CharacterGeneration mac virus (Free Instructions)

What is CharacterGeneration mac virus?

CharacterGeneration mac virus can cause PUP and malware installations

Mac viruses can cause a number of different symptoms

CharacterGeneration belongs to the Adload malware family which means it specifically targets mac users. It has a wide range of capabilities. It can act as adware^[1] and cause an increased amount of commercial content, like pop-ups, banners, and redirects. It may also change the main browser settings, like the homepage, new tab address, and search engine.

Adload viruses are particularly aggressive because they can run scripts in the background and install PUPs (potentially unwanted programs),^[2] and even malware without the users' knowledge. We suggest you follow our guide fully to learn more about the threat.

CharacterGeneration in detail

Most Adload viruses have the same icon – a magnifier inside a green, teal, or grey background, The main file can be found in the “Applications” folder. Most people do not notice the infection until it has already started making changes because it can bypass Apple's own security system. It is best to remove a mac virus as soon as possible to avoid further system damage.

However, removal can be quite complicated as Adload uses various evasion techniques. For example, it can generate multiple other files disguised as normal system files and scatter them across the machine in different folders. It can also detect when someone is trying to eliminate it and rewrite missing files. That is why people should use professional security tools for mac virus removal.

Adload uses evasion tactics to keep people from removing it easily

Distribution methods

Although Flash Player was discontinued and replaced by HTML5 in 2020, some users are still gullible enough to fall for fake prompts that tell them they need to update their Flash Player in order to access content on a website. Adload developers often take advantage of this fact to deliver malicious programs.

Mac adware is also often spread through “cracked” software installed from file-sharing platforms and Torrent pages.^[3] Such platforms are perfect for malware. Even though it might be costly to pay for software licenses, you may save money in the long run by keeping your system running smoothly.

A key element that many people often overlook is making sure their software and operating system are up to date. Hackers will utilize software vulnerabilities as a way to deliver malware, so it's important to install security patches as soon as they are released by the developers.

How to remove Adload?

Manual removal may be a race against time. With launch agents, daemons, and cronjobs, it can sometimes take several attempts to beat all of these before one of them manages to rewrite deleted components back. You should not do this yourself unless you know what you are doing and what kind of files you need to delete.

Some of the files can have a .plist extension, a standard settings file, also known as a “properties file,” used by macOS applications. It contains properties and configuration settings for various programs. The app also uses different persistence techniques and drops many files across the system, complicating browser extension and application removal.

To keep your mind at peace, we recommend using professional anti-malware tools SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes, which can detect unwanted programs and eradicate them. You also do not know if the virus installed any additional malicious programs, so this is the safest way to ensure the system is clean.

If you still want to try and delete it manually, proceed with these steps:

• Open Applications folder
• Select Utilities
• Double-click Activity Monitor
• Here, look for suspicious processes related to adware and use Force Quit command to shut them down
• Go back to the Applications folder
• Find CharacterGeneration in the list and move it to Trash

If you are unable to shut down the related processes or can't move the app to Trash, you should look for malicious profiles and login items:

• Go to Preferences and select Accounts
• Click Login items and delete everything suspicious
• Next, pick System Preferences > Users & Groups
• Find Profiles and remove unwanted profiles from the list

There are likely to be more .plist files hiding in the following locations – delete them all:

• Select Go > Go to Folder.
• Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
• In the Application Support folder, look for any suspicious entries and then delete them.
• Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.

The manual elimination process might not always result in total virus removal. Therefore, we still strongly suggest you perform a scan with security software.

Remove the browser extension

An extension to your browser is also added by CharacterGeneration which starts performing all sorts of unwanted tasks. It possibly collects sensitive data and sends it to tracking servers. Some of the data that could be exposed is – IP address, user name, macOS version, browser versions, computer ID, items in the “Applications” folder, a list of agents, daemons, and system configuration profiles.

It would help if you removed the add-on as soon as possible after the dangerous files are eliminated from your system. You can delete cookies and cache automatically with the help of FortectIntego. It will also fix any damaged files and system errors, so you should notice an improvement in the machine's performance.

If you prefer doing this yourself without additional help, here are the instructions. You will find guides for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox at the bottom of this article:

1. Click Safari > Preferences…
2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
3. Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.

Cookies and website data:

1. Click Safari > Clear History…
2. From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
3. Confirm with Clear History.

The simplest and quickest solution to this is completely resetting Safari:

• Click Safari > Preferences…
• Go to Advanced tab.
• Tick the Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
• From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.