Hitman pro is one of the best free adware removal software in the market. It is a powerful and top-grade malware cleaner. It not only removes the virus, malware, adware, Trojan, etc. From your computer; but also completely removes all of its leftovers, and eradicates all its traces from your computer.
To provide the best online shopping experience is the amazing offer presented by MyCouponsmart adware. It asserts that it will help users to get discounts coupons, deals, and other promotional items available online.
MyCouponsmart may sound like helpful application and appears valuable by simply looking as to how it was marketed. This program can be downloaded from its official web site. It affirms that it will help users to have the best online shopping experience by alerting you about discount coupons, deals, savings, and other promotional items from online stores.
Despite of wonderful features presented, computer security firm classified it as potentially unwanted program (PUP). MyCouponsmart uses a number of tactful methods to enter into Macintosh system. This vicious code often hides along with third-party software. Thus, Mac user commonly acquire this unlikely program even without intention of installing it.
Once completely installed on the computer, it may change your browser’s home page and default search engine. Adware program like MyCouponsmart is capable of releasing coupons, pop-ups, and sponsored links on web page you visit. We have to remind you that clicking on ads or links presented by this nasty program may lead your browser to other dubious web site, or might trigger harmful items to download and install on your Mac.
To sum up, MyCouponsmart is an adware that main purpose is to gain advertising revenue. It bears some behaviors and executes functions that may place your computer and online privacy at risk. Thus, if you got this adware program by chance, you must remove it right away.
To get rid of MyCouponsmart and other unknown or suspicious files installed on your machine, you may use steps included on this page.
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MyCouponsmart Removal Procedures
The following instructions will guide you to get rid of MyCouponsmart. We highly advise that you fully execute the given procedure to completely remove the unwanted program from your Mac system.Fast and Easy Removal with Combo Cleaner
To quickly find and delete potentially unwanted program from Mac system, we highly recommend scanning the computer with Combo Cleaner. This comprehensive and complete tool for Mac is equipped with an advanced virus, malware, and adware scan engines.
1Download Combo Cleaner from the link below.
2Double-click on the file to install the program. As show in the image below, drag the Combo Cleaner.app to Applications folder.
3 Open Launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon to run the tool.
4Click on Start Combo Scan button to begin checking the computer for malicious objects.
Free virus scanner of Combo Cleaner checks and detects various kinds of threats. To remove them from the infected computer, you will have to purchase the full version of Combo Cleaner.
Manual Removal and Additional Scan
Step 1 : Manually delete all files dropped by the unwanted program.
1 Navigate the Apple Menu bar and click on 'Go'. Then, select 'Go to Folder'.
2 Copy and paste, or type the following line in the field and press Enter on your keyboard:
/Library/LaunchAgents
3 LaunchAgents folder should open at this point. Look for items with the following file name:
- MyCouponsmart.update.plist
- MyCouponsmart.AppRemoval.plist
- MyCouponsmart.ltvbit.plist
- .comMyCouponsmart.agent.plist
4 Move each file to the Trash. This action may require administrator privilege. If you are not logged in as administrator, you need to provide required password.
5 Go to a different folder again using procedure from Step 1 and copy and paste or type the following line:
~/Library/LaunchAgents
6 Do the same process as in Step 3 and move each file to the Trash.
7 Next, we need to look at Application Support folder. Using the same method as above. Go to this location:
~/Library/Application Support
8 Find the same files as in Step 3 and drag them to the Trash.
9 Go back to Apple Menu, click Go, and then select Applications from the drop-down list.
10Delete the following folders just in case they do exist.
- My Coupon Smart, Genieo, or any susppicious entries.
Step 2 : Delete MyCouponsmart from internet browser
Choose affected browser program from the following tabs to see specific guide in removing the threat. If in case browser hijacker name is not listed as extension, please look for suspicious objects or any unwanted programs.
