Apple: AdwareMedic - Adware Removal Tool

AdwareMedic removes all known adware from your Mac. It is very simple to use, and should clean up your system in less than a minute, from start to finish. Just open the app, click the Scan for Adware button, and remove anything that is detected. That's it!

If AdwareMedic doesn’t solve your problem, it includes the ability to take a system snapshot that can help find possible sources for the problem. This both helps you get rid of the adware and helps others by improving the app!

AdwareMedic will not install anything on your system. When it is opened, it will connect to adwaremedic.com to check for and/or download the latest adware "signatures" (a small text file that tells AdwareMedic how to identify adware components).

AdwareMedic requires a Mac running Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or later.

Although AdwareMedic functions somewhat like anti-virus software, it’s important to understand that it is not anti-virus software! It does not remove any real malware – only adware. If you think you may be infected with actual malware, be aware that there is nothing that can reliably remove all malware.

It is also important to understand that AdwareMedic does not protect you against adware. AdwareMedic simply removes adware. Using AdwareMedic will not prevent you from being "infected" with adware again in the future. For that matter, neither will using anti-virus software; only a change in your online habits can keep you safe.


>> What is adware?
Adware is unwanted software that uses sneaky and dishonest methods to get installed on your computer, and then changes the behavior of your web browser. Once installed, it does things like injecting advertisements into web pages, causing pop-up windows or tabs to open to advertising sites, and changing your home page and/or search engine.

Although adware sounds like malware, there is a crucial difference: adware on the Mac has never been documented to involve keylogging, back doors or any other such malicious activities... just unwanted advertising. As such, most anti-virus software doesn't bother to detect most adware, and if it does, it doesn't do a very comprehensive job of detecting it. This is where AdwareMedic comes in - it detects the adware that anti-virus software doesn't.


>> Where did it come from?
The short answer: from an installer for some app you were tricked into downloading from an unsavory site. This may be a site like Download.com or Softonic, or a site offering streaming of "free" videos, or from a piracy site or torrent, or something else similar.