happening only with a few specific legit sites.

The other possibility is that you have something that is causing changes to the code being displayed in your web browser. Adware, aka "ad-injection software," is one highly likely means by which this would be done. This could cause something like Trend Micro to warn about legit sites, because the code that has been loaded from those sites has been modified on your computer, and Trend Micro is seeing some kind of change that it considers malicious.

To search for and remove adware, see my Adware Removal Guide. If the adware or Trend Micro prevent you from accessing this page, restart your computer in safe mode and then try again while in safe mode:

OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? - Apple Support

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.)

You did install some kind of adware. If it's not any of the types described on the Apple Support page, it could be "Avast" or "Glims." Otherwise, see below.

1. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It changes nothing, for better or worse, and therefore will not, in itself, solve the problem. But with the aid of the test results, the solution may take a few minutes, instead of hours or days.

The test works on OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and later. I don't recommend running it on older versions of OS X. It will do no harm, but it won't do much good either.

Don't be put off by the complexity of these instructions. The process is much less complicated than the description. You do harder tasks with the computer all the time.

2. If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before doing anything else. The backup is necessary on general principle, not because of anything in the test procedure. Backup is always a must, and when you're having any kind of trouble with the computer, you may be at higher than usual risk of losing data, whether you follow these instructions or not.

There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.

3. Below are instructions to run a UNIX shell script, a type of program. As I wrote above, it changes nothing. It doesn't send or receive any data on the network. All it does is to generate a human-readable report on the state of the computer. That report goes nowhere unless you choose to share it. If you prefer, you can act on it yourself without disclosing the contents to me or anyone else.

You should be wondering whether you can believe me, and whether it's safe to run a program at the behest of a stranger. In general, no, it's not safe and I don't encourage it.

In this case, however, there are a couple of ways for you to decide whether the program is safe without having to trust me. First, you can read it. Unlike an application that you download and click to run, it's transparent, so anyone with the necessary skill can verify what it does.

You may not be able to understand the script yourself. But variations of it have been posted on this website thousands of times over a period of years. The site is hosted by Apple, which does not allow it to be used to distribute harmful software. Any one of the millions of registered users could have read the script and raised the alarm if it was harmful. Then I would not be here now and you would not be reading this message. See, for example, this discussion.

Nevertheless, if you can't satisfy yourself that these instructions are safe, don't follow them. Ask for other options.

4. Here's a summary of what you need to do, if you choose to proceed:

☞ Copy a line of text in this window to the Clipboard.

☞ Paste into the window of another application.

☞ Wait for the test to run. It usually takes a few minutes.

☞ Paste the results, which will have been copied automatically, back into a reply on this page.

The sequence is: copy, paste, wait, paste again. You don't need to copy a second time. Details follow.

5. Try to test under conditions that reproduce the problem, as far as possible. For example, if the computer is sometimes, but not always, slow, run the test during a slowdown.

You may have started up in "safe" mode. If the system is now in safe mode and works well enough in normal mode to run the test, restart as usual. If you can only test in safe mode, do that.

6. If you have more than one user, and the one affected by the problem is not an administrator, then please run the test twice: once while logged in as the affected user, and once as an administrator. The results may be different. The user that is created automatically on a new computer when you start it for the first time is an administrator. If you can't log in as an administrator, test as the affected user. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this section doesn’t apply. Don't log in as root.

7. The script is a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, though you may not see all of it in the browser window, and you can then copy it. If you try to select the line by dragging across the part you can see, you won't get all of it.

