How can I safely close this window and forever avoid seeing similar pop-ups from Mackeeper Zeobit's malware and spyware?

Question

The attached image shows a window that just popped up and the only button available is the OK button. I could Force quit Safari, but I've got several sites open right now and don't want to try and find my place again. Besides, I've seen similar hacks in the past and I'd like to learn how to handle them in a way better than just a brute force-quit.

I've never heard of MacKeeper or Zeobit, so I opened Firefox and did a few searches while Safari is obviously still stuck, waiting for me to click the sneaky OK button in the dialog window. Anyhow, at least the first few pages of most search results contain lots of blabbering from questionable witnesses about how MacKeeper saved them from some malware or spyware. However, any company that is hacking the browser to maliciously install their product is itself the criminal and not providing a true security application. So, there are three questions here:

1. How can I close this window?
2. Can I do something to Safari to avoid these hacks in the future?
3. (Just curious) Is MacKeeper or Zeobit somehow loading the search results so that no information about their application being malware or spyware is listed (I can't be the only person in the world that is offended by their tactics, even though it appears I am)?

Solution

Generally speaking, clicking OK on a dialog box like that in a webpage will not let the website actually download any files to your computer. That dialog is a JavaScript Alert dialog, and is in and of itself harmless - I wouldn't call it a "hack" per se. It is possible that after clicking OK, the page might redirect to a download, but cicking ok would not in and of itself cause an infection, unless there were already malicious scripts on the page, in which case, you'd already have been infected.

That being said, this is still a sleazy tactic to use on the web, and is a good example of a misleading UI designed to confuse users into downloading software they may not want. It sounds like this may not actually be a malware site, but for future reference for other sites, you can report badware to various groups such as Google and Microsoft, and they can place the site on the block lists for their browsers. See "how to report a malicious website" for more info on that.

If a website is showing incessant alert dialogs, some browsers will allow you to check a box asking not to show any more alerts from that site. I know Chrome has this capability, and gives you the option after more than 2 dialogs are shown in a row. I'm not sure if Safari does or not.

Some companies use nefarious SEO tactics and flood online review sites with fake positive comments; some will even hire people to write positive reviews for the. I don't know if the company in question is doing this or not, but it is one possibility.

Comments

[NReilingh]

Okay, I don't have what I'd call definitive expertise in this regard, but I thought I'd offer my understanding of these popups to make up for the first unhelpful answer until someone who knows what they're talking about can contribute. It is my understanding that JavaScript can only create so many different user interactions, and those user interactions have to allow the user some means of escape. The shot you posted looks like a simple alert box that simply displays a message and allows the user to close it. In this case, clicking OK would do nothing except close the alert box. If the user

[Sana Paul]

Hello, @Nhinkle! You were absoluely right telling that "clicking ok would not in and of itself cause an infection". You are also right telling that the page "Might redirect to a download". It May but MacKeeper actually Doesn't do anything the like. The site Michael Prescott visited offers an opportunity to use popunders as a method of advertising which is Completely legal. Vendors can only post their ads on such sites and each ad is thoroughly checked as it has to match a great number of requirements. One of them is not to redirect to download. You may be redirected Only to the pages desc

[Admin]

I had the same experience today and as far as I am concerned, this MacKeeper sales technique is nothing other than malware. Are we supposed to believe that you make your product look like malware so we will buy it? Get real.

[nyuszika7h]

Opera has this capability, too.