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

What is BasicKey

According to security specialists, BasicKey is a malicious Mac application that falls under the category of Adware. Adware is an advertising malicious software. It is created just to display constant pop-ups and/or unwanted advertisements using intrusive and at times dangerous methods. Adware can also include other forms of malicious software. It can steal confidential info from the machine and pass it on to third parties. Adware has also been the basis for hacking to gain access to the computer.

Does adware steal your personal information? Adware can collect your Web browsing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, web 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 personal info theft. This is another reason why the BasicKey should be uninstalled sooner.

How does BasicKey get on your Apple Mac

Adware gets onto computer by being attached to various free software. This means that you need to be very careful when installing programs downloaded from the Net. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, select only the Manual, Advanced or Custom setup method, switch off all unnecessary web-browser extensions and software are offered to install.

Threat Summary

Name	BasicKey, BasicKey 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, ApplicUnwnt, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware.MAC.Generic, Adware/Adload!OSX, OSX.Trojan.Gen and Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, fake software updaters and suspicious pop up ads
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your internet browser is redirected to another web site, advertising links appear in places they shouldn’t be, your Apple Mac starts automatically installing unwanted apps, new icons in your web browser, your computer settings are being changed without your request, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	BasicKey removal guide

How to remove BasicKey from Mac

As with uninstalling adware, malware or PUPs, there are few steps you can do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the guide, then it should be run malicious software removal utility, because it should remove adware and block any further infection. But to completely delete BasicKey adware you’ll have to at least reset your web-browser settings such as home page, newtab page and search provider to default state, remove all unwanted and suspicious software, and delete adware software by malware removal tools. Certain of the steps below will require you to exit this website. So, please read the instructions carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove BasicKey, execute the steps below:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

BasicKey can install a configuration profile on the Mac system to block changes made to the browser settings. Therefore, you need to open system preferences, find and delete the profile installed by the adware.

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. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile related to BasicKey.

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

Remove BasicKey associated software by using the Finder

In order to delete BasicKey you need to do is to remove unknown and suspicious programs from your MAC using the Finder. When uninstalling potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware software, check the list of installed software and try to find suspicious programs and uninstall them all. Pay special attention to recently installed applications, as it is most likely that BasicKey сame along with it.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your MAC system. Most likely, one of them is the BasicKey . Once you’ve found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and choose “Move to Trash”. Another solution is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Don’t forget, choose Finder -> “Empty Trash”.

Remove BasicKey related files and folders

Now you need to try to find BasicKey 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.

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

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

Some files created by BasicKey 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 BasicKey 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.google.defaultsearch.plist, , search.plist, com.BasicKey.service.plist, installapp.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.net-preferences.plist and macsearch.plist. Most often, browser hijackers, PUPs and adware software create several files with similar names.

Check for BasicKey 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.BasicKey.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for BasicKey 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 BasicKey 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.machelper.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist, com.macsearch.system.plist and com.BasicKey.system.plist. In most cases, adware, PUPs and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual BasicKey removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware may be not fully removed. We suggest that run MalwareBytes to scan the Mac computer. Moreover, this program will help you to remove browser hijackers, adware, toolbars and PUPs that your computer may be affected too.

Download MalwareBytes AntiMalware on your computer from the following link.

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

Once setup is finished, you’ll see window as displayed in the figure below.

Now click the “Scan” button to start checking your computer for the BasicKey adware software. When a malware, adware software or potentially unwanted programs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.

When that process is complete, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will open a scan report. Review the scan results and then click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now begin to remove BasicKey adware.

Remove BasicKey from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to get rid of harmful plugins. This can delete BasicKey adware and fix some browsing problems, especially after adware software infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Google Chrome menu. In the menu go to ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to delete BasicKey adware by reset Google 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 issues with BasicKey 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

Run adblocker program like AdGuard in order to stop advertisements, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install harmful and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons that affect your MAC performance and impact your machine security. Browse the Web anonymously and stay safe online!

1. Click the following link to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac OS.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3773 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. Once the download is done, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist 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 start your MAC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive advertisements, block harmful and misleading web sites.

To sum up

Now your MAC OS should be free of the BasicKey adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted popup advertisements and intrusive malicious websites) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new malicious software, hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijackers, harmful programs and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove BasicKey from your web browser, then ask for help here.