23rd Apr 2020

How Do I Get Rid of Bing Redirect Virus?

 

Macbooks are usually less susceptible to computer viruses, but Mac viruses do indeed exist. The Bing Redirect Virus is one such computer virus of a specific variety called a "browser hijacker," and these sorts of viruses are known to cause issues like a changed browser homepage and excessive and unwanted advertisements that weren't previously present. Browser hijackers aren't the most difficult virus to deal with, fortunately, so here are some steps you can take if you find your mac has been infected by the Bing Redirect Virus.

You should first close the offending browser if you can, and if your browser isn't responding at all you can choose to have it "Force Quit" by pressing the "⌘" button in tandem with the "Option" and "Escape" buttons, much like how you would open the task manager on a Windows machine with the famous "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" button shortcut. You should then try to remove any suspicious-looking files on your computer, preferably those that are flagged by antivirus software or a similar utility.

After deleting all of the files you think look suspicious, you should then block Bing from your browser using the steps specific to the affected browser. Uninstalling any Bing-specific extensions should help with this process, as well as any extensions that have been recently installed that may be a contributing factor.

Once you have taken these initial steps to restrict the effects of the virus, you should then take a look at the Mac's "Activity Monitor" and utilize its "Sample" function to determine if any specific processes are causing any issues. If the "sample" returns information that may indicate a problem, you can further check if the files associated with that specific process are problematic by running a virus scan on those specific files.

 After this, try launching the affected browser again without opening the pages that were previously open on it. Different browsers will have different ways to launch them without restoring previously open content, with Safari requiring you to hold the "Shift" key as you open it and Google Chrome with often prompt you asking if you want the tabs from your previous session to be restored or not.

If you have any extensions installed on your browser, it is at this point that it would be a good idea to remove them. You should additionally delete all of the browser data that you have accumulated, including cookies and automatic form-fill information, so take some time to make sure you know all of the passwords you need to if you can't reset them later. Then, try setting the homepage's address to something you want to open your browser onto like Google or Wikipedia.

If you haven't already, you should then clear your browser history to make sure you don't accidentally visit a page that may have been the source of the computer virus in the first place and repeat this entire process for every browser on your computer from step one.

Please note that messing with the files that compose your computer can be a dangerous and lengthy process if you don't know what to look for, so there is no shame in utilizing as many resources as you can to get the problem fixed. While the Bing Redirect Virus is relatively benign as far as computer problems go, there is still the potential for disaster.

Some complications can be encountered with this particular browser hijacking program that was not covered in the brief overview, so if you need further assistance after finding all the info you can on the internet you should try seeking professional assistance.