Bing redirect Mac virus removal from Safari, Firefox, Chrome

Distribution vectors

This rerouting problem has nothing to do with an informed decision on the victim’s end. The malicious app usually slithers into a Mac alongside ostensibly legit software. This is what’s called bundling, a method that results in installing several programs under the guise of one. Some users have reported the Bing redirect virus starting to cause problems after they installed and activated the Microsoft Office suite. Some start encountering these issues after falling victim to the fake Adobe Flash Player update hoax. In the latter case, a rogue “Your Flash Player is out of date” popup appears on a malicious website or one compromised by malefactors. By applying the malware-riddled update, the user unwittingly opts for Bing as their default search provider. Additionally, there has been some feedback about the redirect culprit infiltrating Macs alongside a fake system optimizer like Mac Cleanup Pro or another one from the same lineage.

Auxiliary malicious URLs

Another frequently reported stratagem has to do with Search Baron, a fishy service that bundles with harmless-looking software and pretends to improve one’s web search experience. Instead of following through with its claims, though, this malicious app changes a victim’s Internet navigation preferences with a rogue landing page at searchbaron.com without due permission. As a result, a regular web search instance will be returning the unwanted site first, and from there the traffic will automatically travel to Bing. The user’s only role in this hoax is to watch this merry-go-round of redirects taking place over and over, and to forget about personalization of the browsing routine until a fix is applied. Aside from Search Baron, the other services and interstitial domains constituting this dexterous co-promotion network as of May 2022 include:

• Search Marquis (searchmarquis.com);
• Search Control (searchitnow.info);
• Search Snow (searchsnow.com);
• My Browser Search (mybrowser-search.com);
• api.lisumanagerine.club;
• search.surfharvest.xyz;
• nearbyme.io;
• r.a9g.io;
• search1.me.

Ties with other Mac malware campaigns

An increasingly common source of the Bing.com redirect issue is a lineage of adware applications arriving at Macs as seemingly useful browser enhancement tools bundled with other software. All of them share a few “branding” hallmarks such as the icon design featuring a magnifying glass symbol as well as the 1.0 version number that may follow the corresponding browser extension’s name. A few examples are UtilityParse, EnterDiscovery, CrowdExclusive, and IdeaShared apps. In addition to browser redirects, another annoying after-effect of this attack comes down to ads injection across the websites the victim goes to. To ensure that the redundant sponsored content matches the infected user’s interests, the adware collects personally identifiable information (PII), including the browsing history and search queries.

It’s noteworthy that, although the core applications in these setup clients vary, all of these occurrences have one common denominator. They are downloaded from fishy dubious websites promoting uncertified or cracked versions of popular utilities. The attack may also be backed by a clickbait campaign or other form of malvertising surreptitiously injected into legit sites. Furthermore, it’s quite likely that the actual name of the adware is Genieo – that’s a notorious malvertising entity wreaking havoc in the Mac world for years.

Additional symptoms to watch out for

Scareware is on the list of opportunistic threats that may overlap the Bing redirect virus activity. Its objective is to pressure a Mac user into buying the license for a junk application portraying itself as a genuine optimizer. Quick Mac Booster, MacReviver, and the above-mentioned Mac Cleanup Pro are examples of mainstream fishy programs from this cluster. They all display exaggerated scan results stating that the Mac is full of clutter and has security issues. To iron out these alleged problems, the victim is instructed to pay up. One of the most common and effective fake alerts shown by these nasties says “Your computer is low on memory”. It may be hard to distinguish between the legitimate popup and its fake counterpart concocted by malware. Therefore, those affected should do their homework and assess the amount of their available RAM. If there’s more than enough, then the warning is spoofed and should be ignored.

