AssistiveModule Malware - How to remove

AssistiveModule is a malicious app that forces your browser to open affiliated sites, allowing those sites to make money by showing you ads. It can also log your browsing habits, including your search history, without having to deal with encryption and other privacy protections.

The scary thing is, deleting AssistiveModule like normal might not work. A bit of effort is needed to remove AssistiveModule from your Mac.

About AssistiveModule:

Type of threat	Adware, trojan.
How AssistiveModule affects a Mac	Redirects searches to unexpected and unwanted sites, logs your search history, refuses to be deleted.
How adware spreads to Macs	It comes embedded into other apps that you may have downloaded from untrustworthy websites, it comes with fake software updates.
How to remove AssistiveModule	Delete malware with anti-malware programs (Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, others), check your system preferences and remove traces of AssistiveModule, if needed, manually find and delete the files that belong to AssistiveModule.

About AssistiveModule

Search hijacker

AssistiveModule is adware. It’s a malicious app that changes how your internet browsers behave. Its goal is to get you to visit affiliated sites. This makes the owners of those sites money.

As a result, AssistiveModule messes with what websites are displayed by your browser. Your home page and search engine may change to SearchMarquis, Yahoo, or other potentially unwanted sites.

Being focused on turning your browser into an advertising platform is why AssistiveModule can be considered adware. Adware infections are dangerous because they waste your time, cause unexpected behavior in your internet browsers, and disrespect your privacy.

From what I’ve seen, Safari is the most fiercely attacked by this malware. Other browsers (Chrome, Firefox) might not experience the same issues.

Trojan

Have you installed something right before AssistiveModule showed up? Maybe a free app, or maybe an unusual software update.

AssistiveModule comes bundled with fake Flash updates. It may be included in free apps on shady, disreputable download sites.

Tricking people into downloading malware by making it look like a safe app is what makes AssistiveModule a Trojan.

If you were to scan your Mac with an anti-malware application, AssistiveModule may be detected as a Trojan, Malware, Adware, AdLoad, Mughthesec, Cimpli, and by other names.

How to remove AssistiveModule

Delete AssistiveModule

You probably already tried to delete AssistiveModule by dragging it to Trash. But that doesn’t always work.

First, reboot your Mac into safe mode. To do that, restart your computer, then immediately hold Shift on your keyboard until “Safe boot” appears on your screen. This will prevent AssistiveModule from starting. Easier than hunting down and terminating malicious processes in Activity Monitor.

The simplest way to remove AssistiveModule is to get an antivirus or anti-malware app, such as Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes, and to scan your computer. Anti-malware apps can recognize malicious files that would be hard (although totally possible) to find on your own. I’m not just talking about the AssistiveModule app but also about the login files that it creates.

For example, AssistiveModule installs a browser extension, but it might not be visible in your browser settings.

Check system preferences

An anti-malware app might not be enough to remove all traces of AssistiveModule. It is important to review your system settings. Open System Preferences:

• Profiles enforce certain settings on your computer and your apps. If the Profiles icon is visible in System Preferences, click on it. Select all the items that are unfamiliar to you and then delete them with the minus ‘-‘ button in the bottom left.
• Login items are files and apps that are run when you log in. Open Users & Groups. In Login Items, select all the unwanted or unfamiliar items. Then press the minus button.
• AssistiveModule may have configured a proxy server to send your internet traffic to. Go to Network -> Advanced -> Proxies. In the protocols to configure box, is anything selected that you did not select? If yes, deselect and click OK.

Review the files

AssistiveModule might leave its files in the /Library/LaunchAgents, ~/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Application Support folders.

You can open these folders in Finder and pressing the Cmd+Shift+G key combination. By default, the Library folders are hidden. Many of the files they hold are important to your apps. But if AssistiveModule won’t go away and you’ve tried everything, may as well try this.

Look for suspicious files:

• files whose dates added match when AssistiveModule showed up,
• files whose names include “AssistiveModule” (for example, “com.AssistiveModule.plist”) and similar nonsense names that this malware is known by (AccessibleBoost, LogarithmicRecord, UtilityData),
• folders that have names of random letters and numbers,
• files that include in their content suspicious website addresses (Safefinder.com, Searchbaron.com, others).

You can see inside plist files by enabling the Preview Pane in Finder (Finder’s menu -> View -> Show Preview).

Reboot your Mac like normal to exit safe mode.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Check browser settings

How to remove AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule Malware from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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 AssistiveModule 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.