Skip to main content

How to remove BeAware app virus from Mac

The Mac app called BeAware might pose risk to one’s privacy, so it comes as no surprise that its proliferation is backed by a shady bundling scheme.

Update: December 2019

Threat Profile
Name BeAware (BeeAware) adware
Category Mac adware, popup virus, potentially unwanted app
Related Domains srchbar.com
Symptoms Displays bogus software update warnings, redirects web browser to third-party websites, adds sponsored content to web pages, causes system slowdown
Distribution Techniques Booby-trapped app bundles, fake Adobe Flash Player update popups
Severity Level Medium
Damage Unwanted changes of custom browsing settings, privacy issues due to Internet activity tracking, search redirects, redundant ads
Removal Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner to detect all files related to the browser hijacker. Use the tool to remove the infection if found.

It’s such a nuisance when uninvited and unannounced software suddenly appears on a computer and starts displaying fishy content. For instance, most people know how irritating adware popups can get. The BeAware app by SecureTee is like that, but only partially. It makes its way into a Mac furtively, but rather than annoy the victim it silently runs in the background and performs some kind of surveillance. One more thing on the minus side of this applet is that it siphons off quite a bit of the host Mac’s CPU power, slowing it down to a crawl at times. This is strange, given that the application only takes up about 750 KB disk space, and an object as lightweight as that shouldn’t be a memory hog. Such a discrepancy might be a telltale sign of malware activity aimed at concealing the misdemeanors from the victim. So, is this one clearly malicious or is it just another junkware that sits there and doesn’t do anything particularly harmful?

Details of the potentially unwanted BeAware app by SecureTee

With all of the above adverse effects in place, the only way most people realize the BeAware virus is on board their computer is by looking in the Launchpad and discovering the entity there. While these users are at their wit’s end trying to recall the installation, these mental efforts are futile because BeAware sneaks inside without proper notification. The infiltration is most likely to take place according to a bundling logic. It means that the would-be victim unwittingly ‘catches the digital cold’ while installing something ostensibly unrelated. It can be a free media player or the latest version of widespread software, such as a booby-trapped Flash Player update hosted on dodgy websites. This tricky scenario presupposes that the legit application is accompanied by a potentially unwanted item like BeAware.

Like it has been mentioned, the culprit in question doesn’t manifest itself too conspicuously when running on an Apple Mac computer. There are hardly any red flags except occasional spikes in memory usage some people might overlook. Furthermore, only security-savvy users will take notice of the pest in the Launchpad. This stealth, to a certain extent, is a derivative of the goal pursued by BeAware virus. It harvests various sorts of information, including system details, IP address, location details, browsing history, and online forms being filled out. When in possession of the wrong individuals, this data can be an instrument for conducting spear phishing attacks and identity theft. Another drag related to this app is that every time the infected user tries to uninstall it by regular means, they get a dialog message saying, “BeAware cannot be deleted because it’s in use”. While this seems like a big obstacle to eradicating the culprit, there is a workaround that makes this process smooth. Keep reading to learn what it is.

Noxious update popup recommendation by BeeAware app

It’s worth mentioning that lots of Mac users are having a hard time dealing with BeeAware (note the double “e”), a similar-named PUA (potentially unwanted application) that acts much more aggressively. It’s hard to say whether the origins of these two programs overlap in any way other than the nearly identical denominations, but the victims often associate them with one another. BeeAware is a classic adware application that messes around with one’s browsing experience in several ways. First off, it displays sponsored content labeled “Ads by BeeAware” on websites where none of such advertising materials belong.

Secondly, it adds a malicious extension called “Search Manager” to the user’s preferred browser, thereby redirecting Internet sessions to unwanted sites such as srchbar.com. The unsolicited landing page, in turn, forwards the traffic to Yahoo Search. The sketchy app may additionally install a trojanized version of the Chromium browser with hard-coded rogue settings and make it the default one so that the user is stuck with the redirect loop. And thirdly, BeeAware virus triggers annoying Software Update alerts that say a new version of the app is available and instruct the victim to download it. Meanwhile, there can be other threats lurking behind the OK button on these dialogs. Ignoring these symptoms isn’t a good idea because the attack will likely get worse unless the source of the problem is eradicated.

BeAware virus manual removal for Mac

The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this potentially unwanted application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.

  1. Open up the Utilities folder as shown below

    Open up the Utilities

  2. Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it

    Locate the Activity Monitor

  3. Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for BeAware, select it and click Quit Process
  4. A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the BeAware executable. Select the Force Quit option
  5. Expand the Go menu in Apple Finder and select Go to Folder
  6. Type or paste the following string in the folder search dialog: /Library/LaunchAgents

    Go to the LaunchAgents folder

  7. Once the LaunchAgents directory directory opens up, find the following entry in it and move it to the Trash:
    • com.BeAware.plist
    • com.updater.mcy.plist
    • com.updater.watch.mcy.plist
  8. Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/LaunchAgents. When this path opens, look for the same entry (see above) and send it to the Trash
  9. - Similarly, go to the ~Library/Application Support folder. Locate and move the following entry to the Trash:
    • BeAware
    • runChmm
  10. Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the securetee.BeAware entry on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, go ahead and enter it

    Malicious app icon under Applications

  11. Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option

    Pick the System Preferences

  12. Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. The system will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate BeAware there and click on the “-“ button

    Malicious entry under Login Items

Use automatic tool to uninstall BeAware virus from your Mac

The Mac maintenance and security app called Combo Cleaner is a one-stop tool to detect and remove BeAware virus. This technique has substantial benefits over manual cleanup, because the utility gets hourly virus definition updates and can accurately spot even the newest Mac infections.

Furthermore, the automatic solution will find the core files of the malware deep down the system structure, which might otherwise be a challenge to locate. Here’s a walkthrough to sort out the BeAware issue using Combo Cleaner:

  1. Download Combo Cleaner installer. When done, double-click the combocleaner.dmg file and follow the prompts to install the tool onto your Mac.

    Download Combo Cleaner

    By downloading any applications recommended on this website you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The free scanner checks whether your Mac is infected. To get rid of malware, you need to purchase the Premium version of Combo Cleaner.

  2. Open the app from your Launchpad and let it run an update of the malware signature database to make sure it can identify the latest threats.
  3. Click the Start Combo Scan button to check your Mac for malicious activity as well as performance issues.

    Combo Cleaner Mac scan progress

  4. Examine the scan results. If the report says “No Threats”, then you are on the right track with the manual cleaning and can safely proceed to tidy up the web browser that may continue to act up due to the after-effects of the malware attack (see instructions above).

    Combo Cleaner scan report – no threats found

  5. In case Combo Cleaner has detected malicious code, click the Remove Selected Items button and have the utility remove BeAware threat along with any other viruses, PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), or junk files that don’t belong on your Mac.

    Combo Cleaner – threats found

  6. Once you have made doubly sure that the malicious app is uninstalled, the browser-level troubleshooting might still be on your to-do list. If your preferred browser is affected, resort to the previous section of this tutorial to revert to hassle-free web surfing.

FAQ

25

Was this article helpful? Please, rate this.

There are no comments yet.
Authentication required

You must log in to post a comment.

Log in