How to remove “Critical Security Warning!” virus

Don’t get fooled by “Critical Security Warning!” pop-ups

“Critical Security Warning!” virus is about to change the misconception about Mac operating system being less vulnerable to malware infections. Indeed, in this day and age, targeting only Windows PCs is not what the malware creators are going to limit themselves to. We can see an increasing number of infections being designed specifically for Mac OS X, Android and even Linux operating systems, successfully infecting them and terrorizing the victims ^[1]. Critical Security Warning! malware only proves this point. Belonging to the category of Tech Support Scams ^[2], this virus is not especially malicious by nature but is sure a twisted one. It all starts with a stealthy system infiltration. Tech Support malware does not travel alone. Thus it needs carrier programs to be able to reach computers. And these programs are mostly deployed on the computers with the help of software bundling technique ^[3]. Bundling is a web marketing technique that involves spreading two or more programs in a single package and, typically, installing them all at the same time. When malware developers exploit this software distribution method, they rebundle these packages and add potentially unwanted programs next to the regular ones. Thus, when carrying “Critical Security Warning!” removal, you should look for unfamiliar components that might have been recently installed or simply scan the computer automatically, using FortectIntego or similar anti-malware software.

As we have already made it clear how “Critical Security Warning!” hijack works, let us now discuss how this virus behaves on the infected system. One of the most obvious things it does is, of course, generating misleading pop-ups ^[4]. In fact, these threatening notifications are usually displayed on malicious sites that the victims are forcefully redirected to. Since it is a Tech Support Scam, the virus tries to an impression that the computer is severely damaged and can only be fixed with the help of certified technicians ^[5]. The scammers press the victims into calling a toll-free number +1-888-225-6662 and contacting certified Apple technicians, who will supposedly help protect your personal files, logins, banking credentials and other sensitive information that is supposedly put at risk by the virus. In reality, you will put yourself at higher risk by calling the indicated number as the scammers may attempt to gain access to your system or sell you questionable software or services. We should point out that the malicious script implemented in these fraudulent sites may even prevent you from closing your browser to enhance the legitimacy of the situation. Nevertheless, you can still terminate the application from the Activity Monitor panel, and all the critical warnings should disappear. Once you do that, you should immediately take steps to remove “Critical Security Warning!” from your computer. To help you with that, we give some useful tips and tricks at the end of the article.

How can you prevent yourself from unknowingly acquiring this virus?

We should remind you that “Critical Security Warning!” PUP mainly spreads bundled inside freeware and shareware packages. This means that to avoid it, you should pay careful attention to what you are downloading and installing on your computer. So, the first thing you can do to prevent the virus from reaching your computer is downloading content only from the trusted web sources. Also, we recommend installing software via Advanced or Custom settings which will reveal the additional installs, and, hopefully, the disguised “Critical Security Warning!” virus. You should opt out the suspicious components manually.

“Critical Security Warning!” removal tips:

Since the scammers spread “Critical Security Warning!” virus under various shapes and titles, it might be quite difficult to locate the malicious program on the computer yourself. Luckily, it is not a problem since there are specialized software that will detect all the malicious files and remove “Critical Security Warning!” PUP automatically. You just need to obtain such a tool and run a full system scan. Of course, we cannot exclude the people who may prefer manual “Critical Security Warning!” removal. A step-by-step guide below this article will explain how to carry out the elimination safely.