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

PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/libexec;clear;cd;p=(1250 ' 0.5 0.25 10 1000 15 5120 1000 25000 1 1 0 100 ' 51 25600 4 10 25 5120 102400 1000 25 1000 225 40 500 300 85 25 20480 262144 20 2000 524288 604800 5 );k=({Soft,Hard}ware Memory Diagnostics Power FireWire Thunderbolt USB Bluetooth SerialATA Extensions Applications Frameworks PrefPane Fonts Displays PCI UniversalAccess InstallHistory ConfigurationProfile AirPort 'com\.apple\.' -\\t N\\/A 'AES|atr|udit|msa|dnse|ax|ensh|fami|FileS|fing|ft[pw]|gedC|kdu|etS|is\.|alk|ODSA|otp|htt|pcas|ps-lp|rexe|rlo|rsh|smb|snm|teln|upd-[aw]|uuc|vix|webf' OSBundle{Require,AllowUserLoa}d 'Mb/s:per sec:ms/s:KiB/s:%:total:MB:total' 'Net in:Net out:I/O wait time:I/O requests:CPU usage:Open files:Memory:Mach ports:File opens:Forks:Failed forks:System errors' 'tsA|[ST]M[HL]' PlistBuddy{,' 2>&1'}' -c Print' 'Info\.plist' CFBundleIdentifier );f=('\n%s'{': ','\n\n'}'%s\n' '\nRAM details\n%s\n' %s{' ','\n'{"${k[22]}",}}'%s\n' '%d MB: %s\n' '\n ...and %s more line(s)\n' '\nContents of %s\n '"${k[22]}"'mod date: %s\n '"${k[22]}"'checksum: %s\n%s\n' );c=(879294308 4071182229 461455494 3627668074 1083382502 1274181950 1855907737 2758863019 1848501757 464843899 2636415542 3694147963 1233118628 2456546649 2806998573 2778718105 842973933 2051385900 3301885676 891055588 998894468 695903914 1443423563 4136085286 3374894509 1051159591 892310726 1707497389 523110921 2883943871 3873345487 );s=(' s/[0-9A-Za-z._]+@[0-9A-Za-z.]+\.[0-9A-Za-z]{2,4}/EMAIL/g;/faceb/s/(at\.)[^.]+/\1NAME/g;/\/Shared/!s/(\/Users\/)[^ /]+/\1USER/g;s/[-0-9A-Fa-f]{22,}/UUID/g;' ' s/^ +//;/de: S|[nst]:/p;' ' {sub(/^ +/,"")};/er:/;/y:/&&$2<'${p[4]} ' s/:$//;3,6d;/[my].+:/d;s/^ {4}//;H;${ g;s/\n$//;/s: (E[^m]|[^EO])|x([^08]|02[^F]|8[^0])/p;} ' ' 5h;6{ H;g;/P/!p;} ' ' ($1~/^Cy/&&$3>'${p[9]}')||($1~/^Cond/&&$2!~/^N/) ' ' /:$/{ N;/:.+:/d;s/ *://;b0'$'\n'' };/^ *(V.+ [0N]|Man).+ /{ s/ 0x.... //;s/[()]//g;s/(.+: )(.+)/ (\2)/;H;};$b0'$'\n'' d;:0'$'\n'' x;s/\n\n//;/Apple[ ,]|Genesy|Intel|SMSC/d;s/\n.*//;/\)$/p;' ' s/^.*C/C/;H;${ g;/No th|pms/!p;} ' '/= [^GO]/p' '{$1=""};1' ' /Of/!{ s/^.+is |\.//g;p;} ' ' BEGIN { FS=":";if(system("sw_vers -productVersion|grep -q ^10\.1")) d="^'"${k[21]}"'launch(d\.peruser\.[0-9]+|ctl\.(Aqua|Background|System))$";} { if($2~/[1-9]/) { $2="status: "$2;printf("'"${f[4]}"'",$1,$2);} else if(!d||$1!~d) print $1;} ' ' { sub(/ :/,"");print|"tail -n'${p[10]}'";} ' ' NR==2&&$4<='${p[7]}' { print $4;} ' ' ($1~"wir"&&$2>'${p[22]}')||($1~/P.+ts:/&&$2>'${p[19]}') { print $1" "int($2);} ' '/YLD/s/=/ /p' ' { q=$1;$1="";u=$NF;$NF="";gsub(/ +$/,"");print q":"$0":"u;} ' ' /^ {6}[^ ]/d;s/:$//;/([^ey]|[^n]e):/d;/e: Y/d;s/: Y.+//g;H;${ g;s/ \n (\n)/\1/g;s/\n +(M[^ ]+)[ -~]+/ (\1)/;s/\n$//;/( {8}[^ ].*){2,}/p;} ' 's:^:/:p;' ' !/, .+:/{print};END{if(NR<'{${p[12]},${p[13]}}')printf("^'"${k[21]}"'.+")} ' '|uniq' ' 1;END { print "/L.+/Scr.+/Templ.+\.app$";print "/L.+/Pri.+\.plugin$";if(NR<'{${p[14]},${p[21]}}') print "^/[Sp].+|'${k[21]}'";} ' ' /\.(framew|lproj)|\):/d;/plist:|:.+(Mach|scrip)/s/:.+//p;' '&&echo On' '/\.(bundle|component|framework|kext|mdimporter|plugin|qlgenerator|saver|wdgt)$/p' '/\.dylib$/p' ' /Temp|emac/{next};/(etc|Preferences|Launch[AD].+)\// { sub(".","");print $0"$";} END { split("'"${c[*]}"'",c);for(i in c) print "\t"c[i]"$";} ' ' /^\/(Ap|Dev|Inc|Prev)/d;/((iTu|ok).+dle|\.(component|mailbundle|mdimporter|plugin|qlgenerator|saver|wdgt))$/p;' ' BEGIN{ FS="= "} $2 { gsub(/[()"]/,"",$2);print $2;} ' ' /^\//!d;s/^.{5}//;s/ [^/]+\//: \//p;' '>&-||echo No' '{print $3"\t"$1}' 's/\'$'\t''.+//p' 's/1/On/p' '/Prox.+: [^0]/p' '$2>'${p[2]}'{$2=$2-1;print}' ' BEGIN { M1='${p[16]}';M2='${p[18]}';M3='${p[8]}';M4='${p[3]}';} !/^A/{next};/%/ { getline;if($5<M1) o["CPU"]="CPU: user "$2"%, system "$4"%";next;} $2~/^disk/&&$4>M2 { o[$2]=$2": "$3" ops/s, "$4" blocks/s";next;} $2~/^(en[0-9]|bridg)/ { if(o[$2]) { e=$3+$4+$5+$6;if(e) o[$2]=o[$2]"; errors "e"/s";next;};if($4>M3||$6>M4) o[$2]=$2": in "int($4/1024)", out "int($6/1024)" (KiB/s)";} END { for(i in o) print o[i];} ' ' /r\[0\] /&&$NF!~/^1(0|72\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[0-1])|92\.168)\./ { print $NF;exit;} ' ' !/^T/ { printf "(static)";exit;} ' '/apsd|BKAg|OpenD/!s/:.+//p' ' (/k:/&&$3!~/(255\.){3}0/)||(/v6:/&&$2!~/A/) ' ' BEGIN{FS=": "} /^ {10}O/ {exit} /^ {0,12}[^ ]/ {next} $1~"Ne"&&$2!