ChatZum can infect a Mac in several ways. Clicking on a “sponsored link,” a virus download is sent to your Mac. It can also come through email attachments or in a malicious bundle.

Once ChatZum has infected your Mac, it presents unwanted adverts and pop-ups whenever you are online or using messaging apps and any other applications that connect to the internet.

What are the symptoms of ChatZum?

Unwanted adverts are annoying, although infected users have found that ChatZum goes several steps further. It will add the ChatZum Toolbar, similar to other legitimate plug-ins. Using this, it can steal passwords and keystroke data. ChatZum will also change your default search engine to search.chatzum.com.

ChatZum is browser agnostic. It can hijack Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers, disguising its files similar to other browser plug-ins. When you have the ChatZum malware on your Mac, it will create an unwanted avenue for other malware, viruses, and threats to come through the adverts it displays and the browser plug-in. It is also capable of modifying browser and security settings, making it a particularly nasty piece of adware to have on your Mac.

Other signs of an infection include being redirected to an advert after completing a web form or new browser windows opening without you taking any action. Sometimes, infected Mac owners have found that applications start running unexpectedly or new programs are downloaded and start running that they didn’t install. You may also find that your Mac runs slower than it did before the infection.

However, unlike some forms of malware and viruses, it isn’t quite as difficult to find and remove. Although hidden, the fact that it acts similar to other browser plug-ins means that the payload packages are easier to locate and remove, either manually or automatically — with a Mac clearer tool or an antivirus scan.

How to remove ChatZum?

This is something you can do manually, although to make sure you’ve effectively removed the problem, you will need to go through several files alongside making changes in your browser settings.

#1: Uninstall from Safari

  1. Go to Safari > Preferences.
  2. Click on Extensions.
  3. Pick the extension that you don’t recognize to delete.
  4. Click Uninstall.
  5. Confirm that you want to Uninstall the extension.

#2: Remove from Chrome

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Go to the Menu in your browser.
  3. Click on More Tools > Extensions.
  4. Pick the extension that you don’t recognize to delete.
  5. Click Remove.
  6. Confirm that you want to Remove the extension.

#3: Remove from Firefox

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Go to the Menu in your browser.
  3. Click on the Add-ons and themes tab.
  4. Select the extension you want to remove.
  5. Click Remove.
  6. Confirm that you want to delete it.

Now that you’ve removed the extension from your browser, you need to search through several files to make sure ChatZum is no longer hiding in your Mac.

Go to the following files to clear out any trace of it:

/Applications/ChatZumUninstaller.pkg

/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/SafariOmnibar.bundle

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/uid.plist

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/zako.plugin

/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/

/Library/LaunchAgents/net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist

/Library/ScriptingAdditions/SIMBL.osax

It is also worth resetting your browser settings and making sure that the default search engine is restored to what it was before the highjacking.

Now, if all of that sounds like too much work, don’t worry. Or if you aren’t confident that ChatZum has gone, then there is another quicker way to make your Mac safe.

How you can remove ChatZum quickly and safely

Download CleanMyMac X. It is a powerful Mac cleaning, scanning, and performance improvement monitor. It successfully scans and removes all known types of malware. We update our security database constantly, making sure that your Mac gets back to how it ran when you got it. CleanMyMac X clears out years worth of junk and cyber threats you didn’t even know had infected your Mac.

Here is how you can remove ChatZum quickly and safely:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X.
  2. Click on the Malware Removal tab.
  3. Click Scan.
  4. CleanMyMac X will show you what your Mac is infected with.
  5. Click Remove, and all the threats will vanish for good.
Removing threats

ChatZum can deliver a whole load of problems to your Mac once it has taken over your web browser. Not something you want to deal with when you’ve got a lot of work to do. It can also open a door so that other — even more dangerous — software can steal your data. Removing it quickly will save you a lot of trouble.