What Is simage4.pubmatic.com Mac Virus?
simage4.pubmatic.com is a pop-up browser hijacker that specifically targets Mac computers. This type of software will typically take control of your operating system and change the Safari settings without your knowledge or consent. Once you have been tricked into downloading simage4.pubmatic.com, it can actually be very difficult to remove – and once removed, it is almost certain that you will be targeted again in the future.You need to delete this malicious program right now before it causes any further damage to your system and your online security!
How Is simage4.pubmatic.com Mac Virus Distributed?
Despite its name, the Mac simage4.pubmatic.com is not an official app. It is not available through the Apple Mac App Store, nor has it been endorsed by Apple. For that reason alone, you should avoid downloading it. However, if you were affected by it, then you might have downloaded it from a website promoting it as a reliable browser tool. In fact, the promotion may even claim that your browser will run faster if you install the simage4.pubmatic.com. Such claims are more than likely lies and should be ignored.
How harmful is simage4.pubmatic.com hijacker?
- How did I download simage4.pubmatic.com?
- Did my computer get infected when I clicked on a pop-up advertisement for simage4.pubmatic.com?
If you have not modified the Safari settings yourself, then chances are high that this program has been installed using a browser hijacker, which is a type of program that will install itself onto your computer without your knowledge or consent. It may be possible that someone else has installed an infection of simage4.pubmatic.com onto your computer without your knowledge, or it may be possible that you have downloaded the program somehow without knowing about it. Whatever the case, there is no way for you to get rid of this hijacker unless you do so manually via Firefox, Chrome and Safari’s own tools.
How did I get infected?
simage4.pubmatic.com hijacker was able to install itself on your Mac because you have been exposed to various types of malware and browser threats. You probably encountered an ad on a popular website that most people visit. A malicious advertisement could have forced you to download the simage4.pubmatic.com. It could also have asked you to allow it to run in the background while visiting other sites. This can be done through pop-ups, special requests, or redirects that come from the “System Configuration” folder on the Mac.
How can I remove simage4.pubmatic.com virus ?
Step 1: Uninstall simage4.pubmatic.com and remove related files and objects
- Open your Finder –> Click on GO –>Click on Utilities
- Find Activity Monitor and open it
- Review all the processes in Activity Monitor and write down the ones related to simage4.pubmatic.com virus
- Select Quit
- To kill the malicious process, choose the Force Quit option.
Step 2: Remove simage4.pubmatic.com – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox
The first thing you need to do is to make sure Safari is not running. If you have troubles closing it, you may need to Force Quit Safari - (Start Activity Monitor by opening up Finder, then proceed to Application --> Utilities --> Activity monitor. Locate the Safari process and force quit it.
Safely launch Safari again by holding the Shift key and clicking on the Safari application icon - This will prevent Safari’s previously opened malicious web pages.
In case that you still are having trouble with scripts interrupting the closing of unwanted pages, please do the following:
- Force Quit Safari again.
- Disconnect form Internet and try again.
Then Re-Launch Safari but don’t forget to press and hold the Shift button to prevent pop-ups. Then, click on Preferences.
- Carefully take a look at your default home page and change it if the hijacker altered it.
- Then go to the Extensions tab and make sure there are no unknow extensions installed.
- Next step is to click on Privacy tab
- Manage website data
- Here you can remove any unwanted website data or just remove them all. Please, keep in mind that after you do this all stored website data will be deleted. You will need to sign-in again for all websites that require any form of authentication.
- The next step is to Clear History (if you want), select the tab.
- Click the menu next to clear and choose a time period — if you want to completely reset Safari, choose all history.
- Press Clear History
- To remove from Chrome, open the browser and click the icon with the three dots located in the top-right.
- Select to More Tools --> Extensions and review what Chrome Extensions are present in the browser
- Remove the ones that you do not recognize.
- If the parasite continues to disrupt your browsing with Chrome, this is what else you can do:
- Click again the menu of Google Chrome, and open Settings.
- Select the Search Engine from the left panel, review the available search engines and change the default to your preference.
- Then, click on Manage Search Engines, review the list of search engine availabilities and if any of the listed items looks suspicious, click the three-dots next to them, and delete.
- Click on Privacy and Security in the left panel, select the Clear browsing data option, check every box except the Passwords one, and click Clear Data.
- Next step is to clear Notifications, select the Site settings option in the Privacy and Security section, then locate Notifications.
- Review the listed websites in the Allow to send notifications section and if any of the entries shown there seem dubious or related to the browser hijacker, select the three dots next to the object and click on Remove.
- Start Mozilla Firefox
- On the top right click the three dashes
- go to add-ons and themes
- The add-ons manager will open
- Carefully review review four Firefox Extensions
- If any unwanted extension is present, click on the three horizontal dots and then Remove
- After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red dot in the top left and start it again.
Step 3: Scan for and remove simage4.pubmatic.com files from your Mac
Fix your browser settings with SpyHunter Anti-Malware
Once you download and install SpyHunter for Mac run a scan.
Once the scan is complete, your mac will be virus free.
simage4.pubmatic.com malware Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do I get rid of simage4.pubmatic.com?
simage4.pubmatic.com is a Browser hijacker – malicious software that can be installed by third-party applications or websites. They usually change the settings of web browsers and search engines to display certain ads, pop-ups, banners, etc.
- What are the symptoms of simage4.pubmatic.com infection in your Mac?
simage4.pubmatic.com becomes your web browser’s built-in search engine.
Your browser’ s search queries are redirected through simage4.pubmatic.com.com
The “simage4.pubmatic.com” browser extension or some shady software is installed on your Mac.
- How do I remove simage4.pubmatic.com from my browser?
In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the top left and select Manage add-ons. Under Add-on Types, select Search Providers. Select your search engine from the list of providers and click Remove to remove it. In Google Chrome, go to Settings (at the top right) and choose Search in the On Startup drop down menu.
- How do I uninstall simage4.pubmatic.com?
How to Make Your Mac Run Faster?
You might be wondering how to make your Mac run faster? It is a common misconception that the more processing power you have, the faster your computer will run. In reality, it’s actually about what’s going on in your processor and memory. For the average person using a computer for just general applications like word processing and web browsing, you don’t need much in the way of computing power.
– Use an SSD drive instead of a hard disk drive.
– Double your RAM if possible.
– Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP). (Attention! – do this only if you know the consequences.)
References:
- More about pop-up advertisements on Wikipedia.
- MacOS malware
- SpyHunter Anti-Malware overview and also the reasons why we recommend it for malware elimination.
Please, have in mind that SpyHunter offers a free 15-day Trial version with full functionality. Credit card is required, no charge upfront.