How To Remove Ios-protection.com PUP From Mac PC

Simple Steps To Delete Ios-protection.com

Ios-protection.com is an ad-supported application that infects mobile phones and has specially been designed by a team of cyber criminals for malicious purposes. Once this potentially unwanted program successfully infiltrates the iOS devices, it starts displaying fake security messages stating that mobile if infected with infections and redirects users to possible dangerous web pages. The pop-up messages pretend to be from Apple Security and claim that 5 viruses have damaged the system. It tries to urge people to click the Remove Virus button that automatically triggers the vicious installation of a fake security tool.

Know More About Ios-protection.com:

Once Ios-protection.com enters the targeted devices and then starts executing malicious activities, such behavior often leads to direct malware download and system penetration. This social engineering tactic is used to push a so-called Security App which is indeed a potentially unwanted application itself. Most of the times, such intrusive pop-ups spread malevolent tools that can be directly related to more dangerous cyber threats like ransomware, trojan etc. This particular scam pop-ups state about possibly sensitive data exposure, infected social media accounts and other personal information corruption. We highly advise to ignore such fake messages and avoid installing any dubious application.

Ios-protection.com PUP is also responsible for the appearance of endless annoying ads and pop-ups on compromised systems’ screen that interrupts victims’ online sessions badly. These ads are in multiple formats such as deals, coupons, banners, offers, discounts etc. and can easily gain users’ attention as they look very eye-catching. They are based on pay-per-click mechanism and earn profits for the developers when clicked on. However, you should avoid interacting with these adverts as they might contain perilous links and redirect users to highly infectious web portals that are filled with malicious contents.

Ios-protection.com may also track your web activities such as pages viewed, links clicked on, search queries typed and so on and gather personal data relating to credit card and banking details. Your sensitive information could be misused by the cyber crooks for fraudulent transaction or purchases that might lead to huge financial loss. It eats up enormous memory resources and slows down the overall device performance drastically. Due to this, machine begins responding in a very slow manner and takes more than usual time to complete any task. And hence, an instant Ios-protection.com removal is highly required from the Mac devices.

Threat Summary 

Name: Ios-protection.com

Type: Adware, Mobile infection, Scam, Potentially unwanted program

Short Description: Displays fake security warnings and tries to deceive users into installing rogue software, Redirects users to affiliated sites, promotes sponsored products, services and programs and make online revenues for the creators, Also steals users’ personal and confidential information and share them with hackers for evil purposes.

Symptoms: The pop-up with a false security alert about malware damage appears on the screen, tons of intrusive adverts, Fake pop-up messages, identity theft, slowness of infected system’s performance.

Distribution methods: Free software installers (bundling), Deceptive emails, malicious pop-ups ads, fake flash player installers.

Damage: Web browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), exhibition of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites.

Removal: To get rid of this infection and other malware threats, our security researchers recommend scanning your device with an effective anti-malware tool.

Ways To Spread Ios-protection.com:

There are various deceptive methods through which these PUPs enter the targeted systems. When people go for torrent, pirating services, sites that promote freeware, games, applications, they often end up with malware installation. These web portals and shady providers might be related with third-party PUP creators or even cyber criminals. These types of unwanted threats usually penetrate the targeted systems without seeking for users’ approval.

Tips To Prevent Adware Intrusion:

The intrusion of adware and other PUPs can be avoided when you pay close attention to stuffs like security of the site or torrent platform, p2p sharing service, pirating site. People usually fall for the trick of a malicious site or misleading domain and install the malware themselves. Moreover, always go for Custom or Advanced installation options and pay attention to suspicious pages. In case your device is already infected with this PUP, you must remove Ios-protection.com from the Mac system without wasting any time.

Remove Files and Folders Related to Ios-protection.com

Open the “Menu” bar and click the “Finder” icon. Select “Go” and click on “Go to Folder…”

Step 1: Search the suspicious and doubtful malware generated files in /Library/LaunchAgents folder

Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the “Go to Folder” option

In the “Launch Agent” folder, search for all the files that you have recently downloaded and move them to “Trash”. Few of the examples of files created by browser-hijacker or adware are as follow, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.Itvbit.plist”, installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, and “kuklorest.update.plist” and so on.

Step 2: Detect and remove the files generated by the adware in “/Library/Application” Support folder

In the “Go to Folder..bar”, type “/Library/Application Support”

Search for any suspicious newly added folders in “Application Support” folder. If you detect any one of these like “NicePlayer” or “MPlayerX” then send them to “Trash” folder.

Step 3: Look for the files generated by malware in /Library/LaunchAgent Folder:

Go to Folder bar and type /Library/LaunchAgents

You are in the “LaunchAgents” folder. Here, you have to search for all the newly added files and move them to “Trash” if you find them suspicious. Some of the examples of suspicious files generated by malware are “myppes.download.plist”, “installmac.AppRemoved.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist” and so on.

