mackeeper pop-up

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While using my MacBook, a pop-up window advised me a virus had been detected, and offered the option to download mackeeper. The window would not close, and I had to force quit Chrome. The odd thing about the long URL was that it contained the name of a city where I used WiFi at a cafe on only one occasion. Is WiFi a possible source of malware?
 
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Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
While using my MacBook, a pop-up window advised me a virus had been detected, and offered the option to download mackeeper. The window would not close, and I had to force quit Chrome. The odd thing about the long URL was that it contained the name of a city where I used WiFi at a cafe on only one occasion. Is WiFi a possible source of malware?

Hi - well, you likely picked up some browser malware (e.g. adware, ransomware, scareware, etc.) - first, you do not have a virus (a specific type of malware that does not affect Mac OS X); second, quoted below is an occasional list of steps that I've posted to eliminate browser malware, so take a look.

Second, Wi-Fi would only be the 'conduit' for downloading browser malware to your computer depending on which sites you visit. Finally, do not put MacKeeper on your machines (we have a dedicated thread on this nefarious program and there are plenty of google items, such as HERE) - Dave :)


Ransomware Removal

- Force quit Safari.
- Turn off your Wi-Fi or disconnect the ethernet cable.
- Reopen Safari and close the offending tab(s).
- Clear ‘History & Data’ in the Safari menu.
- Reconnect to internet, i.e. Wi-Fi or ethernet cable.
- Add ‘extensions’: AdBlock & Ghostery.
- Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac.
- Visit http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php.
 
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Yes, this MacKeeper also held me hostage in the past..... they must be desperate for sales.........now I have the Adblock and Ghostery.... my old reliable late 2008 MBP on El Capitan serves me well......
 
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Ah yes, MacKeeper, always a nuisance... I'd also really recommend Privacy Badger to keep this sort of thing at bay - you can get it free here. It's based on the ABP (AdBlock Plus) code apparently, but claims to eliminate the need for any tinkering with custom settings.
Might be worth a try as well if you're at your wits end! It worked a charm for me, as well as avoiding spammy sites of course.
 
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2011 27" iMac, 1TB(partitioned) SSD, 20GB, OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan
Not exactly a Mac supported app… or to recommend… :(

Just to save others from even wasting their time and looking…

Screen Shot 2016-05-04 at 7.31.16 PM.png

"In the near future we hope to release Privacy Badger for Opera, Safari, and Firefox Mobile. Unfortunately at the moment we cannot support Internet Explorer, since current version IE appears to be incompatible with how Privacy Badger works at a technical level. (With that said, if you would like to work on porting Privacy Badger to other platforms, please let us know!) …"
 

chscag

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Not exactly a Mac supported app… or to recommend…

Just to save others from even wasting their time and looking…

Not entirely true. It is supported in Chrome for the Mac. Not that I would use it but just wanted to point out that it does work with Chrome.
 
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Not entirely true. It is supported in Chrome for the Mac. Not that I would use it but just wanted to point out that it does work with Chrome.


Same here, but even if I was a Chrome user, I think I'd pass, especially reading some of the reviews:

Ed WilliamsModified Apr 24, 2016
Breaks way too many sites in Chrome.


J Clifton MeekModified Apr 16, 2016
This has become insanely slow


Samuel SpectorModified 4 days ago
This is a good app, but recently it's been slowing down my browsing substantially and I have to disable it entirely to have pages load in a reasonable period of time.

… … …
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...gijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp/reviews?hl=en-US

I'll just pass thanks…



- Patrick
======
 
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Same here, but even if I was a Chrome user, I think I'd pass, especially reading some of the reviews:

Ed WilliamsModified Apr 24, 2016
Breaks way too many sites in Chrome.


J Clifton MeekModified Apr 16, 2016
This has become insanely slow


Samuel SpectorModified 4 days ago
This is a good app, but recently it's been slowing down my browsing substantially and I have to disable it entirely to have pages load in a reasonable period of time.

… … …
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...gijcmpdhfbdbbnkijodmdjhbjlgp/reviews?hl=en-US

I'll just pass thanks…



- Patrick
======

I can only speak from personal experience, of course, but I honestly haven't experienced any noticable slowing down.
The only slight gripe I have with it is the amount of content it blocks, particularly flash and java elements. It's easy to understand why it does this, but it's perhaps slightly over zealous.
Still, I'd personally rather my anti-tracking/ad blocking extension be stricter!
 

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