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Though it's not easy to hack into or break through a Mac's security, it is possible, especially if someone accidentally installs malware without realizing it. If your Mac is running slow or you're seeing unusual advertisements within your web browser you might have accidentally installed malware at some point. Don't worry. It happens to the best of us (not me, of course). There are things you can do without having to burn it all down.
Uninstall Malwarebytes for Mac through the Help menu Open Malwarebytes for Mac. On the menu bar, click Help. Click Uninstall Malwarebytes. A prompt appears with the following message: 'This will completely remove the Malwarebytes software. Are you sure you wish to proceed?' Apr 23, 2019 Get rid of malware using CleanMyMac X. CleanMyMac X has a 10-year reputation of guarding Macs around the world. The app will scan your Mac for any vulnerabilities and offer immediate removal if it finds something suspicious. May 10, 2018 This Mac tutorial shows how to remove viruses, malware, spyware, adware, and basic Mac maintenance and cleaning 2018 1. (Time Stamp 0:37) - Disk Utility Firs. The Apple Care Virus warning is a fake message intended to deceive you into installing potentially unwanted programs and even malware. Once the rogue software brought by the Apple Care virus warning is inside your Mac system it will try to download additional undesired programs.
The problem: Mac malware in the Library folder
Serenity Caldwell writing for iMore in 2017:
My father-in-law's MacBook Pro had been running into curious slowdowns for a two-year-old laptop and he kept on seeing weird sites taking over his Safari and Firefox search bars. It was clear to me that his browser had been hijacked.
We got rid of the browser hijack pretty quickly — I suggest using Cella's excellent how-to if you ever run into a browser hijack yourself — but the slowdowns were more curious. Upon further investigation, I found a couple of self-professed 'Mac security programs' that popped up, demanding money to 'clean your Mac from junk'.
Spoiler: These programs were the junk. And worst of all, they'd seemingly added a bunch of nonsense files into this computer's Library folder, with random folder names like 'prestidigitation' and 'beeswax'.
Now, I want to preface: I'd never seen an attack like this on a Mac before in my life, and finding this kind of full-Mac hijack is very rare. It's likely that he accidentally installed one of these 'security' programs (or had it installed), which spiraled out of control from there.
These hijacks didn't appear to be able to do much beyond slow down his machine with endless failed attempts to run a program — the process didn't have admin permissions, so it couldn't execute a thing from the library. But because they were there, they were constantly crashing aspects of his Mac. I knew I had a malfunctioning laptop on my hands, so I turned to my age-old troubleshooting checklist.
How to fix a corrupted Mac
If you're working on a computer that has slowed down beyond reasonable aging or is otherwise acting beyond the pale, here are my favorite tactics you can take to try and restore it to its former glory.
Update the system software
This is almost always the first thing I do when troubleshooting Macs: Chances are, the user hasn't installed a security update or other software updates that may be slowing their computer to a crawl.
- Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
- Select App Store to open the Mac App Store.
- Click on the Updates tab at the top of the Mac App Store window.
- Install all relevant updates. (You may need the Apple ID and password for the machine.)
If the computer is running macOS Sierra, you can avoid having to do this troubleshooting step in the future by turning on Automatic Install in System Preferences, which can automatically download newly available updates in the background, and install them overnight.
- With the Mac App Store open, click on App Store in the upper left corner of the Menu bar.
- Click on Preferences.
- Under Automatically check for updates, check the following boxes:
- Download newly available updates in the background
- Install app updates
- Install macOS updates
- Install system data files and security updates
Check the disk for errors
Malware Removal For Mac Free
If software updates aren't doing the trick, the next thing to check is the hard drive itself. With Apple's Internet Recovery partition, fixing a cranky drive is an easy process.
- Restart your Mac.
- During reboot, hold down Command-R until it starts up.
- Once rebooted, you should be in the Internet Recovery Partition. Select Disk Utility.
- Click Continue.
- In Disk Utility, click on the First Aid button,
- Click on Run to execute.
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Your Mac will then run a cursory check on its hard drive to determine if there's anything wrong — and if so — if it can fix it.
Reset the NVRAM/PRAM and SMC
If neither app updates nor disk repair are helping, sometimes a good cache flush can get your Mac running just a bit more smoothly.
To reset the NVRAM (or, on older Macs, PRAM), reboot the Mac and hold down the following keyboard command during startup for at least twenty seconds: Command-Option-P-R.
After you reset your NVRAM, you may be required to reconfigure some system settings (like sound and time zones), which are stored in that cache.
