How To Remove Prudensearch.com From Mac System

Simple Steps To Delete Prudensearch.com From Computer

Prudensearch.com is a kind of potentially unwanted program crafted by a team of vicious Cyber actors for malicious purposes. This nasty browser hijacker generally gets into the Mac computers without users’ permission, replaces their default browser’s settings such as home page, new tab page and search engine with itself and acquires complete control over the entire browser. The sole intention of this hazardous PUP is to redirect users to affiliated websites and make Online earnings for the creators. It manipulates your search results and shows customized outcomes that are mixed with commercial objects and other forms of advertisements. This perilous malware floods your computer screen with endless intrusive ads and pop-ups throughout the day and makes your Online sessions very problematic.

More About Prudensearch.com:

Ads delivered by Prudensearch.com are in several forms such as coupons, offers, banners, deals, discounts etc. that look very attractive and can easily gain your attention. These ads work on pay-per-click mechanism and earn revenues for the authors upon being clicked. They include paid links and once you tap on them, lead you to third-party sites where numerous products and services are promoted. However, it is worth mentioning here that some sites might be filled with vicious materials due to visiting on which, you may end up with getting more hazardous threats in the work-station. And therefore, we highly advise to avoid interacting with these adverts no matter how attractive of useful they look and try to remove Prudensearch.com from the computer instantly.

Prudensearch.com makes spiteful entries in boot section and alters its default settings in order to get automatically activated every time the PC is started. It messes with important system files which assure efficient computer processing and prevents many installed apps as well as drivers from working in a proper manner. This nasty malware tracks your Online actions and steals your personal and confidential information such as user IDs, passwords, credit card, bank account and other financial details. Later on, it exposes those details to Cyber actors who can misuse your sensitive data for generating illicit profits and cause you to suffer a big financial loss.

How Does Prudensearch.com Intrude Your System?

This nasty hijacker can be spread through several deceptive methods, but the most common one is software bundling technique. It is attached with third-party programs as an additional tool and manages to settle down on the PC during the installation of main software. It often occurs when user installs the program via Quick/Recommended mode that lets the additional component enter the machine secretly without the knowledge of the user. And therefore, experts always recommend selecting Custom or Advanced configuration setting that gives you control over the incoming downloads. Here you can deselect the unwanted tool that look suspicious and pick only the main program.

Quick Glance

Name: Prudensearch.com

Type: Mac virus, Browser hijacker, Potentially unwanted program

Functionality: Aims to redirect users to third-party websites, promote sponsored products, services and programs and make Online revenues for the developers, Also steal users’ personal and confidential information and share them with hackers for evil purposes.

Symptoms: Altered Internet browsers settings like homepage, default Internet search engine, identity theft, new tab settings. Users are enforced to visit hijacker’s website and search the Internet using their search engines, slowness of infected system’s performance.

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

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

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

Other Harmful Traits of Prudensearch.com:

Prudensearch.com displays fake update notifications stating that some of your vital apps need to be updated quickly and then tries to scam you into installing rogue software. It keeps performing evil deeds in the background all the time which consumes enormous amount of memory resources and drags down the overall computer performance severely. Due to this, system begins responding in a very slow manner and takes more than usual time to complete any task. In order to get automatically activated every time the device is started, it makes perilous entries in boot section and changes its default settings. However, this act brings several hazardous issues in the device such as hard drive failure, application malfunctioning, boot errors, frequent system crash and so on. And therefore, to prevent all these threats from being occurred, you are strongly recommended to delete Prudensearch.com from the computer without wasting any time.

Remove Files and Folders Related to Prudensearch.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 Prudensearch.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 Prudensearch.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 Prudensearch.com. You can select such harmful files and folders and remove them immediately.