Persistence mechanisms

The key point regarding the Bing redirect virus is that the issue won’t vanish on its own. No browser update or regular manual reconfiguring will take care of the infection. The persistence factor plays a primary role in this obstruction as the unruly application piggybacks on a peculiar trick involving a rogue configuration profile. This is a growingly popular mechanism used by modern adware to thwart easy removal. Its logic is to tamper with the command line tool at an early stage of the attack to create a dodgy device profile under System Preferences on a Mac. This artifact is intended to impose specific twisted settings such as web browsing defaults the victim didn’t opt for. Moreover, it keeps the user from changing their preferences back to their correct values by means of the established procedures everyone is familiar with.

In Google Chrome, which is increasingly in the crosshairs of Mac adware distributors, the takeover is manifested through an extra symptom. Its main pull-down menu will include a notice saying, “Managed by your organization”. This is a browser-specific byproduct of the system profile feature being mishandled. Essentially, the malicious app adds an enterprise policy that narrows down the victim’s web surfing preferences to a predefined range of sites.

To circumvent software notarization restrictions enforced by Apple, the authors of the underlying malicious app have masterminded a scheme that involves valid digital certificates. Because the malware is code-signed, the Gatekeeper system component doesn’t give users a heads-up about it. Under the circumstances, the only viable countermeasure is to get rid of the malicious code proper, reset the affected browsers to their original state and then adjust them to your liking again. The how-to’s below cover all of these steps in detail.

Bing redirect virus manual removal for Mac

The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this malicious application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the specified order.

1. Expand the Go menu in your Mac’s Finder bar and select Utilities as shown below.

   

2. Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the Utilities screen and double-click on it.

   

3. In the Activity Monitor app, look for a process that appears suspicious. To narrow down your search, focus on unfamiliar resource-intensive entries on the list. Keep in mind that its name isn’t necessarily related to the way the threat is manifesting itself, so you’ll need to trust your own judgement. If you pinpoint the culprit, select it and click on the Stop icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

   

4. When a follow-up dialog pops up asking if you are sure you want to quit the troublemaking process, select the Force Quit option.

   

5. Click on the Go menu icon in the Finder again and select Go to Folder. You can as well use the Command-Shift-G keyboard shortcut.

   

6. Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the folder search dialog and click on the Go button.

   

7. Examine the contents of the LaunchAgents folder for dubious-looking items. Be advised that the names of files spawned by malware may give no clear clues that they are malicious, so you should look for recently added entities that appear to deviate from the norm.

   As an illustration, here are several examples of LaunchAgents related to mainstream Mac infections: com.pcv.hlpramc.plist, com.updater.mcy.plist, com.avickUpd.plist, and com.msp.agent.plist. If you spot files that don’t belong on the list, go ahead and drag them to the Trash.

   

8. Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/Application Support (note the tilde symbol prepended to the path).

   

9. When the Application Support directory is opened, identify recently generated suspicious folders in it and send them to the Trash. A quick tip is to look for items whose names have nothing to do with Apple products or apps you knowingly installed. A few examples of known-malicious folder names are Quick Mac Booster, IdeaShared, and ProgressMatch.

   

10. Enter ~/Library/LaunchAgents string (don’t forget to include the tilde character) in the Go to Folder search area.

    

11. The system will display LaunchAgents residing in the current user’s Home directory. Look for dodgy items related to Bing redirect virus (see logic highlighted in subsections above) and drag the suspects to the Trash.

    

12. Type /Library/LaunchDaemons in the Go to Folder search field.

    

13. In the LaunchDaemons path, try to pinpoint the files the malware is using for persistence. Several examples of such items cropped by Mac infections are com.pplauncher.plist, com.startup.plist, and com.ExpertModuleSearchDaemon.plist. Delete the sketchy files immediately.

    

14. Click on the Go menu icon in your Mac’s Finder and select Applications on the list.

    

15. Find the entry for an app that clearly doesn’t belong there and move it to the Trash. If this action requires your admin password for confirmation, go ahead and enter it.

    

16. Expand the Apple menu and select System Preferences.

    

    

17. Proceed to Users & Groups and click on the Login Items tab.

    

    The system will display the list of items launched when the computer is starting up. Locate the potentially unwanted app there and click on the “-” (minus) button.

