VirtualBoardSearch Malware - How to remove

VirtualBoardSearch is an app that was made to hijack people’s internet traffic, direct it to affiliated sites, and help those sites get more advertising revenue. It’s a way for cybercriminals to make some money. Of course, VirtualBoardSearch’s pop-ups, hijacking the searches, and other shenanigans make life miserable for the person whose Mac was infected. Luckily, it’s very possible to get rid of VirtualBoardSearch without too much work.

Details on VirtualBoardSearch:

Classification	Adware, browser hijacker.
What VirtualBoardSearch does	Hijacks your searches, shows pop-up ads, logs your browsing data, refuses to be removed.
How it was installed	Bundled with free programs, downloaded from malicious, deceptive sites.
Remove VirtualBoardSearch	Use antivirus apps (Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, etc.) to find and remove malware, delete VirtualBoardSearch’s configurations profiles, remove the extension and app.

VirtualBoardSearch infection symptoms

Once VirtualBoardSearch is on your Mac, it makes some very unwelcome changes:

• First, it forces your browser to send your search queries to Yahoo, Bing, Anysearchmanager, or some other site. Changing default search settings in the browser does not fix it.
• You may see system pop-ups about VirtualBoardSearch needing to accept network connections.
• VirtualBoardSearch might not be visible in some locations, despite being installed. The Dock, the Extensions page in your web browser, and the Applications folder in Finder should show VirtualBoardSearch, but they don’t always.
• Fixes revert back when you restart the Mac.

VirtualBoardSearch exists as an app and a browser extension. It hijacks your searches because its creators want to make money from advertising. It may also cause malicious pop-ups and redirects to show in a web browser. Fake virus warnings, fake giveaways, other dangerous sites, and annoying ads may appear in your browser and on your desktop.

It’s all about money for the people who made VirtualBoardSearch. Instead of making a good website that would serve as a publisher for ads, they decided to just force people to look at ads, then make money off of that. They might try to get people’s private data, like search logs, and sell them, too.

If fact, you may want to change your passwords when this is over. I mean, the VirtualBoardSearch extension, according to Safari’s description, “Can read sensitive information, including passwords, phone numbers and credit cards on: all webpages”. That’s a lot.

How adware gets installed

There are a few ways that VirtualBoardSearch may have made its way onto your computer, including:

• Being bundled with a free app. You download an app that has optional offers in it. These offers are described on one of the setup screens. Pressing “Next” or “Continue” automatically installs them. Technically, you’re given the chance to avoid them. But really, they’re presented in a deliberately confusing way. VirtualBoardSearch gets offered as something to “enhance your browser”.
• Installed by a fake software update. There are malicious sites out there that say that you need to update your Flash Player, your browser, or your operating system. Then they offer you a file to download. The file is just an adware bundle. These sites are advertised online so that they pop up unexpectedly and surprise you.

You can avoid this sort of thing by being extra careful all the time, but that’s not realistic. Another option is to always scan new downloads with an antivirus program. It should automatically scan the files that you download and then warn you if it finds something wrong.

How to remove VirtualBoardSearch

VirtualBoardSearch is just like MultiUpgrade, EngineOrder, AresLookup, ArtemisSearch, AssistEngine, and many other Mac hijackers. Multiple ones can be installed at the same time. These have been seen changing their name/installing a new version after being deleted. What this means is, when I say to look for a file or a program named “VirtualBoardSearch”, it can be any one of the names used by this malware. So just keep that in mind.

One quick way to clean your Mac is with an anti-malware program, such as Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, and others.

If you want to do things manually, that should be no problem, too. Just, it’s still advisable to scan your Mac afterward – to make sure that no malware is left.

To make things easier, you can start your Mac in safe mode by restarting your Mac and holding the Shift button while it boots. This mode does not let VirtualBoardSearch start.

VirtualBoardSearch creates configuration profiles to enforce its hold on your Mac. To delete those profiles, open your System Preferences and find Profiles. Click on Profiles and see what you have. Any entries on the left side of the window that are named VirtualBoardSearch or something similar can be removed. To remove a profile, select it and press the minus button at the bottom.

Profiles are just settings that get enforced every time you start the Mac. Work and school-issued Macs are likely to have profiles that can’t be removed by the user. But most users don’t have any profiles.

Now, you should be able to remove VirtualBoardSearch from your extensions (instructions below) and from the Applications folder.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manually remove the VirtualBoardSearch extension

TopRemoving VirtualBoardSearch Malware from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the VirtualBoardSearch. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to VirtualBoardSearch Malware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.

TopRemoving VirtualBoardSearch from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to VirtualBoardSearch Malware. Click on the trash bin icon next to VirtualBoardSearch or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to VirtualBoardSearch Malware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

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

TopRemoving VirtualBoardSearch from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything VirtualBoardSearch 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to VirtualBoardSearch, 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 Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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