~/^In/{print} $1~"Si" { split($2,a," ");if(a[1]-a[4]<'${p[5]}') print;};$1~"T"&&$2<'${p[20]}'{print};$1~"Se"&&$2!~"2"{print};' ' BEGIN { FS=":";} { n=split($3,a,".");sub(/_2[01].+/,"",$3);print $2" "$3" "a[n]$1;} ' ' BEGIN { split("'"${p[1]}"'",m);FS=":";} $2<=m[$1]{next} $1<9 { o[$1]=o[$1]"\n "$3" (UID "$4"): "$2;} $1==9&&$5!~"^/dev" { o[$1]=o[$1]"\n "$3" (UID "$4") => "$5" (status "$6"): "$2;} $1==10&&$5 { p="ps -c -ocomm -p"$5"|sed 1d";p|getline n;close(p);if(n) $5=n;o[$1]=o[$1]"\n "$5" => "$3" (UID "$4"): "$2;} $1~/1[12]/ { o[$1]=o[$1]"\n "$3" (UID "$4", error "$5"): "$2;} END { n=split("'"${k[27]}"'",u,":");for(i=n+1;i<n+5;i++)u[i]=u[2];split("'"${k[28]}"'",l,":");for(i in o) print "\n"l[i]" ("u[i]")\n"o[i];} ' ' /^ {8}[^ ]/{print} ' ' BEGIN { L='${p[17]}';} !/^[[:space:]]*(#.*)?$/ { l++;if(l<=L) f=f"\n "$0;} END { F=FILENAME;if(!F) exit;if(!f) f="\n [N/A]";"cksum "F|getline C;split(C, A);C=A[1];"stat -f%Sm "F|getline D;"file -b "F|getline T;if(T~/^Apple b/) { f="";l=0;while("'"${k[30]}"' "F|getline g) { l++;if(l<=L) f=f"\n "g;};};if(T!~/^(AS.+ (En.+ )?text(, with v.+)?$|(Bo|PO).+ sh.+ text ex|XM)/) F=F"\n '"${k[22]}"'"T;printf("'"${f[8]}"'",F,D,C,f);if(l>L) printf("'"${f[7]}"'",l-L);} ' ' s/^ ?n...://p;s/^ ?p...:/-'$'\t''/p;' 's/0/Off/p' 's/^.{52}(.+) <.+/\1/p' ' /id: N|te: Y/{i++} END{print i} ' ' /kext:/ { split($0,a,":");p=a[1];k[S]='${k[25]}';k[U]='${k[26]}';v[S]="Safe";v[U]="true";for(i in k) { s=system("'"${k[30]}"'\\ :"k[i]" \""p"\"/*/I*|grep -qw "v[i]);if(!s) a[1]=a[1]" "i;};if(!a[2]) a[2]="'"${k[23]}"'";printf("'"${f[4]}"'",a[1],a[2]);next;} !/^ *$/ { p="'"${k[31]}"'\\ :'"${k[33]}"' \""$0"\"/*/'${k[32]}'";p|getline b;close(p);if(b~/, .+:/||b=="") b="'"${k[23]}"'";printf("'"${f[4]}"'",$0,b);} ' '/ en/!s/\.//p' ' NR>=13 { gsub(/[^0-9]/,"",$1);print;} ' ' $10~/\(L/&&$9!~"localhost" { sub(/.+:/,"",$9);print $1": "$9|"sort|uniq";} ' '/^ +r/s/.+"(.+)".+/\1/p' 's/(.+\.wdgt)\/(Contents\/)?'${k[32]}'$/\1/p' 's/^.+\/(.+)\.wdgt$/\1/p' ' /l: /{ /DVD/d;s/.+: //;b0'$'\n'' };/s: /{ / [VY]/d;s/^ */- /;H;};$b0'$'\n'' d;:0'$'\n'' x;/APPLE [^:]+$/d;p;' '/^find: /!p;' ' /^p/{ s/.//g;x;s/\nu/:/;s/(\n)c/\1:/;s/\n\n//;p;};H;' ' BEGIN{FS="= "} /Path/{print $2} ' ' /^ *$/d;s/^ */ /;p;' ' s/^.+ |\(.+\)$//g;p;' '1;END{if(NR<'${p[15]}')printf("^/(S|usr/(X|li))")}' ' /2/{print "WARN"};/4/{print "CRITICAL"};' ' /EVHF|MACR|^s/d;s/^.+: //p;' ' $3~/^[1-9][0-9]{0,2}(\.[1-9][0-9]{0,2}){2}$/ { i++;n=n"\n"$1"\t"$3;} END{ if(i>1)print n} ' s/{'\.|jnl: ','P.+:'}'//;s/ +([0-9]+)(.+)/\2 \1/p' ' /es: ./{ s/^.+://;b0'$'\n'' };/^ +C.+ted: +[NY]/H;/:$/b0'$'\n'' d;:0'$'\n'' x;/: +N/d;s/\n.+//p;' ' 1d;/:$/b0'$'\n'' $b0'$'\n'' /(D|^ *Loc.+): /{ s/^.+: //;H;};/(B2|[my]): /H;d;:0'$'\n'' x;/[my]: [AM]|m: I.+p$|^\/Vo/d;s/(^|\n) [ -~]+//g;s/(.+)\n(.+)/\2:\1/;s/\n//g;/[ -~]/p;' 's/$/:(0|-(4[34])?)$/p' '|sort'{'|uniq'{,\ -c},\ -nr} ' s/^/'{5,6,7,8}':/;s/ *: */:/g;p;' '/e:/{print $2}' ' /^[(]/{ s/....//;s/$/:/;N;/: [)]$/d;s/\n.+ ([^ ]+).$/\1/;H;};${ g;p;} ' 's/:.+$//p' '|wc -l' /{\\.{kext,xpc,'(appex|pluginkit)'}'\/(Contents\/)?'Info,'Launch[AD].+'}'\.plist$/p' 's/([-+.?])/\\\1/g;p' 's/, /\'$'\n/g;p' ' BEGIN{FS=":"} { printf("'"${f[6]}"'",$1/1048576,$2);} ' ' /= D/&&$1!~/'{${k[24]},${k[29]}}'/ { getline d;if(d~"t") D=D"\n"$1;} END { print D;} ' ' NR>1&&$3!~/0x|\.([0-9]{3,}|[-0-9A-F]{36})$/ { print $3":"$2;} ' '|tail -n'${p[6]} ' $1>1 { $NF=$NF" x"$1;} /\*/ { if(!f) f="\n\t* Code injection";} { $1="";} 1;END { print f;} ' ' s/.+bus /Bus: /;s/,.+[(]/ /;s/,.+//p;' ' { $NF=$NF" Errors: "$1;$1="";} 1 ' ' 1s/^/\'$'\n''/;/^ +(([MNPRSV]|De|Li).+|Bus): .|d: Y/d;s/:$//;$d;p;' ' BEGIN { RS=",";FS=":";} $1~"name" { gsub("\"","",$2);print $2;} ' '|grep -q e:/' '/[^ .]/p' '{ print $1}' ' /^ +N.+: [1-9]/ { i++;} END { if(i) print "system: "i;} ' ' NF { print "'{admin,user}' "$NF;exit;} ' ' /se.+ =/,/[\}]/!d;/[=\}]/!p ' ' 3,4d;/^ +D|Of|Fu| [0B]/d;s/^ |:$//g;$!H;${ x;/:/p;} ' ' BEGIN { FS=": ";} NR==1 { sub(":","");h="\n"$1"\n";} /:$/ { l=$1;next;} $1~"S"&&$2!