Getting rid of fake "adobe flash player out of date" virus on Safari

Factual Questions
1

I have that stupid virus that hijacks my browser with very legit-looking messages saying I need to update Adobe flash. No idea how I got it (I’ve got Norton virus protection, dammit) but here I am. I do know not to click on anything, I just close my browser whenever it comes up.

Before I do anything to fix it, I just want to make sure I’m not making the problem worse or endangering my cybersecurity. So, if I follow these instructions will I be okay?

2

Those are terrible instructions. I wouldn’t follow them.

Make sure you have actual malware installed, that it’s not just the websites you are visiting - I had CNN serving annoying “Flash” updater malware last week.

Go to Safari -> Preferences -> Extensions, and see if there is anything suspicious in there. If so, remove it.

If you have never given permission for it to install anything, there should be no malware installed on your machine - there are no known “drive-by” exploits on OS X at this time.

3

I have the Adobe Flash Player preference set to notify me when there is an update so I can do it when/how I choose, not to do so automatically.
First I quit all browsers, then I to to Apple in the top left of the Menu Bar -> System Preferences -> Other -> Flash Player and click the 2 Check Now boxes (one at a time). That will open a browser to the Adobe site, check for an update and download a .dmg if there is one. After I’ve checked for the updates, I quit the browser, then open & run the .dmgs one at a time.

4

I have broken the link so you can’t click on it.

When I try to click on that web site, my security program blocks it with reason “PUP” (potentially unwanted program).

5

Thanks! I thought I was being insanely over-cautious, but maybe I wasn’t being cautious enough.

6

Hmm, tried that … and the dialog box says “no extensions.”

The bad behavior comes and goes, and ONLY affects CNN. Could it be CNN-related somehow?

7

100%

8

Found an interesting discussion of the problem here:

Firefox is not affected so I’ll just use that for CNN (and NYT too, I guess - I’ve been too busy to do more than read their push notifications lately but it seems like going to their website may cause the same problem).

I’m just glad I didn’t click on the update stuff.