Norton popups--I've never used Norton

[ROS]

I'm running Mojave on my 2013 Pro, and on various (more than one) web site I've been getting the Norton Software Update Notification. It's not exactly a popup as I think of them, but rather the page I'm on just goes to that. Thing is, I've never run Norton on this or my earlier Mac.

I also get the Update Flash screen periodically, same thing.

I'm guessing these are malware. I run and am pretty satisfied with BitDefender, but it hasn't picked anything up on these.

I have to think this is pretty common, but I couldn't find anything here about the Norton popup.

How do I get rid of these?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

They are run of the mill ads that use various tactics to trick or scare you into downloading their products. The best thing to do is get an ad blocker. But be careful even with those. Some ad blockers make money by allowing some ads and selling your web habits. What you should use depends on the browser you are using. I've long favored AdGuard, but the changes Apple made to Safari and how they handle content blockers has made that more challenging.

If you don't mind paying for a good product, AdGuard for Mac will cover everything (browsers and apps) on your system and performs really well. I'm very impressed with it. If you want a free solution, I don't really recommend the free AdGuard for Safari. Unlike their original extension, the new version that is designed to accommodate the limitations of Safari 13 is buggy and performs poorly. If you are using any other browser (Chrome, Brave, Firefox for example), then the AdGuard extension for those is just fine.

Also held in high regard is uBlock Origin, not to be confused with "uBlock", a fork that isn't held in such high regard for various reasons. Downside is that there isn't a version that supports Safari 13 at this time.

Truthfully, AdGuard for Mac is currently the only adblocker I would recommend at this time if you need support for Safari 13. But if you are using any other browser, the AdGuard or uBlock Origin extensions for those browsers are just fine.

 

[ferrarr]

I currently use three content blockers with Safari using Catalina, AdGuard, Ghostery, and AdBlock. All are in the macOS App Store. They each have settings that need to be manually enabled in Safari > Preferences. AdGuard definitely has the most controls there, and you may not want all of them enabled. It was trial and error to get them right.


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