~3 { getline;next;} /^ {6}I/ { i++;L[i]=l" "$2;if(i=='${p[24]}') nextfile;} END { if(i) print h;for(j=0;j<i;j++) print L[i-j];} ' ' /./H;${ x;s/\n//;s/\n/, /g;/,/p;} ' );c1=(system_profiler pmset\ -g nvram fdesetup find syslog df vm_stat sar ps crontab kextfind top pkgutil "${k[30]}\\" echo cksum kextstat launchctl smcDiagnose sysctl\ -n defaults\ read stat lsbom 'mdfind -onlyin' env pluginkit scutil 'dtrace -q -x aggsortrev -n' security sed\ -En awk 'dscl . -read' networksetup mdutil lsof test osascript\ -e netstat mdls route cat );c2=(${k[21]}loginwindow\ LoginHook ' /L*/P*/loginw*' "'tell app \"System Events\" to get properties of login items'" 'L*/Ca*/'${k[21]}'Saf*/E* -d 2 -name '${k[32]} '~ $TMPDIR.. \( -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 \)' -i '-nl -print' '-F \$Sender -k Level Nle 3 -k Facility Req "'${k[21]}'('{'bird|.*i?clou','lsu|sha'}')"' "-f'%N: %l' Desktop {/,}L*/Keyc*" therm sysload boot-args status " -F '\$Time \$Message' -k Sender kernel -k Message CRne '0xdc008012|(allow|call)ing|(mplet|nabl)ed|ry HD|safe b|xpm' -k Message CReq 'bad |Can.t l|corru|dead|fail|GPU |hfs: Ru|inval|Limiti|v_c|NVDA[(]|pagin|Purg(ed|in)|error|Refus|TCON|tim(ed? ?|ing )o|trig|WARN' " '-du -n DEV -n EDEV 1 10' 'acrx -o%cpu,comm,ruid' "' syscall::recvfrom:return {@a[execname,uid]=sum(arg0)} syscall::sendto:return {@b[execname,uid]=sum(arg0)} syscall::open*:entry {@c[execname,uid,copyinstr(arg0),errno]=count()} syscall::execve:return, syscall::posix_spawn:return {@d[execname,uid,ppid]=count()} syscall::fork:return, syscall::vfork:return, syscall::posix_spawn:return /arg0<0/ {@e[execname,uid,arg0]=count()} syscall:::return /errno!=0/ {@f[execname,uid,errno]=count()} io:::wait-start {self->t=timestamp} io:::wait-done /self->t/ { this->T=timestamp - self->t;@g[execname,uid]=sum(this->T);self->t=0;} io:::start {@h[execname,uid]=sum(args[0]->b_bcount)} tick-10sec { normalize(@a,2560000);normalize(@b,2560000);normalize(@c,10);normalize(@d,10);normalize(@e,10);normalize(@f,10);normalize(@g,10000000);normalize(@h,10240);printa(\"1:%@d:%s:%d\n\",@a);printa(\"2:%@d:%s:%d\n\",@b);printa(\"9:%@d:%s:%d:%s:%d\n\",@c);printa(\"10:%@d:%s:%d:%d\n\",@d);printa(\"11:%@d:%s:%d:%d\n\",@e);printa(\"12:%@d:%s:%d:%d\n\",@f);printa(\"3:%@d:%s:%d\n\",@g);printa(\"4:%@d:%s:%d\n\",@h);exit(0);} '" '-f -pfc /var/db/r*/'${k[21]}'*.{BS,Bas,Es,J,OSXU,Rem,up}*.bom' '{/,}L*/Lo*/Diag* -type f -regex .\*[cght] ! -name .?\* ! -name \*ag \( -exec grep -lq "^Thread c" {} \; -exec printf \* \; -o -true \) -execdir stat -f:%Sc:%N -t%F {} \;' '/S*/*/Ca*/*xpc*' '-L /{S*/,}L*/StartupItems -type f -exec file {} +' /\ kMDItemContentTypeTree=${k[21]}{bundle,mach-o-dylib} :Label "/p*/e*/{auto*,{cron,fs}tab,hosts,{[lp],sy}*.conf,mach_i*/*,pam.d/*,ssh{,d}_config,*.local} {/p*,/usr/local}/e*/periodic/*/* /L*/P*{,/*}/com.a*.{Bo,sec*.ap}*t {/S*/,/,}L*/Lau*/*t .launchd.conf" list '-F "" -k Sender hidd -k Level Nle 3' /Library/Preferences/${k[21]}alf\ globalstate --proxy '-n get default' print\ system --dns -get{dnsservers,info} dump-trust-settings\ {-s,-d,} -n1 '-R -ce -l1 -n5 -o'{'prt -stats prt','mem -stats mem'}',command,uid' -kl -l -s\ / '--regexp --files '${k[21]}'pkg.*' '+c0 -i4TCP:0-1023' ${k[21]}dashboard\ layer-gadgets '-d /L*/Mana*/$USER' '-app Safari WebKitDNSPrefetchingEnabled' '-Fcu +c0 -l' -m 'L*/{Con*/*/Data/L*/,}Pref* -type f -size 0c -name *.plist.???????' kern.memorystatus_vm_pressure_level '3>&1 >&- 2>&3' '-F \$Message -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq "'{'n Cause: -','(a und|I/O |jnl_io.+)err','USBF:.+bus'}'"' -name\ kMDItem${k[33]} -T\ hfs '-n get default' -listnetworkserviceorder :${k[33]} :CFBundleDisplayName $EUID {'$TMPDIR../C ','/{S*/,}'}'L*/{,Co*/*/*/L*/}{Cache,Log}s -type f -size +'${p[11]}'M -exec stat -f'%z:%N' {} \;' \ /v*/d*/*/*l*d{,.*.$UID}/* '-app Safari UserStyleSheetEnabled' 'L*/A*/Fi*/P*/*/a*.json' users/$USER\ HomeDirectory '{/,}L*/{Con,Pref}* -type f ! -size 0 -name *.plist -exec plutil -s {} \;' ' -F "\$Time \$(Sender): \$Message" -k Level Nle 3 -k Facility R'{'ne "user|','eq "'}'console" -k Message CRne "[{}<>]|commit - no t|deprec|Goog|realp|sandbox ex|/root" ' getenv '/ "kMDItemDateAdded>=\$time.now(-'${p[23]}')&&kMDItem'${k[33]}'=*"' -m\ / '' );N1=${#c2[@]};for j in {0..20};do c2[N1+j]=SP${k[j]}DataType;done;l=({Restricted\ ,Lock,Pro}files POST Battery {Safari,App,{Bad,Loaded}\ kernel,Firefox}\ extensions System\ load boot\ args FileVault\ {2,1} {Kernel,System,Console}\ log Activity SMC Login\ hook 'I/O per process' 'High file counts' UID Daemons Agents XPC\ cache Startup\ items {Admin,Root}\ access Stylesheet Library\ paths{,' ('{shell,launchd}\)} Font\ issues Firewall Proxies DNS TCP/IP Wi-Fi 'Elapsed time (sec)' {Root,User}\ crontab {Global,User}' login items' Spotlight Memory\ pressure Listeners Widgets Parental\ Controls Prefetching Nets Volumes {Continuity,I/O,iCloud,HID,HCI}\ errors {User,System}\ {caches/logs,overrides} Shutdown\ codes Heat Diagnostic\ reports Bad\ plists Free\ space VM Bundles{,' (new)'} Trust\ settings );N3=${#l[@]};for i in {0..8};do l[N3+i]=${k[5+i]};done;F() { local x="${s[$1]}";[[ "$x" =~ ^([\&\|\<\>]|$) ]]&&{ printf "$x";return;};:|${c1[30]} "$x" 2>&-;printf "%s \'%s\'" "|${c1[30+$?]