f.txt.js

[Bill Gates Jr.]

My computer running Safari in Yahoo, will randomly download a file called f.txt.js
Bringing the file to view shows a jumble of letter and words that make sense. Also when I view the file, Chromium turns on. The dot below the Chromium icon means this is somehow a Chromium recognized file. Typing in the file name, under google, I see other Mac users are having the same problem.
Anybody know whats going on?
And what is Chromium? Not sure where I git Chromium. My iPad has Chrome. Is it Chrome on steroids?

 

[ferrarr]

First, you can not run Safari in Yahoo. You can open Yahoo in Safari.

I consider Chromium malware, whenever one of the computers I maintain in the house get it, I will wipe the drive and reinstall from the last good backup. It's up to the computer user to maintain the backup strategy I set up.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

How can I remove Chromium from my iMac?

 

[Rod]

Just type your question into any web browser and you will get lots of helpful articles like this, “Chromium is an open-source web browser project. Although Chromium project itself is legitimate, it is often misused as a platform for malicious web browsers categorized as adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUP). ... Clicking these ads is risky and may lead to high-risk adware or malware infections.”
There are plenty of step by step instructions on how to remove Chromium like; Remove Chromium virus. 14 variants listed. Jun 2019 Update. As well as You Tube clips.
Chances are you are being infected from the sites you visit or links you have used. Personally I wouldn’t touch Yahoo services with a barge pole, but that’s just my opinion based on bad experiences years ago.
What sort of apps or extensions do you use to protect yourself from malware?


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[Slydude]

@Bill Gates Jr. I've moved the thread to the Desktop computer area rather than the lounge based on the specs in your signature. If it's for a different machine let us know and I'll move it. Not a major issue but this way it doesn't get buried in off topic threads.

 

[MacInWin]

.js is a javascript file (or at least it's supposed to be). Javascript files execute actions on the computer if you have permitted javascript to execute in whatever browser you are using. In Safari, if you want to block Javascript from running, open Preferences, Security and remove the check from the "Enable Javascript" box. Javascript generally harmless, unlike Java. However, .js scripts should also be readable in TextEdit. An internet search on f.txt.js yields a host of folks who have seen the same thing. From what I can see, it's malicious for Windows users. You might try Malwarebytes or DetectX Swift to see if it can find any lingering malware from it.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

The only malware program I run is Malwarebytes. It did show one infected file. Per Jake's suggestion, I did disable Javascript, not that I could read the .js file anyway. Maybe only Windows PC can read it. Rod, the download you suggested seems to be only for windows PCs as far as i could tell. I did download the free copy of App Cleaner and Uninstaller and it seemed to have removed Chromium. Thanks to all. Rod, you wrote you stay away from Yahoo. I'm kind of stuck on Yahoo as my homepage because I don't know what other homepage I could use that gives me news, sports and finance (I track my stocks on Yahoo Finance). I would love to ditch Yahoo if you or anyone out there could suggest an alternative for my homepage.

Pete

 

[chscag]

Rod, you wrote you stay away from Yahoo. I'm kind of stuck on Yahoo as my homepage because I don't know what other homepage I could use that gives me news, sports and finance (I track my stocks on Yahoo Finance). I would love to ditch Yahoo if you or anyone out there could suggest an alternative for my homepage.

Nothing wrong with Yahoo or any other popular site including AOL. You just have to always be aware of what you're downloading or where you're at. But, that's just common sense.

As for another site that offers News, Sports, and Finance, there are several: Wall Street Journal (subscription only), CNN, and Fox News. The CNN and Fox sites have a "business" page that you can look up stocks and so forth. The best of course is the WSJ if you're willing to pay their yearly or monthly subscription fee.

 

[Rod]

The only malware program I run is Malwarebytes. It did show one infected file. Per Jake's suggestion, I did disable Javascript, not that I could read the .js file anyway. Maybe only Windows PC can read it. Rod, the download you suggested seems to be only for windows PCs as far as i could tell. I did download the free copy of App Cleaner and Uninstaller and it seemed to have removed Chromium. Thanks to all. Rod, you wrote you stay away from Yahoo. I'm kind of stuck on Yahoo as my homepage because I don't know what other homepage I could use that gives me news, sports and finance (I track my stocks on Yahoo Finance). I would love to ditch Yahoo if you or anyone out there could suggest an alternative for my homepage.

Pete

Bill, maybe 7 years ago I too had a Yahoo home page. I had Yahoo mail and had customised the page contents to suit my needs but the advertising was driving me nuts and I accidentally installed MacKeeper from an advert which took me weeks to discover and weeks to fix. I was also getting an inordinate amount of spam in my email so I swapped to iGoogle and pretty much ditched my Yahoo Mail account. Since then iGoogle has been discontinued and after trying various alternative “Home” page services, some of which were quite good like;
Netvibes. ...
MyMSN. ...
Protopage. ...
MyWay. ...
Symbaloo. ...
Ustart.
But none were quite as good as iGoogle.
These days I just use Bookmarks because there are so many other forms of media info. The weather is constantly reported on my Apple Watch, the is a Stocks app on iOS, calendar notifications ect ect kind of make a “Home” page unnecessary.