An SMC reset is a bit more complicated, and Apple recommends it only after all other troubleshooting avenues have been exhausted.
If you're using a laptop:
- Shut down your Mac and plug it in.
- Restart the computer by pressing the Power button along with the keyboard command Shift-Control-Option.
- Release these keys, then just press the Power button to properly start your computer.
If you're using a desktop:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Unplug it and wait for at least 20 seconds.
- Plug the Mac back in and wait 5-10 seconds.
- Restart your Mac with the Power button.
Partition your disk (or erase it)
After exhausting all other avenues, this was the solution we came across to properly fix the broken laptop. The hard drive had been so corrupted by these 'security' programs that there was nothing I could do to fix it. When Safari launched over the login screen after a reboot, I knew my usual fixes wouldn't work: It was time to bring out the big guns.
In most cases, I'd grab an external drive, back up the corrupted disk, then wipe the drive clean with the Internet Recovery partition and start over. But there were a couple of reasons that wouldn't work here: Canon mx310 driver for mac.
- We were on vacation, and lacking any sort of external media.
- With a semi-corrupted disk, we couldn't just clone the user folder and restore the new disk from a backup — we'd have to do a clean install, which meant moving files over one by one. If we'd missed something and moved all the old files to an external drive, my father-in-law would have had to carry it everywhere just in case.
Given that this laptop had a 500GB hard drive — only 40GB of which was being used — I had an alternate idea: I'd partition the drive, again using Internet Recovery, and install macOS Sierra on the new partition. Essentially, it would be a 'clean' new computer for my father-in-law to work on, but all the original data would still exist on the old partition in case he needed to grab a file.
Note: In order to partition your drive, you'll need enough free space on your drive to do so — at least 30GB. If you're light on space, you may want to back up your corrupted disk to a USB drive, instead.
How to create a partition on your Mac
- Open Finder from your dock.
- Select Applications.
- Scroll down and open the Utilities folder.
- Double-click to open Disk Utility.
- Select your hard drive in the Disk Utility window. It will be the first drive on the list. It might be named 'Fusion,' or 'Macintosh HD.'
- Click on the Partition tab.
- Click the plus (+) button.
- Change the size of the partition you wish to use by dragging the resize controls. The used space is represented in blue.
- Name the new partition.
- Click apply.
Disk Utility will check the disk and make changes. This will take several minutes.Disk Utility will then make the changes. After that's completed, quit Disk Utility to return to the main Internet Recovery menu.
- Click on Reinstall macOS.
- Click Continue.
- Click Agree to agree to Apple's licensing agreements.
- Choose the New Mac hard drive as the disk you'd like to install macOS onto.
- Press Install.
- The Mac will download a fresh copy of your operating system from the App Store and will install it. The speed of this process entirely depends on your Mac's connection speed to the Internet. You can wait an hour or longer on a slower connection.
- Your Mac will restart automatically into the new partition once the software has downloaded, then the installation of the operating system will continue.
After you finish setting up the new hard drive, it's time to move your files over. Because of the way partitioning works, your old hard drive partition will show up next to your currently-active partition, just like an external drive; you can then grab any files you need from it.
- Launch a Finder window.
- Under Devices in the sidebar, locate your original Macintosh HD.
- Copy any files you'd like to keep from your old hard drive to the new machine.
Note: If you want to copy over applications, I'd strongly suggest redownloading them from the source — the Mac App Store or the company's website — rather than trying to copy them over from the old partition.
From here, you can follow instructions for setting a Mac up from scratch when it comes to installing and customizing anything else.
I generally recommend keeping the old drive partition around for at least a few months in case you or your family member forgets to move something over; after that period, however, you can easily delete the old partition and move to the new partition full time.
Consider additional anti-malware protection
While malware on the Mac is rare, it does crop up, as we've demonstrated. Having the right tools to get rid of malware can be an important part of keeping your Mac safe and secure. There are a number of tools that you can choose from, including popular programs like BitDefender and Kaspersky, that will help you keep malware from infecting your Mac.
Questions?
Do you have any must-follow troubleshooting steps? Let us know in the comments.
Updated July 2019: Added a sub-section regarding anti-malware protection.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.
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Set-top of the pileSurvey suggests nearly a quarter of U.S. Apple customers own an Apple TV
Research conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has revealed that almost 25% of US Apple Customers own an Apple TV.
This post provides details on the malicious Mac process called Maftask (Maf-Task), explains what it has to do with Spchlpr, Hlpradc, hiprade, helperamc and helpermcp viruses, and includes removal steps.