}" "$x";};A0() { Q=6;v[2]=1;id -G|grep -qw 80;v[1]=$?;((v[1]))||{ Q=7;sudo -v;v[2]=$?;((v[2]))||Q=8;};v[3]=`date +%s`;date '+Start time: %T %D%n';printf '\n[Process started]\n\n'>&4;printf 'Revision: %s\n\n' ${p[0]};};A1() { local c="${c1[$1]} ${c2[$2]}";shift 2;c="$c ` while [[ "$1" ]];do F $1;shift;done`";((P2))&&{ c="sudo $c";P2=;};v=`eval "$c"`;[[ "$v" ]];};A2() { local c="${c1[$1]}";[[ "$c" =~ ^(awk|sed ) ]]&&c="$c '${s[$2]}'"||c="$c ${c2[$2]}";shift 2;local d=` while [[ "$1" ]];do F $1;shift;done`;((P2))&&{ c="sudo $c";P2=;};local a;v=` while read a;do eval "$c '$a' $d";done<<<"$v";`;[[ "$v" ]];};A3(){ v=$((`date +%s`-v[3]));};B1() { v=No;! ((v[1]))&&{ v=;P1=1;};};eval "`type -a B1|sed '1d;s/1/2/'`";B3(){ v[$1]="$v";};B4() { local i=$1;local j=$2;shift 2;local c="cat` while [[ "$1" ]];do F $1;shift;done`";v[j]=`eval "{ $c;}"<<<"${v[i]}"`;};B5(){ v="${v[$1]}"$'\n'"${v[$2]}";};B6() { v=` paste -d$'\e' <(printf "${v[$1]}") <(printf "${v[$2]}")|awk -F$'\e' ' {printf("'"${f[$3]}"'",$1,$2)} ' `;};B7(){ v=`egrep -v "${v[$1]}"<<<"$v"|sort`;};eval "`type -a B7|sed '1d;s/7/8/;s/-v //'`";C0() { [[ "$v" ]]&&sed -E "$s"<<<"$v";};C1() { [[ "$v" ]]&&printf "${f[$1]}" "${l[$2]}" "$v"|sed -E "$s";};C2() { v=`echo $v`;[[ "$v" != 0 ]]&&C1 0 $1;};C3() { B4 0 0 63&&C1 1 $1;};C4() { echo $'\t'"Part $((++P)) of $Q done at $((`date +%s`-v[3])) sec">&4;};C5() { sudo -k;pbcopy<<<"$o";printf '\n\tThe test results are on the Clipboard.\n\n\tPlease close this window.\n';exit 2>&-;};for i in 1 2;do eval D$((i-1))'() { A'$i' $@;C0;};';for j in 2 3;do eval D$((i+2*j-3))'() { local x=$1;shift;A'$i' $@;C'$j' $x;};';done;done;trap C5 2;o=$({ A0;D0 0 N1+1 2;D0 0 $N1 1;B1;C2 27;B1&&! B2&&C2 28;D2 22 15 63;D0 0 N1+2 3;D0 0 N1+15 17;D4 3 0 N1+3 4;D4 4 0 N1+4 5;D4 N3+4 0 N1+9 59;D0 0 N1+16 99; for i in 0 1 2;do D4 N3+i 0 N1+5+i 6;done;D4 N3+3 0 N1+8 71;D4 62 1 10 7;D4 10 1 11 8;B2&&D4 18 19 53 67;D2 11 2 12 9;D2 12 3 13 10;D2 13 32 70 101 25;D2 65 6 76 13;D2 45 20 52 66;D4 66 7 77 14;D4 17 8 15 38;D0 9 16 16 77 45;C4;B2&&D0 35 49 61 75 76 78 45;B2&&{ D0 28 17 45;C4;};D0 12 40 54 16 79 45;D0 12 39 54 16 80 45;D4 31 25 77 15&&{ B4 0 8 103;B4 8 0;A2 18 74;B6 8 0 3;C3 32;};B2&&D4 19 21 0;B2&&D4 40 10 42;D2 2 0 N1+19 46 84;D2 44 34 43 53;D2 25 22 20 32;D2 33 0 N1+14 51;for i in {0..2};do A1 29 35+i 104+i;B3 25+i;done;B6 25 27 5;B6 0 26 5;B4 0 0 110;C2 69;D2 34 21 28 35;D4 35 27 29 36;A1 40 59 81;B3 18;A1 33 60 82;B8 18;B4 0 19 83;A1 27 32 39&&{ B3 20;B4 19 0;A2 33 33 40;B3 21;B6 20 21 3;};C2 36;D4 50 38 5 68;B4 19 0;D5 37 33 34 42;B2&&D4 46 35 45 55;D4 38 0 N1+20 43;B2&&D4 59 4 65 76 91;D4 63 4 19 44 75 95 96;B1&&{ D4 53 5 55 75 69&&D4 51 6 58 31;D4 56 5 56 97 75 98&&D0 0 N1+7 99;D2 55 5 27 84;D4 61 5 54 75 70;D4 14 5 14 12;D4 15 5 72 12;C4;};D4 16 5 73 12;A1 13 44 74 18;C4;B3 4;B4 4 0 85;A2 14 61 89;B4 0 5 19 102;A1 17 41 50;B7 5;C3 8;B4 4 0 88;A2 14 24 89;C4;B4 0 6 19 102;B4 4 0 86;A2 14 61 89;B4 0 7 19 102;B5 6 7;B4 0 11 73 102;A1 18 31 107 94 74||{ B2&&A1 18 26 94 74;}&&{ B7 11;B4 0 0 11;C3 23;};A1 18 26 94;B7 11;B4 0 0 11;C3 24;D4 60 14 66 92;D4 58 14 67 93;D4 26 4 21 24;D4 42 14 1 62;D4 43 37 2 90 48;D4 41 10 42;D2 48 36 47 25;A1 4 3 60&&{ B3 9;A2 14 61;B4 0 10 21;B4 9 0;A2 14 62;B4 0 0 21;B6 0 10 4;C3 5;};D4 9 41 69 100;D2 29 21 68 35;D2 49 21 48 49;B4 4 22 57 102;A1 21 46 56 74;B7 22;B4 0 0 58;C3 47;D4 54 5 7 75 76 69;D4 52 5 8 75 76 69;D4 57 4 64 76 91;D2 0 4 4 84;D2 1 4 51 84;D4 21 22 9 37;D0 0 N1+17 108; A1 23 18 28 89;B4 0 16 22 102;A1 16 25 33;B7 16;B4 0 0 34;D1 31 47;D4 64 4 71 41;C4;B4 4 12 26 89 23 102;for i in {0..3};do A1 0 N1+10+i 72 74;B7 12;B4 0 0 52;C3 N3+5+i;((i))||C4;done;A1 24 22 29;B7 12;B3 14;A2 39 57 30;B3 15;B6 14 15 4;C3 67;A1 24 75 74;B3 23;A2 39 57 30;B3 24;B6 23 24 4;C3 68;B4 4 13 27 89 65;A1 24 23;B7 13;C3 30;B4 4 0 87;A2 14 61 89 20;B4 0 17;A1 26 50 64;B7 17;C3 6;D0 0 N1+18 109;D4 7 11 6;A3;C2 39;C4;} 4>&2 2>/dev/null;);C5

