Bing hijacking

[fmenard]

I don't post very often, buy I've hit a snag I can't seem to get to the bottom of. I use webmail (in Safari) to preview mail, and now I can't open attachments. When clicking on an attachment to open it (to print it for instance) a new tab is opened with "search Bing or enter an address" in the url address line. The window itself remains blank. This is very recent behavior, and I can't find a reference to it specifically using Google.

Has anyone else encountered this one yet? All the references I find are to a virus infecting Windows based browsers and I don't use Windows in any form, haven't since switching with OS X 10.1.4. On top of that it seems to be in webmail (in this instance hosted by Earthlink) only. It's my first encounter with an OS X infection of any kind.

Ford

 

[fmenard]

maybe not Bing?

Something new to add. I went back to Safari > preferences, and the default search engine had been changed (not by me) to Bing. The problem remains, however, now the url line in the new blank window reads "Search Google or enter an address".

Is there a setting somewhere I've missed or don't know about to alleviate this weirdness?

Ford

 

[fmenard]

the answer

OK, so I can feel totally uninformed. Apparently the latest security update for Mountain Lion, or at least the last I downloaded, changes the behavior of Safari for attachments. I was used to them opening in a new tab, now they go directly to the downloads folder and are accessible there or from an arrow directly to the right of the url line. As far as the hijacking of the default search engine by Bing, who knows. My wife had to use my computer for a few days upon the death of hers, and she's not the most tech savvy person out there. Apparently, neither am I. All is now well.