Remove OperativeDesktop Adware From Mac OS

Tips To Delete OperativeDesktop From System

OperativeDesktop is a type of malicious program that has been specially created by a team of potent cyber actors for promotional and commercial purposes. Upon successful infiltration into the Mac computers, it makes unexpected changes to web browser’s settings in order to promote a fraudulent search engine- Safe Finder via akamaihd.net. Similar to other potentially unwanted applications, it can also track users’ online activities and collect browsing-related data. During the presence of this nasty PUP in your work-station, you are flooded with coupons, surveys, banners, pop-ups etc. that disrupts your web sessions badly.

Know More About OperativeDesktop:

Ads delivered by OperativeDesktop absolutely cover the page content and slow down the browsing speed and hence, downgrade users’ overall online experience. Moreover, they include vicious links and once you click on them, they redirect you to malicious web portals that are filled with malevolent objects. Some of these adverts can even download and install unwanted programs with users’ knowledge. This notorious PUP also operates as a browser hijacker and sets the URLs of fake search tools of infected browser’s startpage, new tab page and default search engine. And hence, while infected with such potentially unwanted threats, search query typed into the URL bar and every new browser tab opened, redirect to the promoted domain. In this case, this PUA advertises Safe Finder via akamaihd.net.

As we have mentioned earlier, OperativeDesktop can monitor people’s online activities. It records all your online actions such as pages viewed, links opened, search query typed etc. and collects important data regarding your preferences. The gathered data is typically used to generate and display eye-catching advertisements in order to get as many hits on them as possible and earn maximum revenues via pay-per-click mechanism. Moreover, your personal details relating to banking and other financial details can be also stolen and misused for generating illicit profits or for deceptive transactions. And hence, presence of this nasty adware in your Mac device can lead to severe privacy issues, financial losses and identity theft. All the malevolent processes this PUP executes in your system consume too much CPU and GPU resources and drag down the overall computer performance severely. And therefore, quick removal of OperativeDesktop is highly required.

Threat Summary

Name: OperativeDesktop

Type: Mac virus, Adware, Potentially unwanted program

Description: Tends to redirect Mac users to affiliated sites, 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: Endless annoying ads, Altered default Internet search engine, default browser’s settings, Fake pop-up messages, 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: Web 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.

Infiltration of OperativeDesktop In Mac PC:

Such types of PUAs are mostly spread via download and installation setups of other applications that are available over the web to download for free. This deceptive marketing technique of pre-packing regular software with spiteful contents is called “bundling”. By skipping steps and sections while download and installation procedures, you risk unintentionally allowing bundled tools into the work-station. Moreover, some PUPs have “official” promotional sites, from which they can be downloaded. Additionally, once people click on malicious ads, they execute scripts to download/install OperativeDesktop or other similar threats without users’ approval.

How To Prevent PUPs Attack?

Mac users are strongly recommended to download any software using official and verified channels only. When downloading and installing any software, it is advised to read terms, study all options, use the “Custom” or “Advanced” wizard and opt-out all the suspicious components. Intrusive adverts may look genuine, however they lead people to several unreliable and questionable web portals (e.g. pornography, gambling, adult-dating, and so on). Visiting on such infectious sites often cause users to get infected with hazardous online parasites. In case you are already infected with this PUA, remove OperativeDesktop immediately from the Mac computer.

Remove Files and Folders Related to OperativeDesktop

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 OperativeDesktop 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 OperativeDesktop 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 OperativeDesktop. You can select such harmful files and folders and remove them immediately.