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Remove Browser Pop-up Problems

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware Detection & Removal Software for

Apple Macintosh Computers

Adblock Plus 1.8.9, GlimmerBlocker, or AdBlock

Remove adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac

How to remove the FlashMall adware from OS X

Stop pop-up ads and adware in Safari - Apple Support

DetectX 2.11

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems

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.

The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.

Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.

Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.

Quit Safari

Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.

Relaunch Safari

If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.

This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

You may have installed one or more variants of the "VSearch" ad-injection malware. Please back up all data, then take the steps below to inactivate it.

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.

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. If it does, press the key combination command-2 to select list view, if it's not already selected.

There should be a column in the Finder window headed Date Modified. Click that heading twice to sort the contents by date with the newest at the top. Please don't skip this step. Files that belong to an instance of VSearch will have the same modification time to within about one minute, so they will be clustered together when you sort the folder this way, making them easy to identify.

Look inside the folder for files with a name of any of these forms:

com.something.daemon.plist

com.something.helper.plist

com.something.net-preferences.plist

Here something is a meaningless, random string of characters, which can be different in each instance of VSearch. So far it has always been an alphanumeric string without punctuation, such as "disbalance" or "thunderbearer."

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.somethingelseUpd.plist

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

Here's a typical example of a VSearch infection:

com.disbalance.net-preferences.plist

com.thunderbearerUpd.plist

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

If you feel confident that you've identified the above files, drag just those files—nothing else—to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password. Close the Finder window.

2. Open this folder as in Step 1:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Move to the Trash any files with a name of the form

com.something.agent.plist

where something is one of the strings you found in Step 1. There may not be any such files.

3. If you moved anything to the Trash in Step 1 and/or Step 2, restart the computer and empty the Trash.

Don't delete the "LaunchAgents" or "LaunchDaemons" folder, or anything else inside either one, unless you know you have some other kind of unwanted software besides VSearch. The folders are a normal part of OS X. The terms "agent' and "daemon" refer to a program that starts automatically. That's not inherently bad, but the mechanism is sometimes exploited by malware attackers.

4. 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. A few small files will be left behind, but they have no effect, and trying to find them all is more trouble than it's worth.

5. 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.

6. 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.

Hi LINC DAVIS

I been following you instructions. I've already deleted some of the file you said. But I haven't solved the problem.

Can you help me please ?

Hi LINC DAVIS

I been following you instructions. I've already deleted some of the file you said. But I haven't solved the problem.

Can you help me please ?

You installed one or more newer variants of the "VSearch" trojan. Please inactivate them as follows. This procedure will leave a few small files behind, but they have no effect, and trying to remove them all would be a lot more trouble than it's worth.

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

Back up all data before proceeding.

The VSearch variant that you have regenerates itself if you try to delete it while it's running. To remove it, you must first start up in safe mode to disable the malware temporarily.

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 other instructions.

While running in safe mode, triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

/Library/LaunchDaemons

Right-click or control-click the line and select

Services ▹ Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "LaunchDaemons" should open.

Inside that folder there are one or more items with a name that begins like this:

com.apple.

There are also one or more items with a three-part name of this form:

com.something.plist

where something is a meaningless string of letters, different in every case. Typical examples:

com.semifasciaUpd.plist

com.ubuiling.plist

Drag all such items to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Restart the computer and empty the Trash.

Reset the home page in each of your web 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

If you use the Firefox and/or Chrome web browser, remove any extensions or add-ons that you don't know you need. If in doubt, remove all of them.

The malware is now permanently inactivated, as long as you never reinstall it. A few small files will be left behind, but they have no effect, and trying to find them all is more trouble than it's worth.

Thank You LINC ... but umh.. still having same problem..

Probably I'm not removing all the files. At this point all the folder content look like "something.plist" to me. Can not understand what is good and what is not...

And If I reset all my laptop is it better?

You need to remove everything in the LaunchDaemons folder except the adobe, microsoft, and tunnelbear files.

Wow, so bad !! 😟

It is done! I removed all the file and all the subfolder from the Library. Look like better now 🙂

I was afraid to remove some important file ...

Hope not to have more of these problems in future.

Thank You so much LINC for you help 🙂