Hacked computer

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Level 1

4 points

Hacked computer

My computer has been hacked, which manifests itself by Safari opening unwanted windows asking to contact a fake Apple help website, unwanted Firefox start-ups, hung screens, weird messages on rebooting, you name it. Have removed all cookies from Safari & Firefox, but notice that certain malicious items reinstall themselves regardless (and this is with "allow cookies from websites I visit" enabled); some of these are listed as cache, cookies and local storage, see attached image. After having tried almost everything I now want to try to disable/flush out specific cookies, but don't know how - any help much appreciated.

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.3), 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Posted on Oct 28, 2017 9:16 AM

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Answer 1

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macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Oct 30, 2017 3:43 PM in response to nilesk

It's doubtful your Mac has been hacked. That's extremely difficult to do unless someone has physical access.

Force Quit Safari ( command + option + esc keys).Then restart Safari holding the Shift key. If you still have problems Empty Caches (Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Remove all website data. (This will also remove history if you do not want to remove History open Safari Preferences > Advanced and check mark “Show Develop Menu” then choose “Empty Caches” from Develop Menu ) If the problem persists download and run MalwareBytes. 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.

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Answer 2

nilesk Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2017 6:50 PM in response to macjack

That helped... up to a point. However, on removing all cookies from Safari the offending cookies reinstall themselves, resulting in the occasional unwanted web page opening in a new window (removing all website data does not remove the history, by the way, which is done from the safari drop-down menu and which also clears related cookies). I will check out malwarebytes, but am leery of downloading 3rd party software as this is probably how the problem happened in the first place; doesn't apple have a product that should take care of this? Or is there some way of preventing specific cookies from installing themselves?

For those of us not in the know: what is ASC?

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,624 points

Oct 28, 2017 8:32 PM in response to nilesk

Apple

Support

Communities

ASC

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Answer 4

nilesk Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2017 3:43 PM in response to thomas_r.

Interesting point and very useful article, thx.

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Answer 5

nilesk Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2017 6:46 PM in response to rkaufmann87

But of course.

Installed & ran malwarebytes; it helps, but every now and then the offending cookies manage to install themselves regardless & create the usual havoc, until flushed out again. Is there any way to permanently quarantine certain cookies?

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Answer 6

KiltedTim

Level 10

228,720 points

Oct 29, 2017 6:58 PM in response to nilesk

Then STOP visiting the sites that are dropping the cookies on your machine. It's that or change the Safari settings to not accept any cookies at all, which will dramatically effect your browsing experience in many cases.

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Answer 7

etresoft

Level 9

57,242 points

Oct 30, 2017 7:32 AM in response to nilesk

In that case, stop visiting sites that serve those cookies. You can download and install a 3rd party cookie management tool like Cookie from https://sweetpproductions.com/, but that will only remove cookies on a regular basis. The only person who can stop them from being created it you.

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Answer 8

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,031 points

Oct 30, 2017 3:43 PM in response to nilesk

You should note that Malwarebytes does not scan for or block cookies, as cookies are not malware. They are just data.

It sounds like you've run across some "evercookies," which are fiendishly difficult to remove. For more information, including some tips that may help remove them, see:

https://www.macworld.com/article/3152056/privacy/how-to-kill-the-evercookie-and- supercookie-the-cockroaches-of-tracking.…

Note, though, that getting too worked up by cookies is like getting upset by dust... just as dust is simply a part of the environment that can never be entirely removed, so are cookies simply a part of the web that can never be entirely removed. Nor would you want to, since cookies have many positive uses.

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Answer 9

KiltedTim

Level 10

228,720 points

Oct 29, 2017 6:51 PM in response to nilesk

It's going to be easier and more effective to stop visiting questionable websites...

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Answer 10

nilesk Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2017 6:54 PM in response to KiltedTim

Indeed, but in the meantime I still have the problem of unwanted cookies reinstalling themselves when deleted.

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Answer 11

etresoft

Level 9

57,242 points

Oct 29, 2017 7:04 PM in response to nilesk

Hello nilesk,

Are you really running 10.12.3? I thought this was a bug that Apple fixed recently. When I checked, the cookies weren't actually reinstalling themselves. It was just a display bug.

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Answer 12

nilesk Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2017 7:14 AM in response to etresoft

Am running 10.12.6; I don't believe this is a display bug

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