Update: October 2019
Underestimating the capabilities and complexity of Mac malware is a slippery slope. The threat actors who zero in on the Apple ecosystem are becoming increasingly tech-savvy, and their malicious code can assume different shapes to evade detection and prevent termination. Mac Auto Fixer, one of the fairly sophisticated samples from that category, injects its tentacles deep inside a host system and sprinkles concomitant files and processes in order to persevere. Some victims fail to notice these extra fragments of the infection, but those who look for them typically spot an executable file named “maftask” or 'maf-task'. It is listed among the running processes in the contaminated Mac’s Activity Monitor, and another entry “com.techyutil.maftask.plist” is going to end up in the LaunchDaemons.
So, the actual culprit’s name is Mac Auto Fixer, and it’s embodied on the system level as the Maftask process – no wonder some users refer to the latter as the troublemaker. The conspicuously misbehaving application is a mix of a rogue optimization tool and pseudo security software. It pretends to find a bevy of macOS performance issues as well as privacy and malware problems, thus attempting to persuade the victim that purchasing its license is certainly on their to-do list. It boasts sleek GUI design and triggers trustworthy-looking system scans over and over.
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Maftask may re-infect your Mac multiple times unless you delete all of its fragments, including hidden ones. Therefore, it is recommended to download Freshmac and scan your system for these stubborn files. This way, you may reduce the cleanup time from hours to minutes. Download NowLearn how Freshmac works. If the utility spots malicious code, you will need to buy a license to get rid of it.
Maftask may re-infect your Mac multiple times unless you delete all of its fragments, including hidden ones. Therefore, it is recommended to download Freshmac and scan your system for these stubborn files. This way, you may reduce the cleanup time from hours to minutes. Download NowLearn how Freshmac works. If the utility spots malicious code, you will need to buy a license to get rid of it.
The reports enumerate hundreds of items that should supposedly be deleted or fixed at once, including duplicates, unnecessary login items, failed downloads and memory issues. To top it all off, the Maftask virus will state there is too little available space left and urge the user to have memory released in one click.
The pseudo scanning activity of Mac Auto Fixer (Maf-task) malware is accompanied by numerous popups that further pressure the user into taking immediate action. The alerts typically mention the number of threats and issues spotted in specific system areas and recommend the victim to sort them all out by registering the full version of the program. The infection can also impact the web surfing facet of Mac usage by rerouting traffic to spoof warning pages. Long story short, Maftask deploys a great deal of brainwashing to dupe and intimidate the owner of the infected computer into coughing up a registration fee. Therefore, following those annoying prompts is a bad idea because most of the problems are phony and the only real adversary is the alleged Mac performance booster itself.
Another massive surge of Maftask infections after the original outbreak of the Mac Auto Fixer malware took root in early October 2019 and has been a consistently serious concern ever since. According to the victims’ reports, this twist in the dodgy campaign is accompanied by malicious activity of the following processes:
- hlpradc
- spchlpr
- hiprade
- helperamc
- helpermcp
- ummhlpr
- sspchlpr
- APMHelper
- smbstrhlpr
- MapsAndDirections-1668307
- ProntoApp
- WebSocketServerApp
- FocusReportingService
- CellularService
- EasyConverter-955179
- freeForm-959837
- macalive
- tonictasks
- mohip
- source.app
The main symptom is an emergence of popup alerts saying, “ How do you disable pop-up blockers for mac. maftask will damage your computer. You should move it to the Trash”, where the name of the perpetrating executable can be either one of the five above-mentioned harmful processes (“[harmful process name] will damage your computer”). By the way, Spchlpr is the name of the binary used by Similar Photo Cleaner, a notorious fake optimization tool for Mac.
It’s worth mentioning that all of these incidents have one thing in common: they co-occur with an upgrade to macOS Catalina 10.15, the latest release of the operating system. These alerts may be a response of the brand-new macOS version to the viruses that ran undetected prior to the installation of Catalina on pre-infected computers. The good news is that Apple appears to be improving the malware identification features of their platform, but the infected users are stuck with the annoying alerts anyway.
The Maftask virus penetrates into a Mac by means of tricky installation clients. Their nasty gist boils down to combining benign apps with harmful ones under a single umbrella. The regular program is the only one clearly indicated in the setup wizard, while the Mac Auto Fixer baddie lurks down in its settings that you have to spend time toggling. In summary, Maftask is a component of a dangerous and obnoxious Mac scareware, so it should be treated accordingly. Continue reading this entry to learn how to remove the pest.
Maftask malware manual removal for Mac
The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this potentially unwanted application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.
