I've downloaded malware which sets my browser to Bing instead of safari. How do I remove the malware and re instate safari

Bing is not a browser, it is a webpage that you link to in Safari and that performs search functions.

In Safari you can reset the default search engine by opening Safari->preferences->search as below.

1. Safari > Preferences > Extensions

Turn all extension off, relaunch Safari and test.

Turn those on one by one and test.

2. Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine :

Select your preferred search engine.

3. Use free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac/ AdwareMedic to remove adware

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

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

Once done, quit Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

or

Remove the adware manually by following the “HowTo” from Apple.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

Note: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac/ AdwareMedic is recommended by Apple support.

Don't use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product on a Mac. There is never a need for it, and relying on it for protection makes you more vulnerable to attack, not less.

You installed one or more variants of the "InstallMac" trojan. Take the steps below to disable it.

The criminal behind this attack tries to make the malware hard to remove by varying the names of the files it installs. 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.

Back up all data before continuing.

1. 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/LaunchAgents

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 "LaunchAgents" will open.

2. Inside the folder you just opened, there may files with a name of the form

something.download.plist

something.ltvbit.plist

something.update.plist

where something is usually a meaningless string, such as any of the following:

InKeepr

InstallMac

Javeview

Leperdvil

Manroling

Otwexplain

These are examples, not a complete list. The string could be anything. The point is that the same string will appear in the name of three files.

You could have more than one copy of the malware, with different values of something.

Move all such items to the Trash. There may not be any other files in the LaunchAgents folder; in that case, you can delete the folder, but otherwise don't delete it. Other files in the folder are not necessarily malicious (though they could be, if you also installed some other kind of malware.)

Log out or restart the computer. The trojan will now be inactive, but there are a few more components of it that should be cleaned up.

3. Open this folder in the same way as above:

~/Library/Application Support

and move to the Trash any subfolders named with the same something you found in Step 2.

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

4. Open the Applications folder. If there is an item with the same name as in Step 3, or any of the other names listed in Step 2, drag it to the Trash.

If in doubt, press the key combination option-command-4 to arrange the apps by date added. Look at the apps that have been added since you first noticed the problem. If there is one you don't recognize, drag it to the Trash.

Empty the Trash.

If you get an alert that the application is in use, force it to quit.

5. From the Safari menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Extensions

Uninstall all extensions you don't know you need. If in doubt, remove all of them. None is required for normal operation. Do the equivalent in the Chrome and Firefox browsers, if you use either of those.

6. Reset the home page in each of your browsers, if it was changed. In Safari, first load the home page you want, then select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ General

and click

Set to Current Page

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac (Adware Medic) despite its name, is not an anti-virus or anti-malware program. It is designed specifically to remove adware, and does that quite effectively and safely. It has been used by many, and has been recommended by support staff at the Apple Genius Bar and in Apple telephone support.

Your question brings up the subject of removing adware. This is a general comment on that subject.

Under no circumstances should you ever allow anti-virus software to delete something for you.

The only tools that anyone needs to detect and remove adware are the Finder and a web browser, both of which you already have. Anyone who has enough computer skill to install adware can just as well remove it without using anything else.

Apple doesn't endorse any third-party "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product. Here and here are its general statements about malware protection, and here are its instructions for removing the most common types of ad-injection malware. None of those support pages mentions anti-malware products. An Apple employee who recommends such a product is speaking only for himself or herself, not for the company. See this thread for an example of what the results can be.

You become infected with malware by downloading unknown software without doing research to determine whether it's safe. If you keep making that mistake, the same, and worse, will keep happening, and no anti-malware will rescue you. Your own intelligence and caution are the only reliable defense.

The Windows/Android anti-malware industry had more than $75 billion in sales in 2014 [source: Gartner, Inc.] Its marketing strategy is to convince people that they're helpless against malware attack unless they use its products. But with all that anti-malware, the Windows and Android platforms are still infested with malware—most of it far more harmful than mere adware. The same can be expected to happen to the Mac platform if its users trust the same industry to protect them, instead of protecting themselves.

You are not helpless, and you don't have to give full control of your computer—and your data—to strangers in order to be rid of adware.

These are generalities. Regarding the "malwarebytes" product in particular, you may be told that there are no reports that is has caused damage. In fact, I know of two such reports: one by ASC user Big Kev55 in this thread, and one by LizardMBP in this thread. Read those reports and draw your own conclusions. There are also many reports that the Windows version of the product has deleted essential Windows system files; see, for example, this thread on the developer's own support forum.

Whether the software damages the system or not, it takes full adminstrative control and connects to a server controlled by the developer. The developer's privacy policy, linked directly to the Mac product page, reads in part as follows:

"Without limiting the Privacy Policy, you agree that Malwarebytes may track certain data it obtains from your Computer including data about any malicious software or other threats flagged by the Software, data about your license, data about what version of the Software you are using and what operating conditions it runs under and data concerning your geographic location."

(Emphasis added.) So the developer admits to tracking your location, as well as other unspecified data, and gives itself the legal right to collect any data it chooses. How it uses that right, you don't know. By running the software, you accept these terms.

In case there's any doubt about whether this "anti-malware" product is really anti-malware, the developer's own description distinguishes between adware and malware, and specifically mentions removing malware as a selling point six times. A self-identified employee of the developer wrote in an ASC discussion, "Actually, it's also a malware removal app..." (emphasis added.)

The question then is: as a security-conscious computer user, do you want to take such risks when there is no offsetting benefit?

<Edited By Host>

Please read what I have written re. what I take to be Mr. Davis' entirely erroneous remarks about Adware Medic (now called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac) here. I think you may find what I have written to be quite illuminating, as well as very helpful to anyone considering using this program for adware removal.

My comments begin with "The links you provide in the above text have been examined by myself and a number of others...."

In addition, I would point out that, although Apple may not officially endorse the use of any third party program for this purpose, that does not mean that they advise against using it. In fact, it has been reported that some at the Apple Genius Bar, and in Apple telephone support have suggested using it.