How do I get rid of this malware?
Hi, I recently got an obviously fake pop-up saying it was from the Interpol or whatnot and demand money to go away. I had to force quit Safari and clear the cache, but it left something in my computer. I know it exists because it appears on my activity monitor, and when I search in the finder for it, a deny of search action appears on the console by one of the programs affiliated with it. When I follow the path to delete it, it says I do not have the privileges to do so. I am using Yosemite, what should I do?
Here's a list of what I found suspicious on my activity monitor:
com.apple.speech.speechsynthesisd
com.apple.internetaccounts
com.apple.dock.extra
com.apple.notesmigratorservice
com.apple.wifi.proxy
com.apple.inputmethodkit.userdirectory
com.apple.commercekit.transactionservice
com.apple.bkagentservice
And it lists the parent program as launchd (1)
As Kappy noted, there's nothing to find since nothing was uploaded to your Mac. These scam pages are nothing but browser tricks that do their best to prevent you from backing out of, or closing the page. Nothing else.
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How do I get rid of this malware? Please help...
At least I think it's malware. I realized last night that there were an awful amount of ads, pop-up windows, and warnings coming from my normally visited sites. This only happens on Google Chrome (does not happen on Firefox and Safari) So I ran Sophos Anti-Virus software. It found two "threats" that I quickly cleaned up. No luck.
Someone in another thread said it is a variant of a "VSearch" trojan and suggested deleting bogus-looking daemons from my /Library/LaunchDaemons folder. I deleted "com.google.keystone.agent.plist" and "com.oracle.java.Java-Updater" (which seemed to help another user), restarted my computer and emptied the trash. No luck. Same results when I followed these instructions as well.
Can someone think of or suggest another way to get this taken care of?
Thank you in advance,
Robin
(OS X Yosemite 10.10.1, Mac Mini)If removing Chrome extensions doesn't solve the problem, and if you're sure the ads are not just normal web content, then see below.
1. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It changes nothing, for better or worse, and therefore will not, in itself, solve the problem. But with the aid of the test results, the solution may take a few minutes, instead of hours or days.
The test works on OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and later. I don't recommend running it on older versions of OS X. It will do no harm, but it won't do much good either.
Don't be put off by the complexity of these instructions. The process is much less complicated than the description. You do harder tasks with the computer all the time.
2. If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before doing anything else. The backup is necessary on general principle, not because of anything in the test procedure. Backup is always a must, and when you're having any kind of trouble with the computer, you may be at higher than usual risk of losing data, whether you follow these instructions or not.
There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
3. Below are instructions to run a UNIX shell script, a type of program. As I wrote above, it changes nothing. It doesn't send or receive any data on the network. All it does is to generate a human-readable report on the state of the computer. That report goes nowhere unless you choose to share it. If you prefer, you can act on it yourself without disclosing the contents to me or anyone else.
You should be wondering whether you can believe me, and whether it's safe to run a program at the behest of a stranger. In general, no, it's not safe and I don't encourage it.
In this case, however, there are a couple of ways for you to decide whether the program is safe without having to trust me. First, you can read it. Unlike an application that you download and click to run, it's transparent, so anyone with the necessary skill can verify what it does.
You may not be able to understand the script yourself. But variations of it have been posted on this website thousands of times over a period of years. The site is hosted by Apple, which does not allow it to be used to distribute harmful software. Any one of the millions of registered users could have read the script and raised the alarm if it was harmful. Then I would not be here now and you would not be reading this message. See, for example, this discussion.
Nevertheless, if you can't satisfy yourself that these instructions are safe, don't follow them. Ask for other options.
4. Here's a general summary of what you need to do, if you choose to proceed:
☞ Copy a particular line of text to the Clipboard.
☞ Paste into the window of another application.
☞ Wait for the test to run. It usually takes a few minutes.
☞ Paste the results, which will have been copied automatically, back into a reply on this page.
These are not specific instructions; just an overview. The details are in parts 7 and 8 of this comment. The sequence is: copy, paste, wait, paste again. You don't need to copy a second time.
5. Try to test under conditions that reproduce the problem, as far as possible. For example, if the computer is sometimes, but not always, slow, run the test during a slowdown.
You may have started up in "safe" mode. If the system is now in safe mode and works well enough in normal mode to run the test, restart as usual. If you can only test in safe mode, do that.