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

8. Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste by pressing command-V. The text you pasted should vanish immediately. If it doesn't, press the return key.

9. If you see an error message in the Terminal window such as "Syntax error" or "Event not found," enter

exec bash

and press return. Then paste the script again.

10. If you're logged in as an administrator, you'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You will not see the usual dots in place of typed characters. Make sure caps lock is off. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you make three failed attempts to enter the password, the test will run anyway, but it will produce less information. In most cases, the difference is not important. If you don't know the password, or if you prefer not to enter it, just press return three times at the password prompt. Again, the script will still run.

If you're not logged in as an administrator, you won't be prompted for a password. The test will still run. It just won't do anything that requires administrator privileges.

11. The test may take a few minutes to run, depending on how many files you have and the speed of the computer. A computer that's abnormally slow may take longer to run the test. While it's running, a series of lines will appear in the Terminal window like this:

[Process started]

Part 1 of 8 done at … sec
…
Part 8 of 8 done at … sec

The test results are on the Clipboard.

Please close this window.

[Process completed]

The intervals between parts won't be exactly equal, but they give a rough indication of progress. The total number of parts may be different from what's shown here.

Wait for the final message "Process completed" to appear. If you don't see it within about ten minutes, the test probably won't complete in a reasonable time. In that case, press the key combination control-C or command-period to stop it and go to the next step. You'll have incomplete results, but still something.

12. When the test is complete, or if you stopped it because it was taking too long, quit Terminal. The results will have been copied to the Clipboard automatically. They are not shown in the Terminal window. Please don't copy anything from there. All you have to do is start a reply to this comment and then paste by pressing command-V again.

At the top of the results, there will be a line that begins with the words "Start time." If you don't see that, but instead see a mass of gibberish, you didn't wait for the "Process completed" message to appear in the Terminal window. Please wait for it and try again.

If any private information, such as your name or email address, appears in the results, anonymize it before posting. Usually that won't be necessary.

13. When you post the results, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "You are not authorized to post." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the test results on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

14. This is a public forum, and others may give you advice based on the results of the test. They speak only for themselves, and I may not agree with them.

______________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2014, 2015 by Linc Davis. As the sole author of this work, I reserve all rights to it except as provided in the Use Agreement for the Apple Support Communities website ("ASC"). Readers of ASC may copy it for their own personal use. Neither the whole nor any part may be redistributed.

You have a variant of the Downlite (aka VSearch) adware installed. This adware has been known to directly interfere with downloads of AdwareMedic as well as pages on The Safe Mac that contain information about removing Downlite. Try this page:

http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-downlite

If you are unable to access that site, restart in safe mode as I instructed in my previous message and try again.

Also, you still need to get rid of Trend Micro, which is causing a number of problems with your system.

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.)

A

You installed a variant of the "VSearch" trojan. Remove it as follows.

This malware has many variants. Anyone else finding this comment should not expect it to be applicable.

Back up all data before proceeding.

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

/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonlight.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 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.moonlight.daemon.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.moonlight.helper.plist

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

/Library/Application Support/moonlight
/System/Library/Frameworks/v.framework

The trouble may have started when you downloaded and ran an application called "MPlayerX." That's the name of a legitimate free movie player, but the name is also used fraudulently to distribute VSearch. If there is an item with that name in the Applications folder, delete it, and if you wish, replace it with the genuine article from mplayerx.org.

