Avast For Mac Safari

Even Macs Need Antivirus Protection

Best free antivirus for Mac: Avast Free Mac Security Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Newbie; Posts: 1; Mac Safari ~ Avast Online Security ~ Display Error. Avast Mac Security (formerly Avast Free Antivirus for Mac) offers three shields, on-demand scanning and WebRep clients which are automatically (optionally) installed to Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Jan 12, 2018 Avast Security (for Mac) delivers effective malware protection along with unusual bonus features. Phishing protection only works well in Chrome and Firefox, but this free utility is still worth a. Avast Security (for Mac), Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, and Sophos Home Free (for Mac) are totally free for personal use, although Sophos technically limits you to three devices, macOS or Windows.

You heard it on the TV—Macs don't get viruses. And like much of what you hear on the TV, this isn't true. Sure, macOS is intrinsically more secure than Windows or Android, but Mac-centered malware totally exists. The time to think about protecting your Mac is now, not after you've lost all your important documents to ransomware. If you're picking a Mac antivirus for the first time, don't worry. Our reviews will help you make an informed choice.

As with Windows antivirus tools, the most common price is just under $40 per year for a single license. ProtectWorks is unusual in that a single $29.95 payment lets you protect all the Macs in your household, with no subscription needed. McAfee goes beyond that, with a $59.99 per year subscription that protects all your Macs, PCs, Android, and iOS devices. With Sophos Home Premium, $60 per year lets you install and remotely manage protection on 10 Macs or PCs. At the high end, you pay $99.99 per year for a three-license subscription to Intego Mac Internet Security X9.

You may have heard that macOS Mojave, the latest macOS, advances the platform's privacy and security. Safari on Mojave automatically blocks ads and social media trackers. The built-in password manager does more than ever. And when AppleScript apps try to access internal macOS features, Mojave makes them wait until you give permission. But nothing we've seen suggests that upgrading to Mojave will obviate the need for an antivirus utility.

Free Mac Antivirus Protection

There's another angle to the variation in Mac antivirus pricing. How about paying nothing at all? Avast Security (for Mac), AVG AntiVirus for Mac, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, and Sophos Home Free (for Mac) are totally free for personal use, although Sophos technically limits you to three devices, macOS or Windows. AVG also offers free antivirus for Mac, but until its phishing protection improves we can't recommend it. The best commercial products offer more protection but if you can't afford the best, at least install a free antivirus.

What's Not Here

Every macOS antivirus that earned 3.5 stars or better appears in the chart above. Another half-dozen managed a decent three-star rating, but there isn't room for another six products. I chose to favor three products that originated on the Mac platform, ClamXAV and Intego Mac Internet Security. Everything else being equal, there's surely some virtue in loyalty to macOS.

Avast Security Pro (for Mac), ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), and Malwarebytes for Mac Premium also earned three stars, as did the Mac-specific ProtectWorks AntiVirus. However, ProtectWorks, ESET, and Malwarebytes don't have any lab results at present, and with Avast, you might as well use the free edition, because you don't get a lot more by paying. These four didn't quite make it into the chart. The names Avast, ESET, and Malwarebytes are well known in Windows circles. If you're using a Windows security product from one of these companies, it makes sense to do the same on your Macs.

Malware Protection Lab Certifications

When you go to select a new washer, refrigerator, or other appliance, chances are good you research it first. User reviews can be helpful, as long as you discard the very best and very worst of them. But actual test results performed by an independent lab give you more reliable information. Two large labs include macOS antivirus products in their testing, but the slate of products for testing is variable. When we first rounded up Mac antivirus products, all those in the chart below had at least one certification, but at present, many of them don't appear in either lab's test results.

The researchers at AV-Test Institute evaluate Mac antivirus products on three criteria: protection, performance, and usability. A product can earn up to six points for each. Protection against malware protection is essential, of course, as is a low impact on performance. A high usability score reflects a small number of false positives, legitimate programs and websites identified as dangerous. Several products achieved a perfect 18 points, all six points for all three criteria.

In the macOS malware test by AV-Comparatives, most charted products scored 100 percent. This lab, too, included a test using malware aimed at Windows. Yes, these samples can't affect a computer running macOS, but they could conceivably escape to Windows machines on the network. Scores in the Windows malware test ranged from zero to 100 percent, which is quite a span.

Results in macOS-specific tests have a much smaller point spread than in tests of Windows antivirus utilities. It's good that many products in the chart received at least one certification for Mac protection, and even better that some received two certifications.

