Freeware tool specifically targets unwanted installations of Genieo for Mac

May 15, 2014 13:23 GMT  ·  By

BitDefender has released a free-to-download adware removal utility specifically designed to track down and eliminate adware from your Mac. The tool so far only recognizes and removes Genieo, a personal newspaper offering content from all your favorite sources that can alter search results and inject ads.

Genieo isn’t malware per se, though you could classify it as such by assessing the harm it does to people after it sneaks its way into computers posing as codecs and whatnot.

Case in point, BitDefender decided to do something about it and released Adware Removal Tool, which specifically targets unwanted installations of Genieo for Mac and removes the adware and all of its components, cleansing the system.

“Several Mac users have complained about nuisance toolbar issues,” says Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender.

Make that several thousands, going by the threads on Apple Support Communities discussing the issue. Cosoi continues, “Our Adware Removal tool is designed to address those issues simply and efficiently. Even if the toolbars don’t pose an immediate danger to a user’s system or data, they can be an endless source of aggravation.”

According to Wikipedia, the issues with Genieo being distributed in unorthodox ways began in May last year, when “a malicious installer, distributed by Genieo partner Softonic, was found by security software company Intego.” Intego is known to deal exclusively with Mac-centric malware.

“The installer masquerades as a necessary update to Adobe Flash Player and attempts to install Genieo.app without user interaction. Dynamic libraries are added to the Safari browser, which intercept searches intended for Bing and Google,” reads the text.

“Other versions of Genieo for Mac have also been offered as 'codecs' required for video playback. Testing carried out on Genieo for Mac in June 2013 found that it left active software behind, after using the supplied uninstaller, which required detailed manual removal.”

Which is precisely what BitDefender is after and hopefully will succeed with its Adware Removal Tool.

Earlier this year security company Sophos added Genieo for Mac to their threat list, and as of last month the adware is flagged by some 20 anti-malware solutions, including Ad-Aware, Avast!, Bitdefender, Comodo, Dr. Web, ESET, Fortinet, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Trend Micro Housecall, and Sophos.

To download Adware Removal Tool 1.0 and use it to clean your system you need to be running OS X 10.7 (Lion). The tool weighs in at just 1MB and requires a 64-bit processor. There are no costs associated with using Adware Removal Tool.