6. If you have more than one user, and the one affected by the problem is not an administrator, then please run the test twice: once while logged in as the affected user, and once as an administrator. The results may be different. The user that is created automatically on a new computer when you start it for the first time is an administrator. If you can't log in as an administrator, test as the affected user. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this section doesn’t apply. Don't log in as root.
7. Load this linked web page (on the website "Pastebin.") The title of the page is "Diagnostic Test." Below the title is a text box headed by three small icons. The one on the right represents a clipboard. Click that icon to select the text, then copy it to the Clipboard on your computer by pressing the key combination command-C.
If the text doesn't highlight when you click the icon, select it by triple-clicking anywhere inside the box. Don't select the whole page, just the text in the box.
8. Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
Click anywhere in the Terminal window to activate it. Paste from the Clipboard into the window by pressing command-V, then press return. The text you pasted should vanish immediately.
9. If you see an error message in the Terminal window such as "Syntax error" or "Event not found," enter
exec bash
and press return. Then paste the script again.
10. If you're logged in as an administrator, you'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You will not see the usual dots in place of typed characters. Make sure caps lock is off. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you make three failed attempts to enter the password, the test will run anyway, but it will produce less information. If you don't know the password, or if you prefer not to enter it, just press return three times at the password prompt. Again, the script will still run.
If you're not logged in as an administrator, you won't be prompted for a password. The test will still run. It just won't do anything that requires administrator privileges.
11. The test may take a few minutes to run, depending on how many files you have and the speed of the computer. A computer that's abnormally slow may take longer to run the test. While it's running, a series of lines will appear in the Terminal window like this:
[Process started]
Part 1 of 8 done at … sec
Part 8 of 8 done at … sec
The test results are on the Clipboard.
Please close this window.
[Process completed]
The intervals between parts won't be exactly equal, but they give a rough indication of progress. The total number of parts may be different from what's shown here.
Wait for the final message "Process completed" to appear. If you don't see it within about ten minutes, the test probably won't complete in a reasonable time. In that case, press the key combination control-C or command-period to stop it and go to the next step. You'll have incomplete results, but still something.
12. When the test is complete, or if you stopped it because it was taking too long, quit Terminal. The results will have been copied to the Clipboard automatically. They are not shown in the Terminal window. Please don't copy anything from there. All you have to do is start a reply to this comment and then paste by pressing command-V again.
At the top of the results, there will be a line that begins with the words "Start time." If you don't see that, but instead see a mass of gibberish, you didn't wait for the "Process completed" message to appear in the Terminal window. Please wait for it and try again.
If any private information, such as your name or email address, appears in the results, anonymize it before posting. Usually that won't be necessary.
13. When you post the results, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the test results on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.
14. This is a public forum, and others may give you advice based on the results of the test. They speak for themselves, not for me. The test itself is harmless, but whatever else you're told to do may not be. For others who choose to run it, I don't recommend that you post the test results on this website unless I asked you to.
Copyright © 2014, 2015 by Linc Davis. As the sole author of this work (including the referenced "Diagnostic Test"), I reserve all rights to it except as provided in the Use Agreement for the Apple Support Communities website ("ASC"). Readers of ASC may copy it for their own personal use. Neither the whole nor any part may be redistributed. -
How do I get rid of this virus. Must I take it to Apple of Geek squad?
Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems
If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide, AdwareMedic, or Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support.
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. -
I continue to get the /.HTML/Rce.Gen3 virus through my mailbox almost daily. It is picked up by my anti-virus software. How do I get rid of this permanently so I stop getting it daily? Is it from a internet cache??
I use MacKeeper on my MacBook Pro
Ack! Get rid of that immediately! MacKeeper's bad news. Plus, it does a really awful job of actually detecting malware. See:
Beware MacKeeper
Mac anti-virus detection rates
http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/
My active accounts are clean, but the On My Mac gmail keeps and continues to repopulate all email, even after I trash them.
If you're seeing messages remaining in GMail's All Mail folder after deleting them, that's normal. GMail keeps all messages in there, even after deletion, unless you manually delete stuff using GMail's web interface. See Hiding GMail’s “All Mail” from Apple Mail.
If you're actually having trouble deleting e-mail from an On My Mac mailbox, there's probably something wrong with your mailboxes. -
I have both safari and chrome, because I'm used to chrome. The only extension I have is Google docs. I started getting green double underline hyperlinks to ads. How can I get rid of this without adding more junk to the computer? People suggest programs to do it, but how do I know they won't make it worse?
Is someone from Apple here and can answer?