Hands-On Phishing Protection Testing

When we test malware protection on Windows, we use live malware inside an isolated virtual machine. We've coded a number of analysis tools over the years to help with this testing. Little of that testing regimen carries over to the Mac.

Phishing, however, isn't platform-specific, and neither is our antiphishing test. Phishing websites imitate secure sites, everything from banks and finance sites to gaming and dating sites. If you enter your credentials at the fake login page, you've given the phisher access to your account. And it doesn't matter if you are browsing on a PC, a Mac, or an internet-aware sewing machine.

Almost all the products in the chart below include protection against malicious and fraudulent sites. With ClamXAV and Intego, this just isn't an included feature. Malwarebytes and ProtectWorks also lack an antiphishing component.

The wily malefactors who create phishing sites are in the business of deception, and they constantly change and update their techniques, hoping to evade detection. If one fraudulent site gets blacklisted or shut down by the authorities, they simply pop up with a new one. That being the case, we try to use the very newest phishing URLs for testing, scraping them from phishing-focused websites.

We launch each URL simultaneously in four browsers. One is Safari or Chrome on the Mac, protected by the Mac antivirus that's under test. The other three use the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Discarding any that don't fit the phishing profile, and any that don't load correctly in all four browsers, we report the product's detection rate as well as the difference between its detection rate and that of the other three test systems.

Most of the products in this roundup beat the combined average of the three browsers. Kaspersky and McAfee top the list with 100 percent detection, while Bitdefender's score of 99 percent comes close behind. All three of these winners scored precisely the same when tested under Windows.

Ransomware Protection

The scourge of ransomware is on the rise. While ransomware attacks are more common on Windows devices, Macs have suffered as well. Of course, any antivirus utility should handle ransomware just as it handles spyware, Trojans, viruses, and other malware types. But since the consequences of missing a ransomware attack are so great, some security products add components with the sole purpose of preventing ransomware attacks.

We've observed a wide variety of ransomware protection techniques on Windows. These include blocking unauthorized access to user documents, detecting ransomware based on its activity, and recovering encrypted files from backup. Of the products listed here, Bitdefender and Trend Micro offer a ransomware component that blocks unauthorized modification of protected documents.

As with Bitdefender's Windows edition, the Safe Files feature prevents all unauthorized access to your documents. On a Mac, it also protects your Time Machine backups. Trend Micro offers multiple layers of Windows ransomware protection. Folder Shield, which, like Safe Files, prevents unauthorized document access, is the only layer that made its way to the macOS edition.

Sophos Home Premium includes the same CryptoGuard behavior-based ransomware protection found in its Windows equivalent. Our Windows test sytsems are virtual machines, so we feel free to release real-world ransomware for testing. We just roll back the virtual machine to a clean snapshot after testing. We don't have the option to do that on the physical Mac testbed, so we just have to figure that since it worked on Windows, it probably works on macOS.

Spyware Protection

Any kind of malware problem is unpleasant, but spyware may be the most unnerving. Imagine some creeper secretly peeking at you through your Mac's webcam! Other types of spying include logging keystrokes to capture your passwords, sending Trojans to steal your personal data, and watching your online activities to build a profile. As with ransomware protection, we've observed more features specifically devoted to spyware protection on Windows-based security products than on the Mac, but a few products in this collection do pay special attention to spyware.

Under Windows, Kaspersky's Safe Money feature opens sensitive sites in a secure browser that's hardened against outside interference. The Safe Money feature on the Mac doesn't do that, but it does check URLs to make sure you're on a legitimate secure site. Kaspersky offers an onscreen keyboard, so you can enter passwords with no chance of capture by a keylogger. Its webcam protection isn't as configurable as it is on Windows, but you can use it to disable your Mac's webcam whenever you're not using it. It even includes the ability to block advertisers and others from tracking your online activities. If spyware is your bugaboo, you'll like Kaspersky.

Sophos Home Premium offers protection for the webcam and microphone that's more substantial than Kaspersky's. You get a notification any time an untrusted program attempts to access either; you can allow access or stop the program. There's also an option to whitelist a program, so you don't get a popup every time you use your off-brand video chat tool.

Bonus Features

Many antivirus tools on Windows pack in a ton of bonus features, packing in everything from tune-up utilities to VPNs. That behavior seems less common on the macOS side, though Norton now includes a VPN with no bandwidth limits. Even so, some vendors don't have a standalone Mac antivirus, opting instead to offer a full security suite as the baseline level of protection, and a few others include suite-like bonus features in the basic antivirus.

