Aqualious.com Redirect (Mac)

What is aqualious.com?

Identical to cassiopessa.com, palikan.com, and taplika.com, aqualious.com is presented as an Internet search engine that supposedly improves web searching - "With Aqualious, you can increase your web searching efficiency by 200%. The experience of Web search is on the verge of witnessing a sheer revolution." 

On initial inspection, aqualious.com may seem legitimate, however, this search engine is fake. Furthermore, it is promoted via dubious 'app installers' designed to stealthily modify web browser settings. In addition, aqualious.com continually gathers information relating to users' web browsing activity.

Dubious installer set-ups stealthily modify the Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome default search engine, new tab URL, and homepage browser settings by assigning them to the aqualious.com website. In addition, installed 'helper objects' (plug-ins and/or apps) prevent users from rolling back these changes.

Users are unable to change the settings, since helper objects automatically reassign them to aqualious.com. This significantly diminishes the web browsing experience, since users continually encounter unwanted browser redirects.

In additoin, aqualious.com collects information regarding web browsing habits including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (to determine geographic location), websites visited, search queries, and pages viewed - these are just some examples from a long list of data types gathered by this website.

Users often believe this data to be insignificant, however, it might contain private details that are shared with third parties who misuse personally identifiable information to generate revenue.

Thus, data tracking can lead to serious privacy issues. If you are continually redirected to aqualious.com without your consent, uninstall all recently installed/suspicious apps and never visit this site again.

Aqualious.com shares many similarities with many other fake Internet search engines such as search.javeview.com, and search.shelfsick.com. These websites also claim to significantly improve web browsing quality and users often believe that they are legitimate. These claims are false.

All are designed only to generate revenue for the developers. Rather than providing any real value for users, fake Internet search engines cause unwanted browser redirects, gather private data, and deliver intrusive online advertisements. Furthermore, some generate search results leading to malicious sites.

Thus, searching via fake Internet search engines can result in further high-risk adware or malware infections.

How did aqualious.com install on my computer?

Developers of aqualious.com employ a deceptive marketing method called 'bundling' and hide all details regarding modification of browser settings within the 'Custom' or 'Advanced' download/installation section. The developer are aware that many users do not express enough caution during these procedures.

By rushing and skipping the aforementioned section, users inadvertently install bogus programs and/or allowing set-ups to make modifications to settings that are irrelevant to the installation.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent this situation, be careful when downloading and installing software. Closely analyze each step within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings. Furthermore, opt-out of all additionally-included programs and never allow installers to modify your settings .

Deceptive application installer promoting the aqualious.com browser hijacker:

Website promoting aqualious.com:

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Quick menu:

• What is aqualious.com?
• STEP 1. Remove aqualious.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove aqualious.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove aqualious.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove aqualious.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

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

Aqualious.com redirect removal:

Remove aqualious.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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