• Open up the Utilities folder as shown below
• Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it
• Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for maftask, select it and click Quit Process
• A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the maftask executable. Select the Force Quit option
• Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the entry for Maftask on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, go ahead and enter it
• Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option
• Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. The system will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate Maftask / Mac Auto Fixer there and click on the “-“ button
Use automatic tool to uninstall Maftask virus from your Mac
When confronted with malicious code like the Maftask virus on Mac, you can neutralize its toxic impact by leveraging a specially crafted system utility. The Freshmac application (read review) is a perfect match for this purpose as it delivers essential security features along with must-have modules for Mac optimization.
This tool cleans unneeded applications and persistent malware in one click. It also protects your privacy by eliminating tracking cookies, frees up disk space, and manages startup apps to decrease boot time. On top of that, it boasts 24/7 tech support. The following steps will walk you through automatic removal of the Maftask infection.
1. Download Freshmac installer onto your machine. Double-click the Freshmac.pkg file to trigger the installer window, select the destination disk and click Continue. The system will display a dialog asking for your password to authorize the setup. Type the password and click Install Software.
2. Once the installation has been completed, Freshmac will automatically start a scan consisting of 5 steps. It scans cache, logs, unused languages, trash, and checks the Mac for privacy issues.
3.The scan report will then display your current system health status and the number of issues detected for each of the above categories. Click the Fix Safely button tto remove junk files and address privacy issues spotted during the scan.
4. Check whether the Maftask issue has been fixed. If it perseveres, go to the Uninstaller option on Freshmac GUI. Locate an entry that appears suspicious, select it and click Fix Safely button to force-uninstall the unwanted application.
5. Go to Temp and Startup Apps panes on the interface and have all redundant or suspicious items eliminated as well. The Maftask malware shouldn’t be causing any further trouble.
FAQ
In most cases, you can close the Maftask process by going to the Activity Monitor from your Mac’s Utilities screen, selecting the unwanted entry and clicking the ‘Quit Process’ button. On a confirmation dialog, select the ‘Force Quit’ option to terminate the stubborn executable. Keep in mind, though, that Maftask will most likely reappear on your running processes list unless you apply the appropriate malware removal procedure.
To get rid of Maftask for good, you need to uninstall the underlying fake system utility called Mac Auto Fixer that relies on the offensive binary in question. Aside from closing the malicious process in the Activity Monitor, remove the core program from your Applications and Login Items as explained in the guide above. Consider emptying the Trash when done.
Hlpradc is a malicious process used by a rogue application called Advanced Mac Cleaner or one of its variants. The affiliated scareware programs that are known to utilize this executable include Mac Ads Cleaner and Mac Adware Cleaner. Although the names differ, the behavior and objectives of these apps are nearly identical. They all report numerous security and performance issues on a Mac and try to dupe the victim into purchasing their license. Obviously, if you discover ‘hlpradc’ among the processes running on your Mac computer, be sure to terminate it immediately and proceed with removing the associated harmful app.
Malware Removal For Mac Os X 10.7.5
Helperamc/helpermcp is an entity mentioned on macOS security alerts stating that it will damage your computer and recommending you to move it to the Trash without delay. These notices are being mostly reported by people who have just installed macOS Catalina 10.15 released in October 2019. It appears that this build of the operating system has introduced a new approach to handling suspicious software previously installed on the Mac. If it cannot verify the app publisher, it will most likely trigger an alert like that.
It turns out that ‘helperamc(helpermcp)’ is a process launched by a phony system utility or adware program once it infiltrates a Mac. Unfortunately, the victims are unable to delete it by simply clicking the ‘Move to Trash’ button on the system popups mentioned above. Instead, those infected should leverage an antimalware tool to sort out the problem, or search for ‘hiprade’ on their hard drive and erase all the detected files manually. It’s recommended to empty the Trash afterward.
Spchlpr is an executable file of an aggressive pseudo optimizer called Similar Photo Cleaner. The telltale sign of this malware’s activity comes down to recurrent system scans and popup alerts that raise red flags on serious disk space issues due to large and unused images stored on the computer. However, the infection concocts all of these problems in order to pressure the victim into buying its full version, which will supposedly unlock the cleanup feature. Be advised that these notifications about memory improvement potential are a bluff.
Malware Removal For Macbook Air
Speaking of the ‘spchlpr’ process, it is merely one of the symptoms of the malware attack. To remove Similar Photo Cleaner junk from your Mac, you need to stop this executable first and then get down to eradicating the rest of the culprit’s components.