Do You Have Malware?

The Malware/Adware “Manual”

If you have any of the following “programs” on your Mac then you have Malware:

Spigot
Spigot is an adware company responsible for a number of different adware programs.

Crossrider
Crossrideris a very suspicious search engine, which has been accused for continuous redirects to unknown websites, altered search results, tracking of people's search sessions and similar problems that can't be ignored.

Genieo
Genieo is still pulling many ofthe same tricks – changing the search engine to Bing, and installing all kinds of junk that runs in the background and modifies browser behavior.

iLivid
iLivid takes over websites and automatically downloads unless you kill the browser window. It seems to like sites where you're expecting a download and exploits your expectation that you're getting the download you want.

OperatorMac
This adware will redirect you to different pages and inject content, such as an odd set of navigation controls floating over the page, into pages in your web browser.

WalletBee
WalletBee is promoted as a useful tool that’s supposed to help people save time and money. However, security experts have already attributed it to an adware or potentially unwanted program, which may initiate various undesirable operations, such as redirects, ads, and other things. In addition, it may also record your browsing activities and collect various information.

OneSearch
Onesearch is a program that’s bundled with other free software downloaded off of the Internet. Once installed it will set the homepage and search engine for any installed browsers to search.onesearch.org without your permission.

JDI Backup
just read this: http://www.backupreview.com/mypcbackup-justcloud-zipcloud/

Mac Keeper
MacKeeper provides questionable value to most users, can destabilize an otherwise stable Mac, and embeds itself so thoroughly into the operating system that removing it is an uncomfortable and weird process.

MegaBackup
MegaBackup exemplifies misleading software that attempts to convince Mac users to purchase the license under false pretenses.

Advanced Mac Cleaner
Advanced Mac Cleaner floods the victim’s experience with annoying warning messages. It dupes the user into thinking that their machine has got numerous problems hindering normal performance.

Shoppy
Shoppy is an adware program, that displays pop-up ads and advertisements on web pages that you visit. These advertisements will be shown as boxes containing various coupons that are available, as underlined keywords, pop-up ads or advertising banners.

ZipCloud
is some sort of cloud-storage service with a doubtful reputation. The OS X client is sometimes distributed along with the "SearchProtect" malware. Although ZipCloud may not be malicious itself, it should be deemed suspect by virtue of the company it keeps.

Please note the above is NOT a complete list - just a few of the bad guys we’ve come across. The list does continue to grow though and we will stay on top of it. How can you tell if you have any of these? Use Spotlight - that's the "magnifying glass" top right hand corner of your Mac - click on it and type in any of these bad guys name. If you get a hit on your computer than you have it.

Adware was unheard of on the Mac just a couple years ago. It’s now so prevalent that we install our CapMac Health Check, which detects Mal/Adware, on almost every computer that comes in for service.

Adware comes from bad download sites, however, the vast majority of adware seems to come from torrents, sites offering “free” video streaming, or pop ups (Flash Player). Why is the problem getting worse?

Obviously, the people behind all this are having success making money from it. Advertisers are spending lots of money to put ads on your computer screen, and often they don’t understand exactly who they’re doing business with or how their online advertising is going to work. Unethical hackers also frequently take advantage of advertising networks, using tricks to put ads in front of users’ eyes in such a way that they get paid for it. Worst of all are the advertisers who don’t care how they advertise, like the makers of certain junk Mac utility apps which are often promoted through adware.

What should I do in the meantime?

Avoiding adware is quite easy, if you’re careful about what you download.

• Have us install our HealthCheck program
• Never download anything from any third-party download site, because there may be an adware payload.
• Avoid “impulse downloads” - don’t download some cool-sounding app without doing a little research first.
• Only download apps directly from the developer’s site - do not click on the "Install Flash" pop-up!
• Neverengage in software or media piracy.
• Some torrents may be used for legitimate purposes, but I recommend avoiding torrents in general, since their primary use these days is piracy.
• Don’t go to questionable video streaming sites – get your video fix only from legit sources, such as iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu or the websites of the various TV networks and movie studios.
• Read the license agreement in any installer you run, and pay close attention to any mention of special offers. Even if there’s a check box to allow you to opt out of a special offer, quit the installer immediately and throw it away such check boxes are not always respected, and you may get the adware or other junk software installed regardless of what the check box says.

Installing anti-virus software won’t help as it doesn’t detect most adware, and if it does, it won’t be able to properly remove it. I’ve seen plenty of people who have gotten adware despite having anti-virus software installed, and I’ve also seen plenty of people whose anti-virus software completely failed to remove the adware. In fact, in at least one recent case, the anti-virus software screwed up the removal so badly that the Macwasn’t able to start up any longer. (This is a possible side-effect of the Genieo adware, if it is removed improperly.)

iOS Tip 146 - Hide Contact Images in Messages

On the iPhone 6/6 Plus and 6s/6s Plus, with iOS 9, the Messages app—the one you use not only for sending SMS/MMs texts, but also iMessage messages—got a new feature. Pics from your iPhone Contacts list show up next to the person who sent the message. Very nice—unless you hate it. iOS 9.1 added an option in Settings > Messages to turn off Show Contact Photos.

