Remove StandBoost Ads Adware From Mac

StandBoost Ads: Easy Delete Process

StandBoost Ads generally appear on your system screen when the device is infected with StandBoost adware. It’s a potentially unwanted program which silently infiltrates the Mac computers by stealth and then contributes tons of hazardous deeds in the background. It can also be categorized as a browser hijacker since it makes changes to default browser’s settings without seeking for any approval. It assigns its own nasty URL as the new home page and new tab addresses and acquires complete control over the entire browser. It forces its victims to surf through a deceptive search engine that only produces inorganic results, including commercial contents and sponsored links at the top.

StandBoost Interrupts Users’ Online Sessions With Intrusive Adverts:

StandBoost inserts several spying cookies on the affected browser and constantly monitors users’ web activities. It gathers browsing-based data such as entered search queries, URLs of accessed domains, links clicked, IP addresses, geolocations and so on and shares the information with third-parties and commercial content creators. These details are very helpful for the production of customized advertisements. And therefore, after getting infected with this adware, you are flooded with an excessive amount of StandBoost Ads all over the day which disrupts your web sessions badly.

Ads delivered by StandBoost come in several formats such as coupons, deals, banners, offers, surveys etc. They are based on pay-per-click scheme and earn profits for the developers when clicked. Although, they look attractive at the first glance but can be very risky for your system’s security. StandBoost Ads might contain perilous links and redirect users to potentially dangerous sites that are filled with malicious contents. Visiting on such notorious pages may result in more malware infections. You might also be taken to sites where you are tricked into sharing your personal data like credit card and other personal details.

Your sensitive information could be misused by the scammers for fraudulent transactions or purchases that may lead to severe privacy issues, identity theft and huge financial loss. StandBoost Ads may display fake security alerts, error messages, update notifications etc. and try to deceive you into downloading/installing shady application. The frequent notorious activities performed by this malware eat up high CPU usage and slow down the overall computer performance drastically. It causes the machine to respond in a very slow manner and take more than usual time to complete any task. And hence, a quick StandBoost removal is highly required from the work-station.

How Does This Adware Enter Your System?

Similar to many other unwanted programs, it also mostly gets spread through a fake installer that looks similar to Adobe Flash Player installer. And thus, it is important for any users not to click on any suspicious link or use tool to install their software and always choose official websites for the process.

Moreover, ‘bundling’ is another method through which these PUPs are distributed. In this technique, the unwanted components are added to a single package together with regular software. When people download a free program from third-party site and then install it using the pre-set configuration setting, they often end up infecting their systems with adware, browser hijackers or similar infections.

So, it is important to always select the Custom or Advanced options to install apps which allow you to opt-out the components that you don’t want to be installed and pick only the required one. But at the moment, you must remove StandBoost from the Mac PC without wasting any time.

Remove Files and Folders Related to StandBoost Ads

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