Thanks!You may have installed the "VSearch" trojan. Remove it as follows.
Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. These instructions are valid as of now, as far as I know. They won't necessarily be valid in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for more recent discussions or start a new one.
Back up all data before proceeding.
Step 1
From the Safari menu bar, select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Extensions
Uninstall any extensions you don't know you need, including any that have the word "Spigot," "Trovi," or "Conduit" in the description. If in doubt, uninstall all extensions. Do the equivalent for the Firefox and Chrome browsers, if you use either of those.
Reset the home page and default search engine in all the browsers, if it was changed.
Step 2
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vsearch.agent.plist
Right-click or control-click the line and select
Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)
from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "com.vsearch.agent.plist" selected. Drag the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.
Repeat with each of these lines:
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.daemon.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vsearch.helper.plist
Restart the computer and empty the Trash. Then delete the following items in the same way:
/Library/Application Support/VSearch
/System/Library/Frameworks/VSearch.framework
~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ConduitNPAPIPlugin.plugin
Some of these items may be absent, in which case you'll get a message that the file can't be found. Skip that item and go on to the next one.
The problem 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, and if you wish, replace it with the genuine article from mplayerx.org.
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.
You may be wondering why you didn't get a warning from Gatekeeper about installing software from an unknown developer, as you should have. The reason is that the Internet criminal behind VSearch has a codesigning certificate issued by Apple, which causes Gatekeeper to give the installer a pass. Apple could revoke the certificate, but as of this writing has not done so, even though it's aware of the problem. This failure of oversight has compromised both Gatekeeper and the Developer ID program. You can't rely on Gatekeeper alone to protect you from harmful software.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. 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. -
I have an download that hasnt downloaded and my phone keeps asking me to put my apple id password in how do it get rid of this?
Any error message?
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In Mail on iMac, successfully running OS X Lion, one mailbox on My Mac for "Recovered Messages (from AOL)" keeps showing 1 very large message (more than 20 Mb) that I just cannot seem to delete. Each time I go into my In Box, the "loading" symbol spins and the message appears in the "Recovered Messages" mailbox. How can I get rid of this recurrent file, please?
At the same time, I'm not receviving any new mails in my In Box, although, if I look at the same account on my MacBook Pro, I can indeed see the incoming mails (but on that machine I do not have the "recovery" problem).
The help of a clear-thinking Apple fan would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.
From Ian in Paris, FranceIan
I worked it out.
Unhide your hidden files ( I used a widget from http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/hiddenfiles.html)
Go to your HD.
Go to Users.
Go to your House (home)
there should be a hidden Library folder there (it will be transparent)
Go to Mail in this folder
The next folder ( for me ) is V2
Click on that and the next one will be a whole list of your mail servers, and one folder called Mailboxes
Click on that and there should be a folder called recovered messages (server) . mbox
Click on that there a random numbered/lettered folder -> data
In that data folder is a list of random numbered folders (i.e a folder called 2, one called 9 etc) and in EACH of these, another numbered folder, and then a folder called messages.
In the messages folder delete all of the ebmx (I think that's what they were from memory, sorry I forgot as I already deleted my trash after my golden moment).
This was GOLDEN for me. Reason being, when I went to delete my "recovered file" in mail, it would give me an error message " cannot delete 2500 files". I knew it was only 1 file so this was weird. Why 2500 files? Because if you click on the ebmx files like I did, hey presto, it turned out that they were ALL THE SAME MESSAGE = 2500 times. In each of those folders in the random numbers, in their related message folder.
Now remember - DONT delete the folder, make sure you have gone to the message folder, found all those pesky ebmx files and deleted THOSE, not the folder.
It worked for me. No restarting or anything. And recovered file. GONE.
Started receiving and syncing mail again. Woohoo.
Best wishes. -
the cursor includes a text box from a previous image or link when the cursor is positioned on the side of the page. it will mainly happen when i hit "back" from the page i was on. i click and it goes away but only to return again on the next launched page. i also keep several tabs open and it will carry over to any one of them i go to. how do i get rid of this?
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== when i upgraded to most recent version 3.6.8A number of extensions can cause that problem, you'll need to do a little troubleshooting to find out which extension is causing that to happen for you.
[http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes] -
Hi! I sold my Iphone on ebay. The seller wants to connect the Iphone with his Apple ID, but it did not work because it says that the Iphone is already connected with another Apple ID. How can I get rid of this old connection? What do I have to do?
What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5661
MaggySimpson wrote:
Hi! I sold my Iphone on ebay.
