What is Arcade Yum?
Arcade Yum advertises itself as a harmless way to download a series of free online games. Simple, time-wasting games — the sort you can find anywhere on the internet. The problem is, these games — although many are genuine — include adware that makes a mess of your online browsing experience and creates a serious risk to your Mac from cybercriminals and hackers that want access to your personal data.
Within the installer for Arcade Yum is an adware package. Similar to other adware programs, it effectively takes control of one or more web browsers and starts to inject unwanted adverts into them. It distorts web pages and forces you to see pop-ups and banner adverts — far more than you would normally see when browsing the internet.
Alongside pop-ups, adware also injects hyperlinks into web pages, sending anyone who clicks on those links to dark corners of the web, usually websites controlled by cybercriminals. Arcade Yum also promotes unsafe software, often by claiming that if you don’t download whatever it promotes, it will lead to viruses and other risks.
What does Arcade Yum do?
Security experts who’ve looked into this have traced the actions it takes when it has infected a browser. It deposits two folders that need removing to ensure your Mac browsers will function normally again: arcadeyum.exe and starter.exe.
It also sends out multiple HTTP and DNS requests to the following servers:
- arcadeyum.com
- assets.blaze.com
- d1.arcadeyum.com
- downloads.blaze.com
- fagamesframework.com
- pages.arcadeyum.com
- platform.blaze.com
- www.gamesofthemonth.com
And it injects the add-on or extension into your browsers, thereby hijacking how you connect to the world, making it easier for other cybercriminals to steal your data, monitor passwords, and take what they want from your Mac. When a Mac is infected, it’s impossible to know if the person using it will be safe unless they remove the source of the problem.
Here is how you remove Arcade Yum, which can either be done manually or with the help of special software.
How to remove Arcade Yum manually?
To start with, go to the source of the problem in the web browser.
#1: Delete Arcade Yum from Safari
- Go to Safari > Preferences.
- Click on Extensions.
- Pick the extension that you don’t recognize to delete.
- Click Uninstall.
- Confirm that you want to Uninstall the extension.
#2: Delete Arcade Yum from Chrome
- Open Chrome.
- Go to the Menu in your browser.
- Click on More Tools > Extensions.
- Pick the extension that you don’t recognize to delete.
- Click Remove.
- Confirm that you want to Remove the extension.
#3: Delete Arcade Yum from Firefox
- Open Firefox.
- Go to the Menu in your browser.
- Navigate to Add-ons and themes.
- Select the extension you want to remove.
- Click Remove.
- Confirm that you want to delete it.
Next, make sure you’ve removed it from the files that the application is living in. Search for these files and anything else connected to them in the Applications and Library folders: arcadeyum.exe and starter.exe. Take them and any other suspicious files to the Trash. Then, empty it and restart your browsers and Mac.
As you see, removing adware, malware, or other viruses manually is time-consuming, and it doesn’t always work straight away. Sometimes, you need to delete your web browser and then install a new one. Anyone attempting to remove a virus manually also runs the risk of deleting something useful in error, so be careful when doing this.
If you want to remove adware safely, use an app like CleanMyMac X.
Remove adware quickly with CleanMyMac X
CleanMyMac X is an invaluable tool for improving the performance of your Mac. It has various tools to clear out GBs of junk files, speed up the system, and protect it from malware threats.
To clear Arcade Yum out of your system this way, you need to do the following:
- Download CleanMyMac X (for free).
- Launch the app.
- Click on Malware Removal.
- Click Scan to scan the system for infections.
- Click Remove.
After that, your Mac will be operating at peak performance again. It should feel like it did when you first bought it: fast, efficient, intuitive, and free from any viruses and annoying adware.
