Feed.snowbitt.com Redirect (Mac)
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is feed.snowbitt.com?
Developers present feed.snowbitt.com as an Internet search engine that significantly enhances the browsing experience by generating improved results. Judging on appearance alone, feed.snowbitt.com barely differs from Yahoo, Bing, Google, and other reputable search engines.
Therefore, many users believe that feed.snowbitt.com is also legitimate and useful. In fact, this site is promoted via rogue download/installation set-ups that modify web browser options without permission. In addition, feed.snowbitt.com continually tracks Internet browsing activity by gathering various user-system information.
Deceptive set-ups hijack Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox, stealthily assigning the new tab URL, default search engine, and homepage options to feed.snowbitt.com. These changes may seem insignificant, however, users are unable to revert them.
Research shows that set-ups stealthily install a number of "helper objects" (third party applications and/or browser plug-ins) to reassign browser settings when attempts are made to change them. Therefore, returning browsers to their previous states becomes impossible.
Furthermore, helper objects (and feed.snowbitt.com) continually record IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, and other information relating to web browsing activity. This collected data might contain personal details that developers share with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse private information to generate revenue.
Thus, information tracking can result in serious privacy issues or even identity theft. If you encounter redirects to feed.snowbitt.com, uninstall all suspicious applications and never visit this site again.
Name | feed.snowbitt.com browser hijacker |
Threat Type | Mac malware, Mac virus |
Symptoms | Your Mac became slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you get redirected to shady websites. |
Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers, torrent file downloads. |
Damage | Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites, loss of private information. |
Malware Removal (Mac) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
There are dozens of fake search engines similar to feed.snowbitt.com. The list of examples includes search.safefinder.com, chromesearch1.info, and happysearch.org.
As with feed.snowbitt.com, these websites also claim to enhance the Internet browsing experience, however, their only purpose is to generate revenue for the developers, whilst regular users receive no value. Fake search engines merely cause unwanted redirects and record various user-system information.
Some even generate results leading to malicious websites. Thus, using them can result in high-risk adware or malware infections.
How did feed.snowbitt.com install on my computer?
To promote feed.snowbitt.com developers employ a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". Developers hide all information regarding modification of browser settings within the "Custom/Advanced" options of the download or installation process.
Rushing these procedures and skipping steps inadvertently grants set-ups permission to modify various browser options. In addition, users expose their systems to risk of various infections and compromise their privacy.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software. Select the "Custom/Advanced" settings and closely analyze all steps. Secondly, decline offers to download/install additional applications and never allow set-ups to modify settings irrelevant to the installation.
Instant automatic Mac malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac
By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.
Quick menu:
- What is feed.snowbitt.com?
- STEP 1. Remove feed.snowbitt.com related files and folders from OSX.
- STEP 2. Remove feed.snowbitt.com redirect from Safari.
- STEP 3. Remove feed.snowbitt.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove feed.snowbitt.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:
feed.snowbitt.com redirect removal:
Remove feed.snowbitt.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:
Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.
Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders
Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/
In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:
In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/
In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.
Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:
If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.
Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.
After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.
Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers
Remove Safari browser hijackers:
Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".
In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.
Change your homepage:
In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.
Change your default search engine:
In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.
Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Change your homepage
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".
Change your default search engine:
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.
Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".
Change your homepage
To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.
Change your default search engine:
In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".
In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.
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