    

18. Now select Profiles under System Preferences. Look for a malicious item in the left-hand sidebar. Several examples of configuration profiles created by Mac adware include TechSignalSearch, MainSearchPlatform, AdminPrefs, and Chrome Settings. Select the offending entity and click on the minus sign at the bottom to eliminate it.

    

    

    If your Mac has been infiltrated by adware, the infection will most likely continue to hold sway over your default web browser even after you remove the underlying application along with its components sprinkled around the system. Use the browser cleanup instructions below to address the remaining consequences of this attack.

Get rid of Bing redirect virus in web browser on Mac

To begin with, the web browser settings taken over by the Bing redirect virus should be restored to their default values. Although this will clear most of your customizations, web surfing history, and all temporary data stored by websites, the malicious interference should be terminated likewise. The overview of the steps for completing this procedure is as follows:

1. Remove Bing redirect virus from Safari
   • Open the browser and go to Safari menu. Select Preferences in the drop-down list.

     

   • Once the Preferences screen appears, click on the Advanced tab and enable the option saying “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.

     

   • Now that the Develop entry has been added to the Safari menu, expand it and click on Empty Caches.

     

   • Now select History in the Safari menu and click on Clear History in the drop-down list.

     

   • Safari will display a dialog asking you to specify the period of time this action will apply to. Select all history to ensure a maximum effect. Click on the Clear History button to confirm and exit.

     

   • Go back to the Safari Preferences and hit the Privacy tab at the top. Find the option that says Manage Website Data and click on it.

     

   • The browser will display a follow-up screen listing the websites that have stored data about your Internet activities. This dialog additionally includes a brief description of what the removal does: you may be logged out of some services and encounter other changes of website behavior after the procedure. If you’re okay with that, go ahead and click on the Remove All button.

     

   • Restart Safari
2. Remove Bing redirect in Google Chrome
   • Open Chrome, click the Customize and control Google Chrome (⁝) icon in the top right-hand part of the window, and select Settings in the drop-down

     

   • When on the Settings pane, select Advanced
   • Scroll down to the Reset settings section.

     

   • Confirm the Chrome reset on a dialog that will pop up. When the procedure is completed, relaunch the browser and check it for malware activity.

     

3. Remove Bing redirect from Mozilla Firefox
   • Open Firefox and go to Help – Troubleshooting Information (or type about:support in the URL bar and press Enter).

     

     

   • When on the Troubleshooting Information screen, click on the Refresh Firefox button.

     

   • Confirm the intended changes and restart Firefox.

The Mac maintenance and security app called Combo Cleaner is a one-stop tool to detect and remove Bing redirect virus. This technique has substantial benefits over manual cleanup, because the utility gets hourly virus definition updates and can accurately spot even the newest Mac infections.

Furthermore, the automatic solution will find the core files of the malware deep down the system structure, which might otherwise be a challenge to locate. Here’s a walkthrough to sort out the Bing redirect issue using Combo Cleaner:

1. Download Combo Cleaner installer. When done, double-click the combocleaner.dmg file and follow the prompts to install the tool onto your Mac.

   Download Combo Cleaner

   By downloading any applications recommended on this website you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The free scanner checks whether your Mac is infected. To get rid of malware, you need to purchase the Premium version of Combo Cleaner.

2. Open the app from your Launchpad and let it run the update of malware signature database to make sure it can identify the latest threats.
3. Click the Start Combo Scan button to check your Mac for malicious activity as well as performance issues.

   

4. Examine the scan results. If the report says “No Threats”, then you are on the right track with the manual cleaning and can safely proceed to tidy up the web browser that may continue to act up due to the after-effects of the malware attack (see instructions above).

   

5. In case Combo Cleaner has detected malicious code, click the Remove Selected Items button and have the utility remove Bing redirect threat along with any other viruses, PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), or junk files that don’t belong on your Mac.

   

6. Once you have made doubly sure that the malicious app is uninstalled, the browser-level troubleshooting might still be on your to-do list. If your preferred browser is affected, resort to the previous section of this tutorial to revert to hassle-free web surfing.