How to uninstall ControlProcess from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is ControlProcess

According to security professionals, ControlProcess is a an Adware application that targets Mac platform. Adware is not as dangerous as like a Trojan horse or Ransomware, but its presence can bring various pop-up windows, fake alerts, push notifications and/or unwanted advertisements. Actually developers of adware is associated with some merchants and by displaying ads to users they make revenue for yourself. These adverts not only bother your browsing experience but also redirect you to unsafe websites.

Even worse, the ControlProcess adware can be used to gather lots of your user info (your ip address, what is a website you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Net, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.

If you would like to remove ControlProcess and get rid of annoying advertisements and are unable to do so, you can follow the guidance below to find and remove adware software and any other malicious software for free.

How does ControlProcess get on your MAC

The most common way to get adware is a freeware setup file. In many cases, a user have a chance to disable all bundled apps, but certain setup files are designed to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing potentially unwanted applications and adware software. Anyway, easier to prevent adware rather than clean up your MAC after one. So, keep your browser updated (turn on automatic updates), run good antivirus software, double check free applications before you open it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid dubious and unknown web pages.

Threat Summary

Name	ControlProcess
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware.MAC.Generic, Adware/Adload!OSX, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, ApplicUnwnt and OSX.Trojan.Gen
Distribution	Free software installers, fake update tools, suspicious pop-up ads and torrent downloads
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to unfamiliar web-sites, advertising links appear in places they shouldn’t be, your MAC OS starts automatically installing unexpected applications, unwanted web browser add-ons or toolbars keep coming back, unwanted changes in your web-browser such as displaying new tabs you didn’t open, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	ControlProcess removal guide

How to remove ControlProcess

As with deleting adware, malicious software or potentially unwanted programs, there are few steps you can do. We suggest trying them all. If you do only one part of the guidance, then it should be use malware removal tool, because it should remove adware and stop any further infection. But to completely remove ControlProcess adware you will have to at least reset your browser settings like default search engine, newtab page and home page to default state, remove all unwanted and suspicious programs, and delete adware by malware removal utilities. Certain of the steps below will require you to close this web site. So, please read the guidance carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove ControlProcess, use the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

ControlProcess 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 the System Preferences icon ( ) in the Dock, or choose Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, click Profiles, then select a profile associated with ControlProcess.

Click the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen to remove the profile.
Note: if you do not see Profiles in the System Preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on your Mac, which is normal.

Delete ControlProcess associated software by using the Finder

It is of primary importance to identify and get rid of browser hijackers, adware and potentially unwanted programs through ‘Applications’ section of your Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will open a list of all apps installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any dubious and unknown software. Right click to questionable program and choose “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove ControlProcess related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ControlProcess 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes. You can download and install MalwareBytes Free to scan for and get rid of ControlProcess associated programs from your Mac computer. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically finds and removes all security threats exist on the MAC OS.

Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes for Apple Mac.

When downloading is finished, close all software and windows on your machine. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed on the screen below.

Now click the “Scan” button for scanning your machine for the ControlProcess adware. During the scan MalwareBytes will detect threats present on your Apple Mac.

When MalwareBytes Free has completed scanning, the results are displayed in the scan report. When you’re ready, press the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will delete ControlProcess and move the selected items to the Quarantine.

Remove ControlProcess from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you’re still seeing ControlProcess adware software that won’t go away, you might have harmful plugins installed on your web browser. Check your web browser for unwanted plugins using the steps below.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right hand corner, click on ‘three vertical dots’, and this will open up the main menu on Google Chrome. 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 remove ControlProcess 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 ControlProcess 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-blocking program such as AdGuard, you’re able to block malicious web pages, stop autoplaying video ads and delete tons of distracting and intrusive ads on web-sites.

Download AdGuard by clicking on the link below.

When the download is complete, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you launch your Apple Mac, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying pop up advertisements, block malicious and misleading web sites.

To sum up

After completing the few simple steps shown above, your computer should be free from ControlProcess adware and other malware. The Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox will no longer redirect you to various intrusive websites like ControlProcess. Unfortunately, if the guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware software, and then the best way – ask for help here.