Not seeing that option? Check Setting > Display & Brightness > View and if set to Zoomed toggle to Standard.

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iOS Tip 145 - Mark Up/ Sign Your Images in Email

In the built-in iOS email app - Mail - attaching images to messages is simple—hold a finger down in the message and when you get the pop-up menu, select Insert Photo or Video. In iOS 9, you don't even have the five-image limit anymore.

Better yet, it now includes the ability to annotate or mark up images. With the image inserted, hold your finger on top of it until the pop-up menu appears, then select Markup. Draw on the image with a number of colors, turn the drawings into recognized shapes, zoom in, add some text, or even throw in your signature.

iOS Tip 144 - Set Up My Info

Setting your personal info, address, and contact information on an iPhone is important if you want to be able to do things like get directions home or to another location from home, appropriate auto-fill details, the ability to easily share your address and contact details with other people, and much more.

Yes, most iPhone users have “My Info” setup properly on their devices, but many others don’t, or you may want to change the info or select a different contact card.

First, Have a Self Identifying “My Info” Contact Card
In order to accurately set “My Info” to your personal name, address, phone number, and other contact info, you’ll need to be sure you have created a contact card identity for yourself. This would be like creating any other contact in the “Contacts” app, and if you haven’t done that yet, here’s how you can make a card for yourself:

1 Open the “Contacts” app, if you see your name and details at the top under “My Card” than you don’t need to create a new contact (though you can tap on it to double-check that your My Card information is accurate), otherwise tap the + plus button in the corner
2 Add your name, address, email, phone number, and other useful information as usual and tap “Done” to complete
You can also edit an existing Contact card for yourself by tapping on your name in Contacts app, then tapping “Edit” and adding in the pertinent details like address for home.

Once you have a self identifying contact card, you can easily set it for the iPhone.
1 Open the “Settings” app on iPhone, then go to “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”
2 Scroll down to the Contacts section, then tap on “My Info”
3 Select your personal contact card that identifies yourself and contains your contact and address information by tapping on it

iOS Tip 143 - Initiate Calls From Your Calendar

Let’s say you’re setting up a lunch with a contractor, and you want to make it easy to call them when your iPhone alerts you to the meeting. Or perhaps you want to embed conference call details into an event. A little-known fact about the Calendar app is that you can enter phone numbers into the Location field, and when you’re viewing the event later, you can tap the number to dial it directly (if you need a real location in the Location field, use the Notes field for the phone number instead). To add a meeting code to a conference call number, append a semicolon, the meeting code, and the pound symbol—after the iPhone dials the phone number, you can press a button to dial the code at the right moment. The entire thing would look like 518-555-0101;123456#. For a more automated, but potentially error-prone approach, replace the semicolon with one or more commas, each of which causes the iPhone to pause for 2 seconds before dialing the rest of the numbers.

iOS Tip 142 - Customize Today View

Customizing the Today View in Notification Center

Although there is not an option directly in theSettings app, you can edit and customize the Today View in Notification Center by using small extensions ofapps called widgets. First, pull from the very top of the device’s screen in a downward motion to access Notification Center. Click on the Today tab, scroll all the way down, and select edit. If there are any applications installed that offer a widget, tap on the "+" to add them to yourToday tab. Tapthe red “-” buttontoselect delete.

iOS Tip 141 - Take Photos While Shooting Video

A small but so very handy feature in iOS ...

This is easy when you know how. It's also another case of being vaguely aware of a feature but only really finding it by accident. Go shoot some video and look at the controls on your screen. Or just take a look at this screen grab from our adventures in filmmaking this weekend.

Underneath the familiar red video button on the right hand side, there is a white button in a white circle. It's at bottom when you hold your iPhone horizontally like a professional and/or normal person, and it's bottom left when you shoot with your phone pointing upwards.

Tap that white button and you take a photo. It's as simple as that: tap it as often as you like and your iPhone will take a still photo even as it continues to shoot video. It is handy and we've used it a lot but it is not your iPhone using the camera lens for two purposes at once. It's really your iPhone saving a frame of the video.

In many ways this doesn't make a difference: it's a good photo taken during the videoing. However, video shoots at a different frame size, the physical size of the image is smaller. Compare these two shots: on the left, a view snapped during filming and one the right, the same view on the iPhone's regular Photo setting.

So there's a difference and it may even be enough to stop you using this feature. Yet as a way of getting reference stills during your filming, and as a way of getting a great photo from exactly the same vantage point as your video camera, it's handy.