Macbook still getting Bing Redirects even after mbam scan and deleting preferences.plist

[jimmysofat6864]

Hi there I have a Mac here infected with a search redirect that randomly redirects to bing after a few searches. I ran a malwarebytes scan and it detected some things and I had them removed and restarted my computer but I still get the random redirects. I already tried deleting the com.apple.Safari.plist file and it didn't fix my problem. I also followed everything in this article and I am still getting the random redirects. How can I fix this? Do I need to run the scan in safe mode? Any help is appreciated.

How to remove the after-effects of adware

Many different kinds of malware will make changes to the system that Malwarebytes cannot fix. These changes include: 1) Malicious changes to the browser settings (home page, search engine, etc) 2) Addition of malicious system profiles These changes may result in your browser continuing to direct ...

forums.malwarebytes.com

 

[tensixturtle]

You could try Avast Free because it seems to find even more stuff than Malwarebytes. When you're done, however, I'd uninstall because they send a lot of ads in different forms trying to sell the premium plan.

 

[ventmore]

Hi there I have a Mac here infected with a search redirect that randomly redirects to bing after a few searches. I ran a malwarebytes scan and it detected some things and I had them removed and restarted my computer but I still get the random redirects. I already tried deleting the com.apple.Safari.plist file and it didn't fix my problem. I also followed everything in this article and I am still getting the random redirects. How can I fix this? Do I need to run the scan in safe mode? Any help is appreciated.

How to remove the after-effects of adware

Many different kinds of malware will make changes to the system that Malwarebytes cannot fix. These changes include: 1) Malicious changes to the browser settings (home page, search engine, etc) 2) Addition of malicious system profiles These changes may result in your browser continuing to direct ...

forums.malwarebytes.com

I had something similar on a friends machine last year. IIRC...the malware had setup a proxy server. Check here:

System Preferences > Network
Select your network connection
Advanced > Proxies

Make sure all items are unchecked. If not then uncheck them and hit "OK" and also make sure to hit "Apply" before closing the settings.

Apologies if you've already checked this.

 

[appltech]

Look at your browser extensions
Check  System Preferences –> Profiles (Menu bar –> View –> Customise | make sure that here is no Profile option available)
Also, download other browsers (like Firefox, or MS Edge)
And the sure thing will be to check homepage and delete all cookies and cache from browser

 

[hobowankenobi]

I have seen problematic 3rd party extensions and plug-ins (firefox)....as well as the search preference is changed.

 

[Technerd108]

If I were you I would back up my data. Then wipe your drive and delete contents and re-install MacOS. Malware can be persistent and hard to remove completely. Best practice to make sure it is completely gone is wipe and re-install.

In my experience on Windows and Macs antivirus software doesn't do a very good job of removing malware. It can stop and infection before it installs but once it is on the system it can be very hard to get rid of with 3rd party software.

Good Luck!

 

[jimmysofat6864]

You could try Avast Free because it seems to find even more stuff than Malwarebytes. When you're done, however, I'd uninstall because they send a lot of ads in different forms trying to sell the premium plan.

Yea it seems like Avast found some stuff that Malwarebytes didn't find but I ended up doing a clean install anyways because there was barely any space left on the system. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

I had something similar on a friends machine last year. IIRC...the malware had setup a proxy server. Check here:

System Preferences > Network
Select your network connection
Advanced > Proxies

Make sure all items are unchecked. If not then uncheck them and hit "OK" and also make sure to hit "Apply" before closing the settings.

Apologies if you've already checked this.

I hadn't thought of checking there before I did a clean install. If I see something similar then I'll try that too.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

Look at your browser extensions
Check  System Preferences –> Profiles (Menu bar –> View –> Customise | make sure that here is no Profile option available)
Also, download other browsers (like Firefox, or MS Edge)
And the sure thing will be to check homepage and delete all cookies and cache from browser

Yea I found no profiles that was one of the few things I checked first. Seems to do other browsers as well.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

I have seen problematic 3rd party extensions and plug-ins (firefox)....as well as the search preference is changed.

Oddly the search preferences were unchanged and there were no extensions installed. It's after around 3 searches when it get's redirected.

 

[jimmysofat6864]

If I were you I would back up my data. Then wipe your drive and delete contents and re-install MacOS. Malware can be persistent and hard to remove completely. Best practice to make sure it is completely gone is wipe and re-install.

In my experience on Windows and Macs antivirus software doesn't do a very good job of removing malware. It can stop and infection before it installs but once it is on the system it can be very hard to get rid of with 3rd party software.

Good Luck!

Yep that's what I ended up doing got clean installed and looks good so far.