MacBright Adware (Mac)

What is MacBright?

MacBright is a rogue application that infiltrates systems during installation of other software (the 'bundling' distribution method). Following infiltration, MacBright delivers various intrusive online advertisements and continually tracks information relating to users' Internet browsing activity. For these reasons, MacBright is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.

Following infiltration, MacBright employs a 'virtual layer' to generate various types of intrusive online advertisements. This is a tool that enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, pop-ups, banners, coupons, and other intrusive ads conceal underlying website content. 

In addition, once clicked, they often redirect to malicious websites or even execute scripts designed to download and install malware (or other PUPs). Therefore, even accidental clicks can result in high-risk adware or malware infections. Another downside is information tracking.

This behavior is very common to adware-type applications. Cyber criminals' main aim is to generate revenue - they design PUPs to gather IP addresses, URLs visited, queries entered into search engines, pages viewed, mouse/keyboard activity, geo-locations, and other similar information that might contain personal details.

The criminals sell this collected data to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who also attempt to increase their revenue by misusing personal details. Therefore, the presence of an information-tracking app such as MacBright can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by MacBright
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. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac 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.

There are many potentially unwanted adware-type programs, all of which are virtually identical to MacBright. The list of examples includes (but is not limited to) ShoppyTool, MyCouponize, RarGenie, and Wishapp. Adware-type applications usually offer different features, but have identical behavior.

Claims to provide 'useful features' are simply attempts to give the impression of legitimacy - PUPs give no significant value for regular users.

Their only purpose is to generate revenue for the developers. Therefore, programs such as MacBright merely display intrusive online advertisements (using the "Pay Per Click" advertising model) and continually record various user-system information (which is later shared with third parties to generate revenue).

How did MacBright install on my computer?

As mentioned above, PUPs are distributed using intrusive online ads, however, criminals also proliferate them by employing a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of third party programs with regular (often free) software. Developers know that users often rush the download/installation processes and skip steps.

Therefore, they conceal "bundled" programs within the "Custom" or "Advanced" options. Skipping these procedure steps, and clicking intrusive advertisements, often leads to inadvertent installation of rogue programs such as MacBright.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The main reasons for computer infections are poor knowledge and careless behavior. Criminals proliferate PUPs via intrusive ads and the aforementioned bundling method. Therefore, be cautious when browsing the Internet. Avoid clicking ads, since cyber criminals put a great deal of effort into making them appear legitimate.

Furthermore, download your software from official sources only using direct download URLs. Furthermore, select the "Custom/Advanced" options, observe each step, and opt-out of all additionally-included programs. If canceling third party programs is not possible, the entire process should be canceled. The key to computer safety is caution.

Deceptive application installer promoting MacBright adware:

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 MacBright?
• STEP 1. Remove MacBright related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove MacBright ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove MacBright adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove MacBright ads from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

MacBright adware removal:

Remove MacBright-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 adware-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers

Remove malicious Safari extensions:

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.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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".

• 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".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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