Safari
Procedures to Remove MyCouponsmart from Safari
Disable or Remove Relevant Browser Extension
1 Open Safari browser.
2 Go to Safari menu.
3 Choose 'Preferences'.
4 This will open the Safari settings dialog box.
5 Please select 'Extensions' tab to see list of installed extensions.
6 Select MyCouponsmart from the list. If not found, it may be hiding under a different name. Look for unknown or suspicious item.
7 Turn off the extension by removing the Check Mark on the box beside 'Enable MyCouponsmart extension' or similar entry. You can also Uninstall the extension if you need to permanently remove it from the computer.
Reset Safari Homepage and Search Engine
8 Click on General tab, and then look for Homepage section.
9 Replace MyCouponsmart with your preferred default Homepage.
10 On the same Tab, go to Default Search Engine section.
11 Replace the current entry with you preferred search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo).
12 Please close Safari browser at the moment and proceed to the next steps.
Google Chrome
Steps to Remove MyCouponsmart from Google Chrome
1 Open Google Chrome.
2 In the address bar, type the following and press Enter on keyboard: chrome://extensions
3 You will now see Google Chrome's Extensions window.
4 Usually, Google Chrome has empty Extension, unless you have installed other base on your preferences. Also on this area, you can find the item provided by MyCouponsmart. Click on Trash Icon beside the adware extension to remove it from Google Chrome.
Restore Google Chrome's Home Page
5 Next, you need to reset the default home page of Google Chrome and remove MyCouponsmart tab during start-up. To do this, click on Settings on left side panel.
6 Go to the area 'On startup' and select 'Open a specific page or set of pages'. Click on Set pages link to open Startup Pages window.
7 To remove MyCouponsmart from the list, simply hover your mouse to the web address and click X on right most of the entry.
8 Type your desired home page address on the field 'Enter Url...' and press Enter on your keyboard. Since this is the only URL on your Startup Page, it will be set as your default home page.
9 Click OK to save the settings. Remain on Settings page.
Restore Google Chrome's Default Search Engine
10 Scroll down to Search area.
11 Click on Manage Search Engines... button. New window will open with list of installed search engines.
12 Hover your cursor to preferred search engine and click on Make Default.
13 Select unwanted search engine that is relevant to MyCouponsmart and click on X mark to delete this item.
14 Click Done after removing all suspicious items. You may now restart Google Chrome.
Mozilla Firefox
Directions to Remove MyCouponsmart from Mozilla Firefox
1 Launch Mozilla Firefox
2 Type the given command in the address bar and press Enter on keyboard: about:addons
3 Click Extensions on left panel. This will show a list of installed extensions.
4 Find the MyCouponsmart extension. If it does not exist, find related items such as mentioned above. Click the Remove button to uninstall it.
5 Close the Add-ons Manager tab.
Restore Mozilla Firefox's Home Page
6 Back on Mozilla Firefox main page, type the given command in the address bar and press Enter on keyboard: about:preferences
7 To remove MyCouponsmart from your home page, replace it by selecting General in the sidebar.
8 Under Startup section, make sure that 'When my Firefox starts' is set to 'Show my home page'.
9 Then, on Home Page field, type your desired home page URL. You can also click on 'Restore to Default' button to set Firefox Start Page as your home page.
Restore Mozilla Firefox's Default Search Engine
10 Click Search on the sidebar. Under Search window, set your Default Search Engine option to valid one.
11 On the same window, go to the lists of search engines. Select unwanted entry and click on Remove button to get rid of MyCouponsmart search engine.
Advanced Settings
12 Back on Mozilla Firefox main page, type this command in the address bar and press Enter on your keyboard: about:config
Best Adware Removal Tool
13 Firefox will display a warning stating 'This might void your warranty!' Please click on 'I'll be careful, I promise!' button.
14 In the search box, type the name of search hijacker. This will show a list of Preference that was modified by MyCouponsmart.
15Right-click on suspicious Preference Name, and then, select Reset from drop-down list to restore the original setting. Repeat this process to all affected entries.
