remove trovi from safari

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 may have installed one or more variants of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware. Please back up all data, then follow Apple Support's instructions to remove it.

If you have trouble following those instructions, or if they don't work, 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.

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/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 may not 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 any of these forms:

com.something.daemon.plist

com.something.helper.plist

com.something.net-preferences.plist

com.something.preferences.plist

Here something is a variable string of characters, which can be different in each VSearch infection. So far it has always been an alphanumeric string 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.

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

There may also be one or more files with a name of this form:

com.somethingUpd.plist

where something may be a different meaningless string than in the other files. Again, there may be more than one such file, with different values of something.

Here's a specific example of a VSearch infection:

com.disbalance.daemon.plist

com.disbalance.helper.plist

com.thunderbearerUpd.plist

You will have files with names similar, but probably not identical, to these.

2. If you find such 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 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.

3. 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

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.

4. This step is optional. Open this folder:

/Library

It may have subfolders named as follows

something

somethingUpd

where something is any of the strings you saw before. Drag any such subfolders to the Trash and close the window.

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

5. This step doesn't apply to OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later, and is optional if you're running an older version of OS X.

In this folder:

/System/Library/Frameworks

there may be an item named exactly

v.framework

or else an item named

something.framework

Again, something is the same string as before.

This item is actually a folder, though it has a different icon than usual. Drag it to the Trash and close the window.

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

6. 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.

7. 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. I don't recommend that you install the genuine "MPlayerX," because it's hosted on the rogue "SourceForge" website and is bundled with other malware.

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.

Download and install MalwareBytes https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

Malwarebytes was developed by one of our own colleagues here in ASC. It gets rave reviews and is about the most proven anti-malware software for Mac.

The boilerplate post you are reading here has been refuted over and over again by many folks here in ASC. You can read it for yourself

Re: Deleting Malware called AMC

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's general statements about malware protection are here and here, and here are its instructions for removing the most common types of ad-injection malware. Those statements don't mention any third-party "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" product. Apple's method for removing adware involves, as I say, only the Finder and a web browser.

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. The only safety lies in safe computing practices.

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, there are such reports; for example:

I found malware or adware on my system the other day. I removed it with Maleware Bytes and since then Safari has not worked proper at all.

preferences pane will not load

Read that report and draw your own conclusions—not anyone else's conclusions.

The developer itself admitted that the Windows version of the product has been known to delete essential system files.

Whether the software damages the system or not, it prompts for your password in order to take full adminstrative control, and connects via the Internet to a server controlled by the developer. The developer's privacy policy, linked directly to the 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.

It's sometimes said that the Malwarebytes product only removes adware rather than malware as such (if there's a difference), and that it therefore shouldn't be stigmatized as anti-malware. The developer's own description does distinguish between adware and malware, and specifically mentions removing malware as a selling point six times. A self-described 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 risks where there is no benefit?

I just want to say thank you so much. This worked for me. Thank You!!!! Quick question, it may be a silly one but I just want to be sure... Are we supposed to empty the trash Once we find these files?

The boilerplate posts you are reading here have been refuted over and over again by many folks here in ASC. You can read it for yourself

Re: Deleting Malware called AMC