How to uninstall ConfigAccess app/extension from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is ConfigAccess

ConfigAccess is an adware application. Adware is something which designed in order to show third-party ads to the user without asking permission. Adware software takes control of internet browsers and redirects them to unwanted web sites every time users surf the Web. Adware can end up on your Mac in various methods. Most often is when you download free applications and forget to uncheck the box for the third-party programs installation.

Even worse, the ConfigAccess adware can gather your Internet browsing activity by saving URLs visited, IP addresses, browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web-sites visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential data theft. This is another reason why the adware should be removed without a wait. In the instructions below, we will explain best possible solutions on how to remove ConfigAccess adware from Mac and get rid of unwanted ads from your web-browser.

How does ConfigAccess get on your MAC system

Adware usually come bundled with another program in the same installation package. The risk of this is especially high for the various free applications downloaded from the Web. The developers of the apps are hoping that users will run the quick install mode, that is simply to press the Next button, without paying attention to the information on the screen and don’t carefully considering every step of the install procedure. Thus, adware can infiltrate your Apple Mac without your knowledge. Therefore, it’s very important to read everything that the program says during setup, including the ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’. Use only the Manual, Custom or Advanced installation type. This mode will help you to disable all optional and unwanted apps and components.

Threat Summary

Name	ConfigAccess, ConfigAccess 1.0 app
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, MacOS.Agent-MT and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Free software installers, fake update tools, misleading pop up advertisements and torrent downloads
Symptoms	When you go to a web-page, you are automatically redirected to another webpage that you do not intend to visit, pop-up advertisements won’t go away, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unwanted internet browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your internet browser homepage has replaced without your permission, slow browsing Internet.
Removal	ConfigAccess removal guide

How to remove ConfigAccess from Mac

The following step-by-step guide will help you to remove ConfigAccess adware from Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Moreover, the step-by-step guide below will help you to delete malicious software, hijackers, PUPs and toolbars that your MAC system may be infected. Please do the guidance step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your web-browser or restart your Apple Mac.

To remove ConfigAccess, complete the following steps:

1. Remove profiles created by ConfigAccess
2. Uninstall ConfigAccess associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove ConfigAccess related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove ConfigAccess from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove profiles created by ConfigAccess

ConfigAccess can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

Click Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with ConfigAccess.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Uninstall ConfigAccess associated software by using the Finder

Go to the Finder and delete questionable applications, all applications you do not remember installing. It’s important to pay the most attention to programs you have recently installed. If you do not know what a program does, look for the answer on the Web.

Make sure you have closed all web browsers and other programs. Next, uninstall any unwanted and suspicious applications from MAC using the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Look around the entire list of apps installed on your MAC system. Most likely, one of them is the ConfigAccess adware software. Select the questionable program or the program that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.

Drag the dubious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove ConfigAccess related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ConfigAccess related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

ConfigAccess creates several files, these files must be found and removed. Below is a list of files associated with this unwanted program.

• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ConfigAccess.system.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ConfigAccess.service.plist
• /Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/System/com.ConfigAccess.system
• ~/Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/Services/com.ConfigAccess.service.app

Some files created by ConfigAccess are hidden from the user. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for ConfigAccess generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: com.machelper.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , search.plist, macsearch.plist, installapp.plist, com.ConfigAccess.service.plist and com.net-preferences.plist. Most often, potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware create several files with similar names.

Check for ConfigAccess generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.ConfigAccess.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for ConfigAccess generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for ConfigAccess generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.ConfigAccess.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.macsearch.system.plist, com.machelper.system.plist and com.installapp.system.plist. In most cases, potentially unwanted programs, adware and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes AntiMalware. You may download and install MalwareBytes Anti-Malware to search for and get rid of ConfigAccess associated programs from your Mac. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically scans for and deletes all security threats exist on the Apple Mac.

Installing the MalwareBytes Free is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware by clicking on the link below. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

After the downloading process is complete, close all applications and windows on your MAC. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once installation is finished, you will see window as on the image below.

Now click the “Scan” button to start checking your computer for the ConfigAccess adware software. While the MalwareBytes Free tool is checking, you may see number of objects it has identified as being affected by malicious software.

When the checking is finished, MalwareBytes Free will display a list of all items detected by the scan. Once you have selected what you want to remove from your MAC click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now get rid of ConfigAccess and move the selected items to the program’s quarantine.

Remove ConfigAccess from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted extensions is a simple way to remove ConfigAccess and restore browser’s settings which have been modified by adware.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right corner, click on Google Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove ConfigAccess adware by reset Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with ConfigAccess adware removal, you need to reset Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

How to stay safe online

By installing an ad blocker program like AdGuard, you are able to block malicious websites, stop autoplaying video ads and delete a huge count of distracting and annoying ads on web-sites.

1. Visit the following page to download AdGuard.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When the downloading process is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your MAC OS, AdGuard will run automatically and stop intrusive ads, block harmful and misleading web sites.

Finish words

Now your MAC should be free of the ConfigAccess adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your computer for new adware softwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popups and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party software.

If you need more help with ConfigAccess related issues, go to here.