This trojan is often found on illegal websites that traffic in pirated content such as movies. 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.

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

Install system data files and security updates (OS X 10.10 or later)

or

Download updates automatically (OS X 10.9 or earlier)

if it's not already checked.

*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.

B

Remove the useless Trend Micro product by following the instructions on this page.

Restart. If the program was incompletely removed, reinstall it and start over. Back up all data before making any changes.

C

Your Wi-Fi network is operating under the obsolete and insecure WEP encryption standard. Change your router's settings so that it uses WPA 2 Personal. If it doesn't support that standard, it should be replaced. I can't give you specific instructions for changing the setting, because all routers are different. Refer to the manufacturer's documentation.

Mac users often ask whether they should install "anti-virus" (AV) software. The usual answer is "no." That answer is right, but it may give the wrong impression that there is no threat from what are loosely called "viruses." There is a threat, and you need to educate yourself about it.

1. This is a comment on what you should—and should not—do to protect yourself from malicious software ("malware") that circulates on the Internet and gets onto a computer as an unintended consequence of the user's actions.

It does not apply to software, such as keystroke loggers, that may be installed deliberately by an intruder who has hands-on access to the computer, or who has been able to take control of it remotely. That threat is in a different category, and there's no easy way to defend against it. AV software is not intended to, and does not, defend against such attacks.

The comment is long because the issue is complex. The key points are in sections 5, 6, and 10.

OS X now implements three layers of built-in protection specifically against malware, not counting runtime protections such as execute disable, sandboxing, system library randomization, and address space layout randomization that may also guard against other kinds of exploits.

2. All versions of OS X since 10.6.7 have been able to detect known Mac malware in downloaded files, and to block insecure web plugins. This feature is transparent to the user. Internally Apple calls it "XProtect."

The malware recognition database used by XProtect is automatically updated; however, you shouldn't rely on it, because the attackers are always at least a day ahead of the defenders.

The following caveats apply to XProtect:

☞ It can be bypassed by some third-party networking software, such as BitTorrent clients and Java applets.

☞ It only applies to software downloaded from the network. Software installed from a CD or other media is not checked.

As new versions of OS X are released, it's not clear whether Apple will indefinitely continue to maintain the XProtect database of older versions such as 10.6. The security of obsolete system versions may eventually be degraded. Security updates to the code of obsolete systems will stop being released at some point, and that may leave them open to other kinds of attack besides malware.

3. Starting with OS X 10.7.5, there has been a second layer of built-in malware protection, designated "Gatekeeper" by Apple. By default, applications and Installer packages downloaded from the network will only run if they're digitally signed by a developer with a certificate issued by Apple. Software certified in this way hasn't been checked for security by Apple unless it comes from the App Store, but you can be reasonably sure that it hasn't been modified by anyone other than the developer. His identity is known to Apple, so he could be held legally responsible if he distributed malware. That may not mean much if the developer lives in a country with a weak legal system (see below.)

Gatekeeper doesn't depend on a database of known malware. It has, however, the same limitations as XProtect, and in addition the following:

☞ It can easily be disabled or overridden by the user.

☞ A malware attacker could get control of a code-signing certificate under false pretenses, or could simply ignore the consequences of distributing codesigned malware.

☞ An App Store developer could find a way to bypass Apple's oversight, or the oversight could fail due to human error.

Apple has taken far too long to revoke the codesigning certificates of some known abusers, thereby diluting the value of Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. Those lapses don't involve App Store products, however.

For the reasons given, App Store products, and—to a lesser extent—other applications recognized by Gatekeeper as signed, are safer than others, but they can't be considered absolutely safe. "Sandboxed" applications may prompt for access to private data, such as your contacts, or for access to the network. Think before granting that access. Sandbox security is based on user input. Never click through any request for authorization without thinking.

4. Starting with OS X 10.8.3, a third layer of protection has been added: a "Malware Removal Tool" (MRT). MRT runs automatically in the background when you update the OS. It checks for, and removes, malware that may have evaded the other protections via a Java exploit (see below.) MRT also runs when you install or update the Apple-supplied Java runtime (but not the Oracle runtime.) Like XProtect, MRT is effective against known threats, but not against unknown ones. It notifies you if it finds malware, but otherwise there's no user interface to MRT.

5. The built-in security features of OS X reduce the risk of malware attack, but they are not, and never will be, complete protection. Malware is a problem of human behavior, not machine behavior, and no technological fix alone is going to solve it. Trusting software to protect you will only make you more vulnerable.

The best defense is always going to be your own intelligence. With the possible exception of Java exploits, all known malware circulating on the Internet that affects a fully-updated installation of OS X 10.6 or later takes the form of so-called "Trojan horses," which can only have an effect if the victim is duped into running them. The threat therefore amounts to a battle of wits between you and Internet criminals. If you're better informed than they think you are, you'll win. That means, in practice, that you always stay within a safe harbor of computing practices. How do you know when you're leaving the safe harbor? Below are some warning signs of danger.

Software from an untrustworthy source

☞ Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, doesn't come directly from the developer’s website. Do not trust an alert from any website to update Flash, or your browser, or any other software. A genuine alert that Flash is outdated and blocked is shown on this support page. Follow the instructions on the support page in that case. Otherwise, assume that the alert is fake and someone is trying to scam you into installing malware. If you see such alerts on more than one website, ask for instructions.

☞ Software of any kind is distributed via BitTorrent, or Usenet, or on a website that also distributes pirated music or movies.

☞ Rogue websites such as Softonic, Soft32, and CNET Download distribute free applications that have been packaged in a superfluous "installer."

☞ The software is advertised by means of spam or intrusive web ads. Any ad, on any site, that includes a direct link to a download should be ignored.

Software that is plainly illegal or does something illegal

☞ High-priced commercial software such as Photoshop is "cracked" or "free."

☞ An application helps you to infringe copyright, for instance by circumventing the copy protection on commercial software, or saving streamed media for reuse without permission. All "YouTube downloaders" are in this category, though not all are necessarily malicious.

