So I was helping a friend’s Mac and I came across this issue where his proxy will always default to a proxy. The issue with the proxy is that once it’s on it the internet won’t work. So I would turn it off, but after a restart it’ll automatically turn back on. I went ahead and researched for possible ways to fix the issues. I discovered the main cause of this was either Malware, Trojans, Adaware, Spyware that would change the proxy settings. One way of removing it was removing LaunchDaemons. Sadly, I was not familiar with what LaunchDaemons to keep or remove so I downloaded MalwareBytes. I ran a scan and the following threats came up:
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.GlobalQuestSearchDaemon.plist
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.GlobalQuestSearchP.plist
- /Users/ps/Library/Application Support/com.GlobalQuestSearch
- /Users/ps/Library/LaunchAgents/com.GlobalQuestSearch.plist
- /var/root/.GlobalQuestSearch
- /var/root/.mitmproxy
I went ahead and removed it, restarted the computer and viola! Issue was gone. I was surprised that MalwareBytes was effective on a Mac. Why was I surprised? When I was researching this issue I was also researching to see if MalwareBytes was recommended to combat this solution other users commented that any anti-virus or ant-malware solutions are pointless:
Don’t use any kind of “anti-virus” or “anti-malware” product on a Mac. There is never a need for it, and relying on it for protection makes you more vulnerable to attack, not less.Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for a more recent discussion, or start a new one.
Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7412100
And…
Anti-virus software definitely can do more harm than good. Seriously, just remove it all. There are many 20-year veterans here who have never, ever had AV software on their Macs. Just remove it.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/asued4/antivirus_software_doing_more_harm_than_good/
Despite the naysayers the MalwareBytes came through in the end to help solve this issue and improve my friends situation. Luckily MalwareBytes is free for home use and you can use the free version to solve this problem here’s the link for the Mac download:
