Virus or just weird behaviour?

[TheDrift-]

So I just loaded a picture to photo bucket and got the message to update flash player went to adobe to update flash..

...while it was updating my preference box opens up and a load of boxes are ticked, too quick for me to see what exactly..

...I immediately shut down and when I restart the safari preference box is open and my home page has been changed.

Luckily I have a back up from a couple of days ago so I am currently restoring from that just to be safe...but it was like something high jacked my mac!! (Mbp and latest os!)

Am I just being paranoid doing a full restore or is there anything else I should look out for?

Thanks

 

[dianeoforegon]

Most adware and popup windows like you experienced can be dealt with by running Malware bytes. If the browser window can't be quit, click on the Finder in the Dock and select Force Quit (Command Option Esc) to quit the browser.

You don't need Flash on your Mac. Uninstall using the Adobe Flash Player Install Manager in Applications/Utilities. Most files will play in HTML5 when you don't have Flash installed. Use Google Chrome that has a built in Flash player if a video requires Flash.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free)
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

Apple Instructions: Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

How to remove: Phony "tech support" / "Ransomware" popups and web pages
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8071

 

[TheDrift-]

I do need flash on mac, I upload stock photo's and a couple of the sites I upload to don't have FTP, you have to upload via a flash system..

...anyway full restore seems to have done the trick....praise be to time machine it can chalk up another victory!

 

[old-wiz]

Are you sure you downloaded the flash player from Adobe? Some nefarious sites will give you the 'update flash..' message and tells you to "click here" and it downloads from a site that has malware plus Flash When I need flash I always make sure that the link points to get.adobe.com/flashplayer

 

[TheDrift-]

yeah i think so i did it real quick, pretty sure i google adobe flash and saw the get bit..wierd it did download the whole of flash rather than update...

...the thing the freaked me at most was that it automatically opened my preferences and started changing things (it was to quick for me to see what exactly!)