16 You may now close the window and restart Mozilla Firefox.
Step 3 : Scan with MBAM to easily get rid of MyCouponsmart
1Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac from the link below.
2 Drag the downloaded file MBAM-Mac-[version].dmg to Applications folder.
3 Under Applications folder, right-click on Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and select 'Open' from the given choices.
4 After opening the tool, click on the 'Scan' button to start checking the computer for presence of MyCouponsmart and other malware.
5 When scanning is done, the tool will display all identified threats. Be sure to select malicious items.
6 Click on 'Remove Selected Items' to delete the threats.
We hope that the procedures and removal tool on this page was able to help you in removing MyCouponsmart. Your computer should now be malware free.A highly popular top-tier app in Apple's Mac App Store that's designed to protect its users from adware and malware threats has been, ironically, found surreptitiously stealing their browsing history without their consent, and sending it to a server in China.
What's more concerning? Even after Apple was warned a month ago, the company did not take any action against the app.
The app in question is 'Adware Doctor,' the Mac App Store No. 1 paid utility and also ranked as the fourth most popular paid app on the store, which sells for $4.99 and markets itself to be the 'best app' to prevent 'malware and malicious files from infecting your Mac.'
However, a security researcher with the @privacyis1st Twitter handle detected Adware Doctor's suspicious spyware-like behavior almost a month ago and also uploaded a proof-of-concept video demonstration of how the user's browser history is exfiltrated.
The researcher informed Apple about the Adware Doctor's suspicious activity during that time, but the app, from a developer named 'Yongming Zhang,' remained available in the Mac App Store.
Adware Doctor Sends Stolen User Data to Chinese Servers
The researcher then investigated Adware Doctor with ex-NSA staffer Patrick Wardle, who deep dive into the app and today published a blog post, saying that the app sidesteps Apple's sandbox and covertly collects users' browser histories and then transfers it to a server in China—which is blatant violations of Apple's developer guidelines.
According to Wardle, Adware Doctor collects sensitive users' data—primarily any website you've visited or searched for—from all the popular web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, and then sends that data to Chinese server at http://yelabapp.com/ run by the app's makers.
To do this, Adware Doctor bypasses Apple Mac App Store sandbox restrictions to be able to access, copy and upload user files from the Mac computer it is installed on.
'Now, an anti-malware or anti-adware tool is going to need legitimate access to user's files and directories—for example, to scan them for malicious code,' Wardle explains.According to the technical process outlined in Wardle's post, Adware Doctor escapes Apple's app sandbox and calls processes tied to popular web browsers including Safari, Chrome and Firefox, and then compresses history data into a ZIP archive, which is then uploaded to the server via a call to the sendPostRequestWithSuffix method for exfiltration.
'However, once the user has clicked Allow since Adware Doctor requested permission to the user's home directory, it will have carte blanche access to all the user's files. So yes will be able to detect and clean adware, but also collect and exfiltrate any user file, it so chooses!'
What's more? Adware Doctor originally was named 'Adware Medic,' which was clearly designed to mimic a different AdwareMedic app acquired and rebranded by MalwareBytes in 2015, Thomas Reed of MalwareBytes noted.
The app was removed from the store two years ago after MalwareBytes complained, and then it reappeared under Adware Doctor and becomes the Mac Store top paid utility—thanks to fake reviews.
Apple Ignored Researcher's Report For 1 Month
Since the app has been violating numerous App Store Rules and Guidelines by collecting users' data without their consent and bypassing Apple's sandboxing protections, Wardle contacted Apple weeks ago about the issue, but the company did nothing about it.
However, after Wardle's blog post picked up by several media outlets, Apple finally removed Adware Doctor from the Mac App Store, along with the developer's other app 'AdBlock Master.'
Also, the Chinese server collecting the data from Adware Doctor users is currently offline, possibly because of the media attention the app has received.
Users who have already downloaded Adware Doctor are strongly advised to remove the app from their systems as soon as possible.