ActionHow Mac Malware - How to remove

ActionHow is the name of an application that can inject ads to your browser, spy on your browsing habits, and control which sites you go to. ActionHow was probably downloaded with a fake software update. You should remove it from your computer as soon as possible. The problem is that ActionHow can be really annoying to get rid of.

ActionHow is Mac malware that affects your internet connection:

Type of threat	Adware, trojan, browser hijacker.
How ActionHow infects computers	Via malicious ads, downloaded with fake software updates.
Dangers of the infection	Malfunctioning internet connection, crashing applications, stolen browsing habits and other private data, malicious pop-ups and redirect ads.
Remove ActionHow	Uninstall related startup files, reset proxy settings, remove other malware (using Combo Cleaner or another anti-malware program).

Symptoms

Mostly, ActionHow shows up on people’s computers unexpectedly. That’s because it gets downloaded with a trojan, often – a fake Mac OS update or a fake media player update. So, people who get infected with this type of malware have a hard time figuring out the culprit. These malicious ads that try to get you to download a trojan – they show up on pirating and illegal streaming sites, mostly. They download adware bundles, which is how ActionHow probably made it to your Mac.

ActionHow gets attached to your main browser, usually Safari. If you try to remove it, the app comes back with the next login, often with a different name. If you try to open it, nothing happens.

ActionHow affects each victim differently, so I’ll describe the most extreme cases.

Some users see all or some of their applications lose their internet connection because ActionHow keeps setting up a Socks proxy that reroutes their traffic. This allows fraudsters to mess with their browsing by injecting ads and redirecting their links, as well as to spy on them. Resetting this setting only lasts until the next login. It’s possible to make using the proxy server require a password, but that’s hardly a solution.

With ActionHow, some users see pop-ups telling them about installations of unknown apps. And sometimes their mouse cursors get hijacked in an attempt to get them to agree or accept stuff. People also used to report their browser crashing after opening a few new tabs.

So, at worst, ActionHow can make it almost impossible to use your Mac.

Dangers of ActionHow

ActionHow can inject ads into the infected browser, and you can bet those ads will be full of malware, scams, and fraud. It’s what makes money for the creators of this adware: showing ads that normal sites and ad companies reject because they’re too dangerous or harmful.

If you open the infected browser and navigate to extensions, you should see all the permissions granted to ActionHow. These include the ability to read your data on all sites. And this data includes your passwords – they are normally encrypted before being sent out, but as ActionHow is a browser extension on your computer, it can access that data as you type it.

If this data is misused, you could see your accounts being hacked and being used to buy stuff without your authorization. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. But I don’t know, so it’s better to be careful and change your passwords after you get rid of ActionHow.

Even if you don’t use the browser affected by ActionHow, it will continue to mess with your internet connection, wasting your time, interrupting your work, and spying on you.

How to remove ActionHow

The reason that ActionHow comes back after being removed is that it leaves some of its files in these folders:

• ~/Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchAgents,
• ~/Library/Application Support and /Library/Application Support,
• /Library/LaunchDaemons.

Malicious scripts keep reinstalling ActionHow (sometimes with a different name) after it’s gone from your computer. Force close ActionHow and the infected browser with the Command+Option+Escape keyboard shortcut. Then go to these folders with Finder’s Go to Folder dialog that you can open wit the Command+Shift+G shortcut. Look for files named after ActionHow and other browser hijackers, such as DiscoveryEngine, ReachChoice, FocusProvide, and others.

You should also scan your computer with a good anti-malware program, like Combo Cleaner. Not just to remove ActionHow, but also to find and get rid of any other malware.

Finally, when you’re sure your Mac is clean, consider if it’s possible that ActionHow saw any of your usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information. If yes, change your passwords to avoid them being used to hack your accounts.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove ActionHow Mac Malware from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall ActionHow Mac Malware and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to ActionHow Mac Malware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopHow to remove ActionHow Mac Malware from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find ActionHow Mac Malware on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to ActionHow Mac Malware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program. Top

How To remove ActionHow Mac Malware from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything ActionHow Mac Malware related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to ActionHow Mac Malware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.