How to Remove Mac Space Reviver PUP from Mac

George Herman
George Herman
IT Security Expert

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What is Mac Space Reviver

Mac Space Reviver is a rogue program that falls into the Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) category. This malware is developed by the company PCVARK, which is known to have created many other dangerous applications, dubious ads and fake alert messages. Mac Space Reviver is programmed to flood your browsers with numerous intrusive pop-ups, advertisements, banners, etc., that are likely to redirect to harmful pages. In result of the overwhelming surge of unwanted ad content, your browser will be unable to run adequately, making it crash and freeze on a daily basis. This PUP also poses a threat to your personal data. The malicious software is programmed to steal such valuable information and send it to the cyber criminals who created it, so they can sell it to other third-parties.

How it is distributed

There are many ways that this pest can invade your Mac. Mac Space Reviver is available for download straight from PCVARK’s official site. But, there are other shady sites that are partnered with the company to promote this malware. Other means of distribution include infected emails and attachments, torrent files, freeware, bundled software, fake update messages, as well as misleading ad and pop-ups.

How it operates

Once the Mac Space Reviver parasite gains access to your Mac, your browsing will turn into a hellish experience. The parasite will spy on your browsing activity and collect data like web history, and search queries. This information will help it produce the kind of advertisement content that you’ll be more likely to click on. For each click you make, the parasite will generate revenue for its creators.

But that’s not the only thing the PUP is programmed to do. There’s a file called Info.plist inside the malware. Its purpose? Well, if you’re in a position where you want to open a file, but you don’t have a corresponding app to do it, the file will be opened by Mac Space Reviver. What happens next is this – the malicious software will display a convincing version of the normal macOS dialog message box that informs you that no suitable app is available . The fake message will also provide a link that leads to the official page of PCVARK, and will try to make you install a similar application to Mac Space Reviver. The worst thing is, that all these rogue programs have a valid developer certificate from Apple, so the OS will install them without issuing a warning message or a notification pop-up.

It’s been also reported that the PUP can show this warning message at random, to try to make its victims install even more dangerous software on their Macs:

Warning:
The last site you visited might have infected your Desktop with virus
Current risk: 93%

Click on the button below to install the latest Mac security to remove all the viruses

Your Mac would have critical errors, if you do not remove the viruses within
[5 minute counter] Install Security Update Now

Staying safe from Mac Space Reviver

Apart from having a reliable AV software installed on your Mac, there are other things you can do to ensure your device’s safety. We highly recommend you to:

  • Pay close attention when you install third-party software, especially torrent files, so you don’t install shady additional applications that you don’t want. In most cases, that’s how malicious parasites are able to infect your computer;

  • Read any Terms and Conditions you see, so you know exactly what you agree to. The last thing you want is to unknowingly give permission to a nasty virus to infiltrate your Mac;

  • Follow links that lead to trustworthy sites only;

  • It is best to visit only reliable and official websites. You never know what dangers might lurk behind an unfamiliar site;

  • No matter how attractive an ad is, if you are not familiar with the website it redirects to, it might be best to steer clear of it and not click;

  • Always check the sender’s email address before opening a message. If it states that it’s from an official company, compare the email with the one given in their official page. If there is no match, delete the message, since it most likely is fake and has malicious aims.

  • Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders. More often than not, such files carry infections that can seriously damage your computer.

How to manually remove Mac Space Reviver from Mac

If you’ve had the misfortune of getting your Mac infected with the Mac Space Reviver PUP, the instructions below can help you to remove it manually. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to Utilities. You can do that by using the +⌘+U key combination, or going to Finder and choosing Utilities from the Go main menu at the top.

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it.

3. A list will be displayed. Find any processes that seem suspicious to you and use the ‘Force Quit‘ option to quit them completely.

4. Open Finder. Click on the Go button from the main menu at the top, and choose Applications. An alternative way is to use the +⌘+A key combination.

5. Look for any suspicious applications, especially ones with a name similar to Mac Space Reviver. If any are found, right-click on them and select the ‘Move to Trash‘ option.

6. Remove any related left-over files by going to Finder‘s search bar and typing the name of the app you want to remove. Make sure to modify the two drop down menus above to ‘System Files‘ and ‘Are Included‘, so that any hidden files are visible for you to remove. Once you find the files you want to remove, simply drag them to Trash.

7. All that’s left for you to do is remove any related extensions to Mac Space Reviver from your Mac browsers.

  • For Mozilla Firefox extensions:

    – Open the Firefox browser and from the ‘burger’ menu in the top right corner of the window select ‘Add-ons‘.

    – Select any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and click ‘Remove‘.

  • For Google Chrome extensions:

    – Open the Chrome browser and select Tools > Extensions from the menu (the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window).

    – Locate any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and remove them.

  • For Safari extensions:

    – Open the Safari browser. From the Safari menu choose Preferences. Select Extensions from the options at the top.

    – Find any extensions you think are related to the virus, select them and click ‘Uninstall‘. A new window will show up asking for confirmation. Click Uninstall again, for the extension to get deleted permanently from your browser.

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