A typical personal firewall component blocks attacks coming in from the internet and also manages network permissions for programs installed on your Mac. Intego, McAfee, and Norton each include a firewall component, while Kaspersky's Network Protection comes close.

Parental control is another common suite component. With Sophos (free or premium) and Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac, a content filter can block access to websites matching unwanted categories. Kaspersky goes beyond that, with content filtering, screen time limits, and control over apps used. An additional $14.99 per year unlocks all the features of the powerful Kaspersky Safe Kids.

Protect Your Mac

Most of the products covered in this roundup earned certification from at least one independent testing lab; some managed two certifications. There really are no bad choices here, as far as basic antivirus protection goes. Even so, a few products stood out. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac not only achieved certification from both labs, it earned the maximum score in every test, and took the top antiphishing score. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac also earned high scores. It offers a full suite of Mac security tools, at the same price competitors charge for basic antivirus protection. Symantec Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) is also a suite, and its features include a no-limits VPN. These three are our Editors' Choice winners for Mac antivirus protection.

Look over the reviews, pick the product that suits you best, and get your Mac protected. Once you've done that, you should also consider installing a Mac VPN. While an antivirus protects you, your devices, and your data locally, a VPN extends that protection to your online activities, protecting both your security and your privacy.

Avast For Mac 10.7.5

Editors' Note: We are aware of the allegations of Kaspersky's inappropriate ties to the Russian government. Until we see some actual proof of these allegations, we will treat them as unproven, and continue to recommend Kaspersky's security products as long as their performance continues to merit our endorsement.

Best Mac Antivirus Protection Featured in This Roundup:
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac Review

MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Protects files and backups from ransomware. Top ratings from two independent testing labs. Excellent score in our antiphishing test. No-hassle Autopilot mode. Blocks ad trackers in browsers. Includes VPN.
Cons: Full access to VPN features requires separate subscription.
Bottom Line: Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac gets top marks from the independent labs and in our own hands-on testing. With its handy Autopilot mode, you can set it, forget it, and have confidence that your Mac is protected against malware.
Read Review
Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac Review

MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Excellent scores from two independent testing labs. Kaspersky Safe Kids for parental control. Network protection. Perfect score in our antiphishing test. Privacy protection. Useful bonus tools.
Cons: Safe Money and webcam protection features are limited compared to their Windows counterparts. Safe Kids and VPN require additional subscription for full functionality.
Bottom Line: Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac excels in independent lab tests, and it goes far beyond mere antivirus, offering protection against network attacks, parental control, privacy protection, and many other useful features.
Read Review
Symantec Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $99.99
Pros: Includes no-limits VPN. Certified by one independent testing lab. Fast scan. Firewall blocks exploit attacks. Cleans up unneeded files.
Cons: Relatively expensive. Limited detection of Windows malware.
Bottom Line: Symantec's Norton 360 Deluxe delivers lab-certified Mac antivirus protection along with a two-way firewall, a password manager, and a full-powered VPN.
Read Review
Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Very fast full scan. Certified by one antivirus lab. Excellent phishing protection. Excellent detection of Windows malware. Marks dangerous links in search results.
Cons: Lowest passing score in independent lab test.
Bottom Line: Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus is by far the fastest Mac antivirus scanner we've seen, and it provides especially good phishing protection in our testing, too.
Read Review
F-Secure Safe (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $69.99
Pros: Very good scores from two testing labs. Simple cross-platform parental control. Quick full scan.
Cons: Expensive at high numbers of licenses. So-so phishing protection.
Bottom Line: F-Secure Safe for Mac gets high marks from two independent antivirus testing labs. It offers simple multi-device parental control, but it can't match the rich feature collections of the best Mac antivirus tools.
Read Review
McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $59.99
Pros: Subscription covers unlimited macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. Perfect score in antiphishing test. Includes simple personal firewall.
Cons: No current test results from independent labs. Firewall no longer includes application control.
Bottom Line: One subscription gives you unlimited licenses to protect all your Macs with McAfee AntiVirus Plus, and your Windows, Android, and iOS devices, too, and it aces our phishing protection test.
Read Review
Sophos Home Premium (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $60.00
Pros: Remote management. Webcam protection. Decent phishing protection. Ransomware protection. Simple parental control. Inexpensive.
Cons: No independent lab test results. Parental content filter foiled by secure anonymizing proxy. Lacks exploit protection, download reputation check, keylogger protection, and other advanced features found in the Windows edition.
Bottom Line: Sophos Home Premium offers Mac antivirus protection at a low price, but it lacks many advanced features found in the Windows edition and doesn't have verification from independent testing labs.
Read Review
Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac Review

