Advanced Password Manager Unwanted Application (Mac)

What is Advanced Password Manager?

Advanced Password Manager is a software tool, an application that is promoted as a password manager. According to the developers, it allows users to organize their passwords in one place without having to remember them.

This may seem to be a useful tool, especially for people who have many password-protected accounts, however, developers promote it using the "bundling" method. For this reason, Advanced Password Manager is categorized as a potentially unwanted application (PUA).

One feature available on Advanced Password Manager is a scanner that scans computers for existing identity traces that might be stolen. These traces can be stored in a 'vault' and protected with one master key (password). To stay safe and secure, it also offers removal of scanned identity traces, however, none of these features are free.

To use them, people must activate/purchase the Advanced Password Manager. Many PUAs of this kind are not free and allow use of their features only when they are purchased. PUAs sometimes include scanners that generate fake results - they display them just to trick people into paying for software.

Advanced Password Manager is one of these apps and thus should not be trusted. Furthermore, anti-virus websites identify it as a malicious program. Since this app is promoted using the aforementioned "bundling" method, it is possible that it was not the only PUA that was installed during download/installation of other software on your system.

PUAs are commonly promoted in packs, together with browser hijackers, adware-type, and other unwanted apps. If installed, these might start collecting browsing-related and other data, serving users with intrusive ads, causing unwanted redirects, and other problems. Therefore, remove any unwanted applications installed on your computers, operating systems, or web browsers.

Threat Summary:

Name	Advanced Password Manager potentially unwanted application
Threat Type	Mac malware, Mac virus.
Detection Names (apm_apmsite.pkg)	Avast (MacOS:AMC-AZ [PUP]), AVG (MacOS:AMC-AZ [PUP]), BitDefender (Gen:Variant.Application.MAC.OSX.AMCleanerCA.2), ESET-NOD32 (a variant of OSX/GT32SupportGeeks.AS potentially unwanted), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious 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.

Advanced Password Manager is similar to many other apps of this type including Mac Mechanic, Advanced Mac Cleaner, and Mac Space Reviver. People download and install these apps intentionally, since developers present them as useful, legitimate, and so on. Once installed and used, they not provide no real value and cause only problems.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

Advanced Password Manager can be downloaded from its website, however, users more commonly download/install apps of this type unintentionally. In most cases, they are tricked by software developers who use the "bundling" method. They place unwanted apps into set-ups of other software that users wish to download/install willingly.

They do not disclose this information properly and hide PUAs in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar parts of the download or installation set-ups. Furthermore, many people download and install software without checking available settings, thereby causing installation of unwanted applications.

Another common reason for these unwanted downloads/installations is clicked intrusive advertisements.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To avoid having PUAs installed on your computer or browser, do not download software from unofficial websites, using third party downloaders, Peer-to-Peer networks, or other similar sources. Use official pages and direct download links. Install all software correctly and do not leave the "Advanced", "Custom" and other settings unchecked (unchanged).

Do not trust intrusive advertisements, especially if they are displayed on dubious pages. They often redirect to potentially malicious pages or even cause unwanted installations. Typically, intrusive ads appear due to installed unwanted apps. The same applies to random redirects to dubious pages.

If this happens frequently, check the list of installed browser apps (extensions, plug-ins, and add-ons) and remove all unwanted entries immediately. Also uninstall suspicious, unwanted programs from the operating system. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Screenshot of Advanced Password Manager installer:

Screenshot of Advanced Password Manager application:

IMPORTANT NOTE! Advanced Password Manager adds itself to the list of applications that automatically run upon each user log in. Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

• Go to System Preferences -> Users & Groups. 
• Click your account (also known as Current User).
• Click Login Items.
• Look for "Advanced Password Manager" entry.  Select it, and click the "-" button to remove it.

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 Advanced Password Manager?
• 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.

▼ Show Discussion