Step4: Go to /Library/LaunchDaemons Folder and search for the files created by malware

Type /Library/LaunchDaemons in the “Go To Folder” option

In the newly opened “LaunchDaemons” folder, search for any recently added suspicious files and move them to “Trash”. Examples of some of the suspicious files are “com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist”, “com.avickUpd.plist”, “com.myppes.net-preference.plist”, “com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist” and so on.

Step 5: Use Combo Cleaner Anti-Malware and Scan your Mac PC

The malware infections could be removed from the Mac PC if you execute all the steps mentioned above in the correct way. However, it is always advised to be sure that your PC is not infected. It is suggested to scan the work-station with “Combo Cleaner Anti-virus”.

Once the file gets downloaded, double click on combocleaner.dmg installer in the newly opened window. Next is to open the “Launchpad” and press on “Combo Cleaner” icon. It is advised to wait until “Combo Cleaner” updates the latest definition for malware detection. Click on “Start Combo Scan” button.

A depth scan of your Mac PC will be executed in order to detect malware. If the Anti-virus scan report says “no threat found” then you can continue with guide further. On the other hand, it is recommended to delete the detected malware infection before continuing.

Now the files and folders created by the adware is removed, you have to remove the rogue extensions from the browsers.

Remove Ios-protection.com from Internet Browsers

Delete Doubtful and Malicious Extension from Safari

Go to “Menu Bar” and open “Safari” browser. Select “Safari” and then “Preferences”

In the opened “preferences” window, select “Extensions” that you have recently installed. All such extensions should be detected and click the “Uninstall” button next to it. If you are doubtful then you can remove all the extensions from “Safari” browser as none of them are important for smooth functionality of the browser.

In case if you continue facing unwanted webpage redirections or aggressive advertisements bombarding, you can reset the “Safari” browser.

“Reset Safari”

Open the Safari menu and choose “preferences…” from the drop-down menu.

Go to the “Extension” tab and set the extension slider to “Off” position. This disables all the installed extensions in the Safari browser

Next step is to check the homepage. Go to “Preferences…” option and choose “General” tab. Change the homepage to your preferred URL.

Also check the default search-engine provider settings. Go to “Preferences…” window and select the “Search” tab and select the search-engine provider that you want such as “Google”.

Next is to clear the Safari browser Cache- Go to “Preferences…” window and select “Advanced” tab and click on “Show develop menu in the menu bar.“

Go to “Develop” menu and select “Empty Caches”.

Remove website data and browsing history. Go to “Safari” menu and select “Clear History and Website Data”. Choose “all history” and then click on “Clear History”.

Remove Unwanted and Malicious Plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox

Delete Ios-protection.com add-ons from Mozilla Firefox

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser. Click on the “Open Menu” present in the top right corner of the screen. From the newly opened menu, choose “Add-ons”.

Go to “Extension” option and detect all the latest installed add-ons. Select each of the suspicious add-ons and click on “Remove” button next to them.

In case if you want to “reset” the Mozilla Firefox browser then follow the steps that has been mentioned below.

Reset Mozilla Firefox Settings

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser and click on “Firefox” button situated at the top left corner of the screen.

In the new menu, go to “Help” sub-menu and choose “Troubleshooting Information”

In the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click on “Reset Firefox” button.

Confirm that you want to reset the Mozilla Firefox settings to default by pressing on “Reset Firefox” option

The browser will get restarted and the settings changes to factory default

Delete Unwanted and Malicious Extensions from Google Chrome

Open the chrome browser and click on “Chrome menu”. From the drop down option, choose “More Tools” and then “Extensions”.

In the “Extensions” option, search for all the recently installed add-ons and extensions. Select them and choose “Trash” button. Any third-party extension is not important for the smooth functionality of the browser.

Reset Google Chrome Settings

Open the browser and click on three line bar at the top right side corner of the window.

Go to the bottom of the newly opened window and select “Show advanced settings”.

In the newly opened window, scroll down to the bottom and choose “Reset browser settings”

Click on the “Reset” button on the opened “Reset browser settings” window

Restart the browser and the changes you get will be applied

The above mentioned manual process should be executed as it is mentioned. It is a cumbersome process and requires a lot of technical expertise. And hence it is advised for technical experts only. To be sure that your PC is free from malware, it is better that you scan the work-station with a powerful anti-malware tool. The automatic malware removal application is preferred because it doesn’t requires any additional technical skills and expertise.

Download the application and execute it on the PC to begin the depth scanning. Once the scanning gets completed, it shows the list of all the files related to Ios-protection.com. You can select such harmful files and folders and remove them immediately.