Follow the instructions to remove a device you no longer have.
From here > http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13695?viewlocale=en_US -
I have two MacBook Pros on my local wi-fi network. I usually have these connected to each other over my wi-fi network. Normally, I only connect to my old computer (MacBookPro) from the new computer (MacBookPro2), so I can access files on my old computer that are typically not on my new computer. I use the same admin username (John Doe) and password on each computer. Currently, I have Mavericks (10.9.5) on my old computer and Yosemite (10.10) on the new MacBook Pro. All
I am now getting a recurrent request to connect to old computer even when I am already connected! When this request is being made, I am asked to connect to a username (johndoe instead of John Doe). The exact alert:
Enter your name and password for the server "MacBook Pro".
connect as << button is pressed for Registered User >>
Name: johndoe
Password: _________
<< Cancel button >> << Connect button >>
When I enter correct user name (John Doe or johndoe) and password for my account on Mavericks computer, the connection fails (whether I connected to Mavericks computer or not), and I get the following:
There was a problem connecting to the server "MacBookPro". The share does not exist on the server. Please check the share name and try again.
If I change to the proper share name John Doe and use the correct password, I still am not connected and I get the same failure message and am asked to use the correct share name again. If I cancel message, the connection message goes away for a while whether I am actually connected to old computer or not. It will then come back on the workspace I am currently using on my new macbook. When I am downloading files using terminal, the connect request comes up constantly if I continue canceling the message which is really irritating. How do I get rid of this constantly recurring request to connect???It means you must be connected to your computer via Wi-Fi (or cable).
Or wait for iOS 5 -
I'm usingiPhoto 9.2.1. Recently, everytime I open an album, I get a "face (the same one)" covering every picture. If I click on the picture, I can see the real picture. How do I get rid of this "face" that covers all?
Make a temporary backup of your library (if you don't already have a backup of it) and launch iPhoto with the Command +Option key held down and rebuild the library with options #1, 2, 3 and 6 selected.
OT -
A black airplay info window floats around on my HDTV screen when sending audio content via airplay up to sound system w Apple TV. How can I get rid of this?
Had this happen to me after a recent update, was super annoying. To turn off, go to Settings > AirPlay > Conference Room Display > Off.
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Hi everyone,,i bought a used iphone 5 with iOs 7.0.3. i want to delete the icloud account and add mine. I have sent an e-mail to the current account being used in my iphone. How can i get rid of this account plzzz help me ou
no i called the store owner from whom i bought it. he was like i will check in records and if there is something i will let u know...he was like send an e-mail its better so if it was stolen so the shopkeeper wouldnt let me to e-mail to the owner
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When you open a new browser tab, underneath the box to type in what you are looking for is the recently visited list. I want to disable or delete this list...how do I get rid of this list???
The drop-down list displays items from your History and/or Bookmarks.
You can control what shows (or nothing at all): Options > Privacy, "Location Bar" section. Options are:
*History and Bookmarks
*History
*Bookmarks
*Nothing
See --> https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Options%20window%20-%20Privacy%20panel
'''If this reply solves your problem, please click "Solved It" next to this reply when <u>signed-in</u> to the forum.'''
Not related to your question, but...
You may need to update some plug-ins. Check your plug-ins and update as necessary:
*Plug-in check --> http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/plugincheck/
*Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Shockwave%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-shockwave Installing ('''''or Updating''''') the Shockwave plugin with Firefox]
*Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Adobe%20Reader%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-and-updating-adobe-reader Installing/Updating Adobe Reader in Firefox]
*Shockwave Flash (Adobe Flash or Flash): [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing%20the%20Flash%20plugin#w_updating-flash Updating Flash in Firefox]
*Next Generation Java Plug-in for Mozilla browsers: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-or-updating-java Installing or Updating Java in Firefox] -
Please can you help - I have recently added an external hard drive to my Macbook so it can be used as a back up and storage to save space on my hard drive. I have deleted videos and photos from my hard drive but they are being replaced with 'backup'
how do i get rid of this ?
thanksWelcome to Apple Support Communities
Time Machine makes local snapshots in all portable Macs with Lion or Mountain Lion. They are made in the internal drive and they are removed when your hard disk gets full, so you don't have to worry about it.
If you want to delete them, turn off Time Machine and turn it on every time you want to make a backup. You can also turn them off manually without having to turn off Time Machine, or you can delete those local snapshots > http://pondini.org/TM/30.html
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