About “Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple”
You are probably here due to an infection with “Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” on your computer. The most notable characteristic of having this kind of program are the intrusive adverts that get spammed on your screen whenever you enter the browser. This program is a member of a group of unwanted software apps known as browser hijackers. Maybe you’ve also observed other unpleasant symptoms, say, for example, a replaced homepage and/or a new and obscure-looking default search engine. We’ve added a guide to this article which can help you remove the browser hijacker. It’ll walk you through the steps of uninstalling it in several easy steps.
Remember to not allow any more hijackers in your computer
“Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” is, without a doubt, not the only browser hijacker software roaming the internet and unless you learn to identify these apps, there’s a good chance you will get more of them in the future. Because of this, we’ll try to teach you to identify them before it’s too late. The browser hijackers are quite similar to one another, especially when it comes to their common purpose. Whatever is said about “Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” in this post would likely apply to other hijackers like Search Marquis, Search Mine, Top Results
Keep in mind that since most browser hijacker programs aren’t computer viruses or dangerous in nature, they are usually considered legal. It doesn’t matter even if their behavior is annoying and if most people would prefer to delete them instead of make use of them. Quite often, websites that specialize as software distributors promote such apps in their pages and proclaim that their installers are virus free. In most cases, this is actually true, but don’t allow this to lure you into having a false sense of security. Due to the fact browser hijacker programs are usually legal, an antivirus software will usually help you in no way to tell apart a useful program from an ads infested one. Just because an application is not illegal, this doesn’t mean it’s useful and that it’s a good idea to allow it to remain on your computer. The browser hijackers are just one of many examples of unwanted software that isn’t inherently harmful but is still quite unpleasant to have in the system. Most such applications are categorized as PUPs or potentially unwanted programs and it is quite likely for the users to install an unwanted piece of software such as “Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” themselves, especially if they are unaware of the nature of the program.
However, often such applications are installed via the help of an installation package that is in fact the browser hijacker bundled with some other piece of software. A program bundle can install in your PC not only the main software but also a browser hijacker that has been included in it. If, however, you take notice of the installation menu, you should normally be able to effortlessly spot the presence of any added programs and remove them from the installation before they can get installed alongside the main software from the package. Probably, the most likely place to conceal the auto-agree option is the Custom setup options of the installer. Anyone using the Quick setup setting will likely get the all added contents – including the browser hijacker. Opting for the the Custom installation, on the other hand, would allow you to leave out any undesirable software and only install the program from the bundle that you actually need/want.
SUMMARY:
| Name | “Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | If there’s a hijacker inside your browser, there will probably be all sorts of pesky ads and unwelcome changes in the browser’s settings. |
| Distribution Method | Normally, a hijacker would be included in a file bundle with some other programs. |
“Pornographic Virus Alert from Apple” Removal
Step 1: Closing Safari (or any other browser that you may be using at the moment)
First, you will need to close your browser if it is still open. If you can’t do that normally, you will need to Force Quit it:
Open the Apple Menu and select Force Quit to do that. You can also use the ⌘ key + Option Key combination to open the Force Quit Applications dialog box. In this box, select the Safari browser (or whatever browser you are using) and then click on the Quit button. Confirm the action by selecting Force Quit again.
Step 2: Killing suspicious processes
Open Finder and go to Applications > Utilities and then open Activity Monitor. Now take a careful look at the processes there – look for any that seem suspicious, unknown and questionable. If you think that a given process may be the culprit behind the issue or may at least be related to it, highlight it with the mouse and select the i option at its top.
In the box that opens, click on Sample.
Scan the sample files with the online scanner we have on this page and if any of them get flagged as malicious, delete them and then kill their processes.
Step 3: Safely launching the browser
Hold the Shift from your keyboard and then launch Safari – holding Shift will prevent any previously opened pages to load again, just in case any of them were related to the problem.
If any problematic pages still load after you safe-launch the browser, then do the following:
Force-Quit the browser (Safari) again and then turn off your Wi-Fi connection by clicking on the Wi-Fi off option from the Mac Menu. If you are using cable Internet, simply disconnect the cable from your Mac.
Step 4: Uninstalling suspicious extensions
After you safe-launch Safari and are sure none of the previously opened pages load now, go to Preferences > Extensions.
Select and uninstall (by clicking on the Uninstall button) all extensions there that are unfamiliar to you or that you think may be suspicious. If you are not sure about a certain extension, it’s better to uninstall it – no extension is required for the normal functioning of the browser.
Step 5: Cleaning Safari
If you have other browsers aside from Safari, do the following:
In Safari, open Preferences from the browser’s menu and go to Privacy.
Select Remove All Website Data and then Remove Now. Note that this will delete all stored site data including any saved passwords and usernames. In other words, you will have to manually log-in to every site where you have a registration so make sure you remember your usernames and passwords.
Back in Preferences, click on General and see what your Safari’s homepage is. If it has been changed without your permission, change it back to what it used to be or to whatever you like it to be now.
Now go to the History menu and select the Clear History option.
Do the same to all other browsers you may have in your computer – here are examples with Chrome and Firefox.
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Cleaning Chrome
Open Chrome and open its main menu, then go to More Tools > Extensions. Click on the Remove button next to all of the extensions that you do not trust.
Next, from the main menu, go to Settings and type Manage Search Engines in the search bar. Open the result that shows up and then delete all search engines other than the one you normally use by clicking on the three-dot icon next to the other ones and selecting Remove from list.
Back in Settings, type Reset and clean up and open the option that shows up (Restore settings to their original defaults). Confirm by selecting Reset Settings.
Cleaning Firefox
Open Firefox and then open its main menu. Go to Add-ons and open the Extensions menu from the left. Look at the extensions and Remove the ones you do not trust.
Next, open the menu again, go to Help > Troubleshooting information and in the page that opens, select Refresh Firefox and then confirm the action in the window that opens.
