Genieo Innovation is an Israeli company, specializing in unwanted software which includes advertising and user tracking software, commonly referred to as a potentially unwanted program, adware, privacy-invasive software, grayware, or malware. They are best known for Genieo, an application of this type.They also own and operate InstallMac which distributes additional 'optional' search modifying.
16 Dec How to Remove Genieo
What is Genieo?
Genieo (known also as InstallMac) is probably one of the most prevalent adware programs in recent years. It was introduced by a well-known Israeli company who distributed it on the web.
Genieo is a “content recommendation engine,” which is installed on a local system to allow custom searches and targeted advertising to be presented on a homepage, managed through a browser extension. In essence, it tracks what you do and guides your searches and activity to relevant commercial sites and deals.
Genieo Homepage
This is somewhat similar to home pages like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Facebook that offer their own recommendations, offers, ads, and other details based on your internet activity; however, while these do so from you logging into an online account, Genieo does so from being installed on your computer.
The Genieo engine and installer are openly available at the Genieo Website, and while the intention behind Genieo may have started as a legitimate effort, the engine has been used in a number of ways and has a couple of behaviors associated with it that have been suspicious:
- Genieo has been found in fake Flash Player installers and other disguised packages, which is a tell-tale sign of malicious distribution of the software.
- Genieo has not been easy to remove. While the program comes with an uninstaller, using this has proven to be ineffective for clearing the system of installed files.
- Genieo uses unconventional modifications to the operating system to tag its services onto existing applications.
One of the major problems that Genieo faces, is it promises developers a distribution and monetization platform through its sister effort called “InstallMac.” While intended to be somewhat like the Mac App Store in ways, any developer can package their software with InstallMac and get paid for each installation. Therefore, simply by downloading and installing a relatively unknown and un-vetted application, you could have installed the Genieo framework, plug-ins, and applications on your Mac.
Automatic Genieo Removal?
Scan your computer with Macware Adware Cleaner for Mac. Adware Cleaner will free your computer from annoying adware, malicious hijacker programs and unwanted toolbars.
How to manually remove Genieo?
1. On the Apple menu bar, in the top-right corner, click the Genieo icon and then select Quit.
2. From the dock, launch Finder.
3. In the top-right corner of the Finder window, in the search box / spotlight search, type launchd.conf and press return.
4. To modify the search criteria and look for Genieo files in system files, click the Add (+) icon.
5. From the toolbar that appears under Search: This Mac, click Kind and then from the drop-down menu, select Other.
6. In the Select a search attribute dialog box, scroll-down and check the box next to System files, and then click OK.
7. When the search criteria is set to System files, from the drop-down menu, select are included.
Search results are modified and system files with the keyword being searched is displayed.
8. Select launchd.conf from the search results, and move it to Trash.
9. On the Apple menu bar, click Go and then select Go to Folder.
Where “.app”, “.plist”, and “.dylib” are all system files for Genieo. Move all the listed files to trash and then empty the Trash.
10. Remove the Omnibar extension from your browser. Detailed instructions can be found here.
11. Restart your computer.
Malware that downloads itself to your Mac and changes your browser settings to intercept search queries and steal data has become increasingly common in recent years. Genieo is slightly different in that it was created by a large company and distributed by one of the most well-known software download sites on the internet.
Everything you need to know about Genieo malware
Genieo is not a virus or a worm, but is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and is listed in Apple’s XProtect anti-malware services as malware. It was discovered originally in 2013 when users reported that an installer was distributed by Softonic, a hugely popular software download site. Like so much malware, the installer pretended to be an essential update to Adobe Flash Player. And once downloaded, it attempted to download itself without further user interaction.
Did you know?
macOS now has a tool called GateKeeper that prevents any app that hasn’t come from the App Store or the website of a trusted developer from being installed on your Mac, unless you override it and give specific permission. That prevents malicious software from installing itself without your express permission.
Genieo was also found to be masquerading as a video codec. When users downloaded and installed the codec, in order to watch different types of video on their Mac, they also installed Genieo.
Once installed, Genieo intercepted searches made using Bing and Google, stealing user data and displaying intrusive adware. Later versions of Genieo were also found to have gained access to macOS’ Keychain by faking a click on the dialog box that appears, asking for user permission, when an app tries to access keychain data. Access to the keychain allows apps to grab user data like usernames, passwords, and credit card details.
To avoid installing Genieo, don’t download software from Softonic, ignore any warnings you see on pop-up windows or tabs that tell you need to update Flash Player, and be careful about the websites you visit.
How to get remove Genieo on your Mac
If you’ve already installed Genieo, there are a couple of ways to get rid of it.
Get rid of Genieo the manual way
1. Update your Mac to the latest version of macOS and restart it.
2. Go to your Applications folder and look for any apps you didn’t expect to see or didn’t deliberately install and uninstall them.
3. Launch Safari, click on the Safari menu and choose Preferences.
4. Click the Extensions tab and look for any extensions you didn’t intend to install, and click uninstall to remove them.
5. Go to the General tab and check your homepage and default search engine are the ones you set. If not, reset them.
If you use Chrome or Firefox, you should take similar steps to check extensions and settings in those browsers.
Chrome
- Type “chrome://extensions” to check extensions and remove any you don’t want.
- Type “chrome://settings” to check your homepage and default search engine.
Firefox
1. Click on the three lines at the right of the address bar.
2. Choose Add-ons and then Extensions to check and remove extensions.
3. Choose Options to check your homepage and default search engine.
How to remove Genieo the easy way
Some antiviruses for Mac are trained to exterminate Genieo virus. One of them is CleanMyMac X by MacPaw that has a built-in malware removal tool that recognizes Genieo, along with lots of other 'backdoor' malware. There are pretty good chances you will remove the virus in less than 10 minutes.
- Get a free edition CleanMyMac X — a link to a free version
- Launch it and choose the Malware Removal tool.
- Press Scan.
- When it’s finished scanning and identified the malware, press Remove to get rid of it.
That’s it! See how easy it is. Lots of Mac users have found CleanMyMac X to be an excellent and easy way to get rid of malware.
Download Genieo Software For Mac Windows 10
Tip: As an extra security measure, use Uninstaller in the same app. It builds a list of all your apps, including the stealth software that doesn't get shown in Applications. Here is how it looks:
Download Genieo Software For Mac Download
Genieo is a PUP that disguises itself as an essential update to Adobe Flash or as a video codec for macOS. Once installed, it intercepts searches, displays intrusive adware, and may steal data. To avoid downloading it, never click on a pop up that claims your Flash Player needs to be updated. If you’ve already downloaded it, you can get rid of it quickly and easily using CleanMyMac X, which can also identify and remove lots of other Mac malware.