Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C Virus (Mac)

What is Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C?

Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C is a generic detection name for a number of products developed by Trend Micro Inc. The list of products includes Dr. Antivirus, Dr. Battery, Dr. Cleaner, Dr. Cleaner Pro, Dr. Unarchiver, and Duplicate Finder.

In the past, these applications were considered legitimate, but they were subsequently modified to record certain information stored on computers. Therefore, some anti-virus suites (such as Bitdefender) detect these apps as trojans/malware.

Trend Micro Inc. is a legitimate software development company and has released a number of applications, including those used to clean computers and enhance system performance. As mentioned above, however, some of this company's products were designed to gather information and send it to a remote server (you can read more in this article). 

Essentially, these applications recorded data when first run. The list of collected data types includes Internet search and browsing history of the Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome browsers, and App Store browsing history. They were also designed to record history from the last 24 hours only.

This, supposedly to detect potential activity of malware or unwanted applications. Furthermore, users were supposedly notified about this data tracking, however, these applications still did not comply with Apple's Privacy Policy. Therefore, they were removed from the App Store.

At time of writing, Trend Micro has already resolved this issue and released an update for each app. Furthermore, the company's servers no longer accept information from the previous versions. You can find detailed information regarding the update in this article.

Although the issue is resolved, you should remove old versions of Trend Micro products (that are detected as Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C) and re-install the latest versions of these apps.

Threat Summary:

Name	Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C malware
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.

Information tracking is common to potentially unwanted applications, such as adware and browser hijackers. These applications typically offer "useful features", but these claims are merely attempts to give the impression of legitimacy. Unwanted applications are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.

Rather than giving value for regular users, adware and browser hijackers deliver intrusive advertisements, cause unwanted redirects, and gather sensitive information, thereby diminishing the browsing experience and posing a direct threat to your privacy and Internet browsing safety.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

In some cases, potentially unwanted applications have official download websites, however, due to the lack of knowledge and careless behavior of many users, these apps often infiltrate systems without permission, since developers proliferate them using "bundling" and intrusive advertising methods.

"Bundling" is essentially stealth installation of third party applications together with regular (mostly free) software. Developers hide "bundled" applications within "Custom/Advanced" settings (or other sections) of the download/installation processes. Intrusive advertisements redirect users to malicious websites, and execute scripts that download and install malware.

Furthermore, many users skip download/installation processes and click advertisements without understanding the possible consequences. This exposes their systems to risk of various infections and compromises their privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The key to computer safety is caution. Therefore, pay attention when browsing the Internet and downloading/installing software. Remember that intrusive ads usually seem legitimate, since developers invest many resources into their design, but they redirect to dubious websites (pornography, adult dating, etc.).

Most are delivered by adware-type apps. If you encounter dubious redirects, remove suspicious applications and browser plug-ins. You are also advised to carefully analyze each step of the download/installation processes and opt-out of additionally-included programs.

We recommend that you avoid using third party downloaders/installers, since developers monetize them by promoting ("bundling") rogue apps. Software should be downloaded from official sources only, using direct download links. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

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 Trojan.MAC.SpyAgent.C?
• STEP 1. Remove PUA related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue add-ons from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.

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

Potentially unwanted applications removal:

Remove 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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