Searchmagnified trojan on Snow Leopard, how to get rid of it?

[MythicFrost]

Hey,

My dad's got some searchmagnified trojan on his Mac, on Snow Leopard. He says he's seen sites redirecting, and stuff, and it keeps popping up.

Anyone know how to get rid of it? And anyone know what it's capable of? It's not any kind of key logger or anything, right?

 

[GGJstudios]

My dad's got some searchmagnified trojan on his Mac, on Snow Leopard. He says he's seen sites redirecting, and stuff, and it keeps popping up.

He doesn't have a trojan. His DNS settings need to be changed. Have him reset his browser(s), clearing cookies and cache, and also reset his router. Then make sure he's using safe DNS servers in both his Mac and his router, referencing this post: Why am I being redirected to other sites?

Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. You cannot infect your Mac simply by visiting a website, unzipping a file, opening an email attachment or joining a network. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which cannot infect your Mac unless you actively install them, and they can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​

 

[MythicFrost]

He doesn't have a trojan. His DNS settings need to be changed. Have him reset his browser(s), clearing cookies and cache, and also reset his router. Then make sure he's using safe DNS servers in both his Mac and his router, referencing this post: Why am I being redirected to other sites?

Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. You cannot infect your Mac simply by visiting a website, unzipping a file, opening an email attachment or joining a network. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which cannot infect your Mac unless you actively install them, and they can be easily avoided with some basic education, common sense and care in what software you install. Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.

Mac Virus/Malware FAQ​

Oh good, thanks for your help. We all use the same router, but I'm not exactly sure what a DNS server is, and what a safe one would be.

I'll reset the browser, but how would I go about reseting the router? We've got a Motorola Gateway which is handling NAT/DHCP, and an AEBS acting as a bridge, and we join the AEBS' network.

 

[GGJstudios]

Oh good, thanks for your help. We all use the same router, but I'm not exactly sure what a DNS server is, and what a safe one would be.

Read the first link I posted. That gives you all the info you need.

 

[MythicFrost]

Read the first link I posted. That gives you all the info you need.

I see, I'm reading it right now. Is it possible that resetting the browser info such as the cache, and cookies, will be all I need to do? We've got three Macs on the same network (and I assume using the same DNS settings) and it's dads that's only the affected machine.

 

[GGJstudios]

I see, I'm reading it right now. Is it possible that resetting the browser info such as the cache, and cookies, will be all I need to do? We've got three Macs on the same network (and I assume using the same DNS settings) and it's dads that's only the affected machine.

Sure, you can try resetting the browser first and see if that clears up the problem. If not, proceed with the DNS settings. I wouldn't assume the DNS settings are the same on all devices. It's very likely they're not.

 

[MythicFrost]

Sure, you can try resetting the browser first and see if that clears up the problem. If not, proceed with the DNS settings. I wouldn't assume the DNS settings are the same on all devices. It's very likely they're not.

Thanks again, resetting Safari (cache, cookies, etc.) worked and he's not seen it since!

Cheers