Effective Vision Mac (virus) - Free Instructions

What is Effective Vision Mac?

Effective Vision can infiltrate Mac machines without being detected by Apple's security system

Effective Vision Mac virus generates revenue by placing ads

Effective Vision is a mac virus that belongs to the Adload malware^[1] family. It has adware^[2] and hijacker characteristics which means it can generate ads, like pop-ups, banners, redirects, and change the main browser settings, like the homepage, new tab address, and search engine. This raises many user privacy and security concerns.

Adware developed to target mac machines is much more aggressive than adware for Windows. It uses various persistence techniques to avoid being detected. Adload developers have also found a way to bypass Apple's security system XProtect.^[3]

The most concerning thing about this mac virus is the fact that it can automatically open malicious links while users are surfing the web and initiate PUP (potentially unwanted program), and malware installations without their knowledge. The malicious program can also find out the administrator passwords and damage the operating system.

Because users notice the intruder once it starts messing up the machine, it is very difficult to remove. Users can find the program in their Applications folder. Most often Adload viruses have the same icon – a magnifying glass inside a green, teal, or grey background. You can read our full guide to find out how mac viruses are distributed on the Internet to prevent an infection in the future. We will also discuss the tools that are used for mac adware removal and how to eliminate it manually.

Distribution methods

Although it is unknown how Effective Vision specifically is distributed online, there are general methods that Adload developers use to spread the malicious program. The most common infection method is fake Flash Player updates and installers. This happens when users get redirected to a page that says that their Flash Player is out-of-date and they cannot view the content on the site.

Flash Player was discontinued in 2020 and replaced by HTML5, so if you stumble upon a site that urges you to install it, it is definitely fake and you should not interact with that page.

Effective Vision adware infiltrates Macs through fake Flash Player installers

Another common method used for mac adware distribution is torrent and freeware distribution platforms. “Cracked” software^[4] is especially unreliable when it comes to security. Because such platforms are unregulated, there is no one overseeing if the files listed on them are safe to download. They have become breeding grounds for different types of malware.

Because many Mac users think they cannot get infected, they do not shy away from dangerous pages and act carelessly. However, that is not true for a long time now and Adload developers are perfecting their malicious programs every day. Even though it can get costly, we recommend using only official web stores and developer websites to install the software.

Applications that get listed on the app stores go through a lengthy review process so they are much safer to install. You can also follow certain steps when you are installing software to avoid PUPs sneaking into your system.

Always choose the “Custom” or “Advanced” installation method so nothing would be hidden from you. Read the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to find out what the app will be able to perform on your machine and what data it will collect. Files that seem unrelated to the app you want should be unchecked.

Eliminate Effective Vision

Some of the files can have a .plist extension which is a normal settings' file, also known as a “properties file,” used by macOS applications. It contains properties and configuration settings for various programs, so you should not do this yourself unless you know what you are doing and what kind of .plist files you need to delete. The app uses various persistence techniques and drops many files across the system, which makes browser extension and application removal difficult.

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 method to ensure the system will be 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 EffectiveVision 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 dubious 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 full virus removal. Therefore, we still strongly suggest you perform a scan with security software.

Fix messed up browser settings

It is possible that Effective Vision also collects browsing-related and sensitive information. Various scripts might be sending data to tracking servers. Some of the data that could be exposed is your IP address, user name, macOS and browsers' versions, an ID of the computer, items in the Applications folder, a list of installed agents, daemons, and system configuration profiles.

EffectiveVision Mac adware also employs an unwelcome add-on that messes with the settings. After the dangerous files are eliminated from your system, you should take care of your browsers. You can get rid of 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. Steps for other browsers you will find 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 menu bar.
• From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.