Conditional or unsolicited offers from strangers

☞ A telephone caller or a web page tells you that you have a “virus” and offers to help you remove it. (Some reputable websites did legitimately warn visitors who were infected with the "DNSChanger" malware. That exception to this rule no longer applies.)

☞ A web site offers free content such as video or music, but to use it you must install a “codec,” “plug-in,” "player," "downloader," "extractor," or “certificate” that comes from that same site, or an unknown one.

☞ You win a prize in a contest you never entered.

☞ Someone on a message board such as this one is eager to help you, but only if you download an application of his choosing.

☞ A "FREE WI-FI !!!" network advertises itself in a public place such as an airport, but is not provided by the management.

☞ Anything online that you would expect to pay for is "free."

Unexpected events

☞ A file is downloaded automatically when you visit a web page, with no other action on your part. Delete any such file without opening it.

☞ You open what you think is a document and get an alert that it's "an application downloaded from the Internet." Click Cancel and delete the file. Even if you don't get the alert, you should still delete any file that isn't what you expected it to be.

☞ An application does something you don't expect, such as asking for permission to access your contacts, your location, or the Internet for no obvious reason.

☞ Software is attached to email that you didn't request, even if it comes (or seems to come) from someone you trust.

I don't say that leaving the safe harbor just once will necessarily result in disaster, but making a habit of it will weaken your defenses against malware attack. Any of the above scenarios should, at the very least, make you uncomfortable.

6. Java on the Web (not to be confused with JavaScript, to which it's not related, despite the similarity of the names) is a weak point in the security of any system. Java is, among other things, a platform for running complex applications in a web page, on the client. That was always a bad idea, and Java's developers have proven themselves incapable of implementing it without also creating a portal for malware to enter. Past Java exploits are the closest thing there has ever been to a Windows-style virus affecting OS X. Merely loading a page with malicious Java content could be harmful.

Fortunately, client-side Java on the Web is obsolete and mostly extinct. Only a few outmoded sites still use it. Try to hasten the process of extinction by avoiding those sites, if you have a choice. Forget about playing games or other non-essential uses of Java.

Java is not included in OS X 10.7 and later. Discrete Java installers are distributed by Apple and by Oracle (the developer of Java.) Don't use either one unless you need it. Most people don't. If Java is installed, disable it—not JavaScript—in your browsers.

Regardless of version, experience has shown that Java on the Web can't be trusted. If you must use a Java applet for a task on a specific site, enable Java only for that site in Safari. Never enable Java for a public website that carries third-party advertising. Use it only on well-known, login-protected, secure websites without ads. In Safari 6 or later, you'll see a padlock icon in the address bar when visiting a secure site.

Stay within the safe harbor, and you’ll be as safe from malware as you can practically be. The rest of this comment concerns what you should not do to protect yourself.

7. Never install any commercial AV or "Internet security" products for the Mac, as they are all worse than useless. If you need to be able to detect Windows malware in your files, use one of the free security apps in the Mac App Store—nothing else.

Why shouldn't you use commercial AV products?

☞ To recognize malware, the software depends on a database of known threats, which is always at least a day out of date. This technique is a proven failure, as a major AV software vendor has admitted. Most attacks are "zero-day"—that is, previously unknown. Recognition-based AV does not defend against such attacks, and the enterprise IT industry is coming to the realization that traditional AV software is worthless.

☞ Its design is predicated on the nonexistent threat that malware may be injected at any time, anywhere in the file system. Malware is downloaded from the network; it doesn't materialize from nowhere. In order to meet that nonexistent threat, commercial AV software modifies or duplicates low-level functions of the operating system, which is a waste of resources and a common cause of instability, bugs, and poor performance.

☞ By modifying the operating system, the software may also create weaknessesthat could be exploited by malware attackers.

☞ Most importantly, a false sense of security is dangerous.

8. An AV product from the App Store, such as "ClamXav," has the same drawback as the commercial suites of being always out of date, but it does not inject low-level code into the operating system. That doesn't mean it's entirely harmless. It may report email messages that have "phishing" links in the body, or Windows malware in attachments, as infected files, and offer to delete or move them. Doing so will corrupt the Mail database. The messages should be deleted from within the Mail application.

An AV app is not needed, and cannot be relied upon, for protection against OS X malware. It's useful, if at all, only for detecting Windows malware, and even for that use it's not really effective, because new Windows malware is emerging much faster than OS X malware.

Windows malware can't harm you directly (unless, of course, you use Windows.) Just don't pass it on to anyone else. A malicious attachment in email is usually easy to recognize by the name alone. An actual example:

London Terror Moovie.avi [124 spaces] Checked By Norton Antivirus.exe

You don't need software to tell you that's a Windows trojan. Software may be able to tell you which trojan it is, but who cares? In practice, there's no reason to use recognition software unless an organizational policy requires it. Windows malware is so widespread that you should assume it's in every email attachment until proven otherwise. Nevertheless, ClamXav or a similar product from the App Store may serve a purpose if it satisfies an ill-informed network administrator who says you must run some kind of AV application. It's free and it won't handicap the system.

The ClamXav developer won't try to "upsell" you to a paid version of the product. Other developers may do that. Don't be upsold. For one thing, you should not pay to protect Windows users from the consequences of their choice of computing platform. For another, a paid upgrade from a free app will probably have all the disadvantages mentioned in section 7.

9. It seems to be a common belief that the built-in Application Firewall acts as a barrier to infection, or prevents malware from functioning. It does neither. It blocks inbound connections to certain network services you're running, such as file sharing. It's disabled by default and you should leave it that way if you're behind a router on a private home or office network. Activate it only when you're on an untrusted network, for instance a public Wi-Fi hotspot, where you don't want to provide services. Disable any services you don't use in the Sharing preference pane. All are disabled by default.

10. As a Mac user, you don't have to live in fear that your computer may be infected every time you install software, read email, or visit a web page. But neither can you assume that you will always be safe from exploitation, no matter what you do. Navigating the Internet is like walking the streets of a big city. It can be as safe or as dangerous as you choose to make it. The greatest harm done by security software is precisely its selling point: it makes people feel safe. They may then feel safe enough to take risks from which the software doesn't protect them. Nothing can lessen the need for safe computing practices.