The distribution of Mac viruses can be trickier than the use of trojanized spam attachments. Some malicious apps make the rounds by means of social engineering combined with auxiliary infections. This is the case with the Adobe Flash Player update virus target Mac. It redirects a victim’s web browser to sites that recommend updating Flash Player, with the actual payload being scareware or spyware.

The manifestation of Mac malware activity can vary. It can be reflected in an outright way, that is, through nag screens, popups and browser redirects. There are usually additional symptoms that some users overlook, but once you start digging deeper than the routine usage – the predicament comes to the fore. For instance, the “maftask” process name in your Activity Monitor designates that your system is infected with the Mac Auto Fixer virus.

Mac users who think the basic online privacy provided by their browser of choice isn’t enough run the risk of falling for a redirect trap with a flavor of adware. There are plenty of fake anonymity services that don’t carry through with their promises. Meanwhile, there are entities like Search Encrypt that might accommodate some privacy features but use unethical marketing and cause irritating browser redirects.

There is a massive Mac adware campaign going on, with multiple variants of browser-hijacking entities being spewed out into the wild. One of the latest threats operating under this wide umbrella is called TapuFind, a service that claims to improve users’ search experience but actually takes over their web browsers. Here’s how this virus works and what should be done to remove it from Mac.

Any web browser is intended to be an ultimately user-friendly tool where the whole customization and features are at one’s fingertips. Ideally, things are just as smooth as that and don’t deviate from the norm unless a piece of malware interferes with a victim’s web experience. Such a disruption occurs when the Search Baron virus infects a Mac and iteratively redirects the browser to bing.com without asking for the admin’s consent.

When confronted with the Chill Tab browser hijacker, Mac machine users feel frustrated and helpless because the problem won’t go away no matter what manual cleanup techniques they leverage. This potentially unwanted program (PUP) changes Safari, Chrome, Mozilla and other browsers settings on a compromised Mac computer so that the victim is stuck with browser redirects and annoying popups.