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 the "Search Genius" malware. Please take the steps below to disable it.
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.
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 may not 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 be one or more files with a name that begins as follows:
com.mediahm
Move any such files to the Trash. There may not be anything else 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.
3. 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.
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
5. This step is optional. Open this folder as in Step 1:
~/Library/Application Support
and move to the Trash the subfolder with the name
mediahm
if present.
Don't move the Application Support folder or anything else inside it.
6. "Search Genius" is distributed in the form of a fake updater for "Adobe Flash Player." You may have been prompted by a popup on a website to update Flash. Never follow a prompt on any website to install any software, no matter what you think it is. Software should be downloaded only because you—not someone else—decided that you need it, and then only from the developer's website or from the Mac App Store. Some software, including Flash Player, has a buit-in updater that is safe enough to use, provided that the existing installation came from a reliable source.
conniefromoakland
Level 1
(8 points)