MSRP: $39.95
Pros: Certified by two antivirus testing labs. Speedy full scan. Social network privacy scan. Includes ransomware protection, webcam privacy, and parental control.
Cons: Parental control foiled by secure anonymizing proxy. Very poor phishing protection score. Webcam privacy needs work. Social network privacy not fully functional. Licensing model not practical for all-Mac households.
Bottom Line: Two major independent testing labs certify Trend Micro's ability to fight malware on your Mac. It comes with a boatload of bonus features, but some of those need work.
Read Review
Avast Security Pro (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $59.99
Pros: Certified by one independent testing lab. Speedy full scan. Excellent phishing protection for Chrome and Firefox. Useful bonus features. Ransomware protection. Wi-Fi intruder detection.
Cons: Doesn't add much to free edition's features. Expensive. Poor phishing protection for Safari. Password manager includes only basic features.
Bottom Line: Avast Security Pro (for Mac) adds ransomware protection and Wi-Fi intruder detection to the features found in Avast's free antivirus, but these additions don't merit its high price.
Read Review
ClamXav (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $29.95
Pros: Lab-certified for Mac malware protection. Scans for malware on demand, on access, and on schedule. Straightforward user interface.
Cons: No filtering of malicious or fraudulent websites.
Bottom Line: ClamXAV wraps the venerable, open source ClamAntiVirus engine in a straightforward user interface. It's lab-certified to protect your Mac, but doesn't go beyond the basics.
Read Review
ESET Cyber Security (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Elaborate scan scheduling options. Good detection of Windows malware. Simple device control. Includes online cybersecurity training.
Cons: Poor results in our hands-on antiphishing test. Slow scans in testing. No longer certified by independent labs.
Bottom Line: Though it doesn't have current certification from independent testing labs, ESET Cyber Security offers comprehensive protection for your macOS devices plus cybersecurity training.
Read Review
Intego Mac Internet Security X9 Review

MSRP: $49.99
Pros: Certified by two labs for Mac malware protection. Includes full-featured firewall. Detects Mac, Windows, and Linux malware.
Cons: Poor detection of Windows malware. No protection against malicious or fraudulent websites.
Bottom Line: Intego Mac Internet Security X9 scores well in lab tests using Mac malware, and it offers firewall protection. But it fails against Windows malware and lacks protection against dangerous URLs.
Read Review
Malwarebytes for Mac Premium Review

MSRP: $39.99
Pros: Extremely fast malware scan. Very good reputation among tech experts.
Cons: No protection against malicious or fraudulent websites. No detection of Windows malware.
Bottom Line: The premium edition of Malwarebytes for Mac scans for active malware and uses real-time detection to prevent infestation. It has a very good reputation, but hard data showing its effectiveness is scarce.
Read Review
ProtectWorks AntiVirus (for Mac) Review

MSRP: $44.99
Pros: Certified for Mac protection by an independent testing lab. Scans on demand, on access, and on schedule.
Cons: No web-based protection against malicious or fraudulent sites. Mediocre detection of Windows malware.
Bottom Line: An independent lab verifies that ProtectWorks AntiVirus can keep your Mac safe from malware, but it lacks some useful features found in competing products.
Read Review

Active5 years, 6 months ago

MacKeeper (http:// mackeeperapp.zeobit.com) has hijacked my Safari browser. I have had to open Firefox, in order to get to the internet. I would rather use Safari, since that is where my bookmarks and favorite links are on the toolbar.

A MacKeeper ad was in the sidebar, of the page I was on. I clicked on a link, to go to a website (not MacKeeper), and the window opened for MacKeeper, with a pop-up to let MacKeeper clean my Mac.

The ONLY option is to click 'OK', which I refuse to do, because I know almost all of these 'cleaner' apps are malware, with hidden stroke counting codes.

The box says

> > > RECOMMENDED DOWNLOAD < < <

We recommend to clean your Mac with MacKeeper - award-winning system utility.

There is an 'OK' button, but no way to close out of the box.

Now, there is no way to get out of the website either. When it first started, I panicked, and pushed the power button, because it froze all the tabs and Safari functions, and I didn’t want it to download to my hard drive. I thought if I shut down the computer, it would stop the app from running, which would prevent it from downloading on my hard drive.

