Solved Trouble with "safe search" on a Mac

[Jack]

Hello Jack, sorry to be suspicious, it's a horrible world. I had Apple support run diagnostics online and they confirm no Malware. Turns out this might be related to me changing broadband provider. Now looking at that.

No problem, it's good to be suspicious when it comes to the Internet. : P Ok, if you find anything let me know what was the cause.

 

[Lostagain]

Well, all very odd. I switched to Sky broadband recently. It comes with their Broadband Shield as standard. You have to phone them to turn this off. The lady hadn't heard of Google's "safe search" and didn't think it was related. But I turned off the shield anyway, went back into Google and tried for the umpteenth time to get rid of the safe search restriction and - it's gone for now. Interestingly, Apple support were brilliant and said that Malwarebytes is the only service they recommend.

 

[Lostagain]

No problem, it's good to be suspicious when it comes to the Internet. : P Ok, if you find anything let me know what was the cause.

And it was rude of me not to say a big thank you for all your help today. Fingers crossed!

 

[Jack]

Well, all very odd. I switched to Sky broadband recently. It comes with their Broadband Shield as standard. You have to phone them to turn this off. The lady hadn't heard of Google's "safe search" and didn't think it was related. But I turned off the shield anyway, went back into Google and tried for the umpteenth time to get rid of the safe search restriction and - it's gone for now.

Great, this should help other people with similar issues as yours!

Interestingly, Apple support were brilliant and said that Malwarebytes is the only service they recommend.

Yes, it's a good antivirus but you can try others if you like (Kaspersky, Bitdefender). Malwarebytes has also a free version that allows you to scan your computer but won't protect your computer from malware.

3rd search produces more including "adobe.fpsaud.plist"

This was a malicious file so I would recommend that you install an antivirus. But do keep in mind that when it comes to MacOS, most malware is installed by the user. Basically a malicious site will show fake alerts to trick you to install a malicious program. I would highly recommend that you also install a free adblocker from your browser, this will remove ads from websites and stop malicious sites from redirecting your browser.

 

[Lostagain]

Great, this should help other people with similar issues as yours!

Yes, it's a good antivirus but you can try others if you like (Kaspersky, Bitdefender). Malwarebytes has also a free version that allows you to scan your computer but won't protect your computer from malware.


This was a malicious file so I would recommend that you install an antivirus. But do keep in mind that when it comes to MacOS, most malware is installed by the user. Basically a malicious site will show fake alerts to trick you to install a malicious program. I would highly recommend that you also install a free adblocker from your browser, this will remove ads from websites and stop malicious sites from redirecting your browser.

Thanks again, I don't know anything about adblockers. I use Safari - do they do their own adblockers?

 

[Jack]

Thanks again, I don't know anything about adblockers. I use Safari - do they do their own adblockers?

No, you will need to add an extension to your browser. I'm using AdGuard on my Macbook - ‎AdGuard for Safari - it's free and good.