I also thought when I turned my computer back on, The MacKeeper pop-up window would be gone, and then I could close the MacKeeper website. But it wasn't gone. I can't do anything in Safari now. I am guessing MacKeeper figures people will eventually get frustrated, and give in, clicking the button, allowing MacKeeper onto the hard drive.

All of my tabs have the rotating circle, indicating something is happening, but the websites, on those tabs, can’t be opened. I tried clicking on the black “x”, one the tabs, but there is no black “x”. I also can’t close the pop-up window, because there is no black “x” on it either.

I went to Finder, to see if MacKeeper had installed itself on my hard drive, and it is not in my /Applications folder. If I go to the application Library, it is not there either. So essentially, MacKeeper has hijacked my browser, but apparently hasn't installed itself on my hard drive.

I found a question, here on Super User, about essentially the same thing:

That user had intentionally installed MacKeeper, and uninstalled it, but missed a file in the uninstall, and was able to delete it in the Library. That is not the case here. I did not want anything to do with MacKeeper. It came onto my browser without being invited.

On that discussion, a couple people said that clicking the “OK” button, won’t allow MacKeeper to be installed on my hard drive, but I don’t trust MacKeeper, to not do it behind the scenes. I have heard of other cleaner apps, that have done the same thing, so I don’t trust any of them.

Also on the same discussion, someone from MacKeeper answered, saying that it is totally safe, and clicking on “OK” wouldn’t do anything. How can I trust him, when others, have had problems with MacKeeper, and some experts have called it “malware”? I have a hard time trusting a company that has a reputation for selling malware.

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the pop-up box, without clicking on the “OK” button? I can’t use my Safari, until it is gone. I really don’t want to recreate all the bookmarks and favorite links, that I have on Safari, to Firefox. I just did that last Fall, when my hard drive crashed, and it is a real pain!

Community♦

DevonvioletDevonviolet

6 Answers

As the other sources (and comments here) have said, clicking OK isn't enough to cause trouble. Even if they get you to download the MacKeeper installer, you still cannot be forced to actually install the software. But if you really don't want to even click OK, there are a few ways out. Here's one:

Quit (or force quit if necessary) Safari
In the Finder, hold Option while pulling down the Go menu and select Library. (Note that the Library choice only appears while Option is held down.) This opens your user Library folder, which contains all sorts of settings and config files.
In the your Library folder, open the Saved Application State subfolder.
Inside Saved Application State, find the com.apple.Safari.savedState subfolder. This folder contains information about open windows and tabs, to allow Safari to reopen them automatically.
Move the com.apple.Safari.savedState folder (and only that folder) to the trash.
Reopen Safari. It should come up with a single window, showing your default start page (if any). Your bookmarks etc should be intact, just the open windows and tabs (including the obnoxious MacKeeper one) should be gone.

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

27.4k4 gold badges46 silver badges54 bronze badges

Per slhck's request, I will try to explain what I did.

As several people suggested, I tried to 'Force Quit', to get out of Safari, and get the MacKeeper tab to close that way, but was not able to do that, because Force Quit was grayed out, and unclickable, while MacKeeper had the JavaScript requiring me to click OK was on the screen.

After asking questions on two forums, I decided to install an antivirus (AV) app on my computer. Prior to that I had not done so, because I had read that Apples were safe from viruses. Well, now I am not so sure, since MacKeeper was able to hijack my Safari browser, after it opened a tab, without my permission.

The AV that was recommended to me was AVAST. Once I had installed the most current version, of AVAST, there was a message, on the confirmation page, that my computer was now protected. Given my recent experience, I am not sure I can believe any of that type of app, but decided I had to take a chance, since my Safari was unusable, unless I went ahead and clicked on OK, in the JavaScript box.

I checked my app list in Finder, and there wasn't anything for MacKeeper listed. Someone had suggested to click on the hard drive in Finder, and then open the Library, to see if there were any MacKeeper files there. I checked and there were none.

I ran the virus scan. and it didn't appear to have found any viruses, so I finally clicked on OK, with the intention of closing the MacKeeper tab immediately. When I clicked OK, it was like it had a mind of it's own. It all happened so fast, it was a bit confusing. The appearance of the website page change, but I was so shocked by what I saw in the address box, I didn't really see what it looked like. What I saw in the address box, was that mackeeper. ziobit. com/ instantly changed to a long string of numbers and letters and symbols. I panicked and immediately tried to close the tab, by clicking on the black 'x' in the left corner of the tab. It took three tries to finally get the tab to close the page.

Once I had calmed down, I went back to Finder and checked for MacKeeper again, both in my App folder and in the hard drive Library, but didn't find it.

After I had done all that, I was told that ClamXAV was better than AVAST. So, I did some research and decided it wouldn't hurt to double check AVAST by running another AV app. Well, ClamXAV actually found about 50 Trojan Horses and other viruses, that AVAST had not found. Since I am not well versed in the different types of viruses, I don't remember which ones now. Interestingly enough, a split second after ClamXAV found the Trojan Horses and other viruses, AVAST found them, and alerted with a pop-up. I figured if ClamXAV had found all those viruses, and AVAST didn't find them until ClamXAV had already found them, I didn't need AVAST. So, I uninstalled it.

I was finally able to spend some time on the phone with my daughter, who said she hasn't used Safari, for about eight months. And here I was using it, because she said she was using it and liked it better than Firefox. She said she changed because she found that Chrome worked better for her, with her web design other technical web applications. She said I probably didn't need Chrome, but that Opera might work better for me, and she thought it might be a bit more secure than Safari. She was thinking that since Safari is the official Apple browser, hackers might be working a little harder to crack that nut. So, I downloaded Opera, and have been learning all the ins and outs. It seems to be a good browser, and in some ways it is better. For instance: On Safari, I haven't been able to find a way to have sub-folders to folders in my bookmarks. Opera is a bit different in the way you set up your bookmarks, but I like the way you can set up sub-folders within sub-folders. That is important to me, since I do a lot of medical research, and need to be able to finely delineate modalities.

All in all this has been a nightmarish experience. I know Apple sells MacKeeper on their App Store, but for the life of me, I can't understand why they would sell an app, that has such a wide reputation for being malware. Given my experience with MacKeeper attaching itself to my browser, when I never wanted anything to do with 'cleaner apps', and never clicked on anything, to even look at it, it is just devious. Besides, from what I have read it doesn't do anything that Apple hasn't already installed on the OSX.

Before I go, I would like to give a shout out to the IT geeks that tried to help me with my problem (especially slhck). I wouldn't have had the courage to go ahead and try to work through this without their help. Thanks Guys!!!

DevonvioletDevonviolet

After you Force Quit, when you reopen Safari hold down alt when clicking on Safari — this stops any previous sessions from loading up. You will start a brand new session.

Once back into safari you can go into your Preferences to ensure home pages etc. are all intact. I have contacted Apple about this and provided them with sites that are causing this, like MacKeeper etc.

slhck

171k49 gold badges476 silver badges492 bronze badges

LeeLee

This is potentialy false.

THe current revision of this particular peice of malware attempts to install itself, and only AFTER failing to do so automatically prompts the user for help, if you hava Java installed you can be automatically infected.

It sounds like the author is infected despite what they might think happen.

RamhoundRamhound

24.9k15 gold badges66 silver badges89 bronze badges

I think you are able to use a little workaround for this - simply deny any one (or all) of your applications access to the »mackeeperapp.zeobit.com« domain.

I've just made this rule myself and it seems to work though I can't be fully sure whether I've encountered the particular javascript that triggers the alert or not.

pnuts

5,6203 gold badges23 silver badges39 bronze badges

johan_iijohan_ii

The dialog that is shown is simply a JavaScript alert. This is not an answer on how to close an abusive page on Safari, but for Chrome there are some ways. As they're not obvious at all and might work in other browsers too, here goes:

Click the browser window to give it focus (rather than the popup dialog) and use Chrome's File menu. (One cannot close the tab using the mouse, nor using any keyboard shortcuts. But once the browser window has focus, its File menu does work. As long as the dialog has focus, all menu items are grayed-out.)
Or: type a different URL in the abusive tab to simply go to another page.
Or: focus the browser window and use the Chrome task manager (menu Window, Task Manager) to kill the tab. After that, the dialog will still be visible, but clicking OK won't do anything.

Free Avast For Mac

Try for yourself here.

(As an aside: Firefox shows that with an overlay on the source page only, and then shows that page with full control. Firefox itself does not take focus, nor makes its dock icon bounce though. Internet Explorer shows a close icon, which is effectively the same as clicking OK. And I very much agree that there's no security issue with such dialogs—anything that can be done after the dialog was shown, could be done without it as well. So: simply clicking OK might be easiest, maybe quickly followed by pressing Esc to stop loading whatever page is loaded next.)