UtilityParse (Removal Instructions) - Jul 2020 update

UtilityParse Removal Guide

What is UtilityParse?

UtilityParse is a Mac virus that asks to gain access to Safari or another web browser

UtilityParseUtilityParse is the application that controls the traffic, so you more likely to visit commercial sites and other pages sponsored by the advertisers.

UtilityParse, also known as Utility Parze, is a potentially unwanted application that can be found on some users' Macs. In most cases, such apps are distributed via software bundle packages downloaded from third-party websites or through fake Flash Update prompts. In any case, most users are not even aware that the application is installed on the system, although there are several infection signs that could be seen almost right away:

  • An unknown browser extension is installed on Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or another web browser;
  • A pop-up message shows up on a regular basis, which claims that Utility Parze/Utility Parse is trying to access data located within the web browser;
  • Pop-ups, deals, offers, coupons, banners, auto-play, and other intrusive advertisements show up on all visited websites;
  • Redirects bring users to insecure websites, etc.

Besides using dubious distribution tactics, UtilityParse is also set up to spy on users' web activities, which include visited websites, the IP address, links clicked, search queries, etc. However, due to excessive permissions that the extension or the app asks for, users might be in grave danger of sensitive information (banking data, Social Security Number, credit card number, login credentials, etc.) disclosure.

While the app can be found in /Users/[username]/Library/UpdatesMac/UtilityParze/UtilityParze[1] location on Mac systems, it also employs various persistence techniques, so its removal might be a difficult task in some cases. If you value your privacy and do not want malicious applications on your machine, uninstall UtilityParse as per instructions we provide below.

Name UtilityParse or Utility Parze
Type Adware
Affected systems macOS (mostly Catalina and higher versions) or Mac OS X
Family This program is also known as Utility Parze since it is a part of the Pirrit adware family and can come on various forms of macOS adware
Risks Your machine is not working properly as it supposed to anymore, so it becomes more vulnerable for malware infections and ad-supported sites can easily track and collect details about your habits and most viewed pages, searched items
Symptoms The device becomes slow and crashes, freezes, turns off more often. Additionally, commercial content gets delivered on your browser and on the system directly.
Distribution While this potentially unwanted application is typically delivered via fake Flash Player update prompts, users might also install it during the installation of freeware which is downloaded from third-party websites
Elimination UtilityParse removal procedure can get difficult, but choosing the proper anti-malware tool compatible with your system can give the best results
Repair When a machine is affected by any of these PUPs, functions can get disabled or files affected by this program behind your back. The best option is to use a professional system tool like FortectIntego that can indicate and even recover damaged files for you

UtilityParse is the adware-based application, so it mainly focuses on intrusive advertisements and data collection. which is typical PUP behavior. It is the program that can interfere with the performance of the computer due to background processes too, so scanning the system fully should be one of the actions that you take into consideration.

UtilityParse or Utility Parze is pretty much identical to MacPerformance or DisplayUpdate programs that are also considered to be macOS-targeting PUAs. These applications mainly get distributed via advertisements and unsafe sites or pop-ups, banners with commercial content relations. It is common to get adware, hijacker, or different PUP when fake Flash Player installations get triggered.

Utility Parze messages can state the following:

“Utility Parze” wants access to control “Google Chrome.app” (“Safari.app”). Allowing control will provide access to documents and data in “Google Chrome.app” (“Safari.app”), and to perform actions within this app.

If you receive any similar alert regarding the Utility Parse application or any other file, folder, program, you should pay attention to details that are displayed on the alert and base your further actions of those. Do not allow anything that is offered for you on these pop-up windows and warnings because any agreements can lead to more issues with the machine since you do not know exactly what you are allowing.

UtilityParse categorizes as an adware program for a reason because it manages to install itself on the system and run for a while until the symptoms get displayed. After the successful penetration, the PUA can change various settings, affect web browsers, and install other apps without your permission. But these error messages and control agreement pop-ups show that not everything is accessible for the intruder.

Ignore any messages that UtilityParze macOS PUP delivers to you, so there are no issues with the system and documents, different data, programs, or system functions that can get altered or even damaged by the unwanted program. You can see that intruder wants to control your Safari browser or other tools, but your new browsers like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox may get affected by the PUA in the background, so you should get rid of it and all the alterations.

Utility ParzeUtility Parze - the adware tool that is intrusive and displays advertisements with triggers for more shady sites.

You need to remove UtilityParse fully by scanning the system with an anti-malware tool or security utility. This is the best method because a thorough check on the machine indicates any issues regarding the system infections and data affected by the third-party commercial content, adware itself, or any other threat that may run on the PC without your knowledge.

Make sure to clean the system and ignore any messages that UtilityParze is related to, so data tracking issues[2] can be avoided. This is a serious but common problem that is related to ad-supported sites and commercial content creators because revenue is generated by collecting views and page visits, clicks on banners, pop-ups. All the redirects and third-party advertisements attract your attention and trigger more unwanted content, so information about the person that is browsing can be easily accessed.

UtilityParse can be indicated by these markers found on pop-ups or banners:

  • “Ads UtilityParse”,
  • “Powered by UtilityParse”,
  • “Advertisements by UtilityParse”,
  • “Brought to you by UtilityParse”,
  • “Ads by UtilityParse”,
  • “Ads powered by UtilityParse”.

Make sure to go straight to the process of UtilityParse removal, so your machine can be cleaned before any of the important settings get changed. PUPs manage to trigger installs of browser-based intruders and inject other PUAs or tools on the OS, so you could repair any damage using FortectIntego, or a similar application, so files or permanently damaged files get recovered automatically for you.

Choose wisely for the termination of the Utility Parse macOS virus because detection[3] of the application-related file shows that not any anti-malware tool can find the intruder malicious and remove it from the system. So base the selection on the list of possible detections, but remember that names depend on the database that AV engine uses. The same virus can be indicated as: Trojan.Adware.MAC.Pirrit.1; Adware:OSX/Pirrit; Riskware.Mac.Mlw.hanoqk; Osx.Malware.Agent-7543968-0.

Potentially unwanted applications are rarely installed intentionally

In most cases, potentially unwanted programs including adware or browser hijackers can find their way on the system while the person is surfing online. It is because deceptive and misleading sites include malicious injections and advertisements that create frustration for the user due to intrusiveness and unwanted material display.

PUPs can be offered through advertisements and promotional sites, so you get the tool that is useless when you install another freeware that seems needed and wanted. It may get bundled too, so you cannot even know that you received the program or when that happened. You should be aware that anything that comes for free comes with some additional conditions.

You can avoid these shady infiltrations by selecting proper sources, going for official developers and providers instead of torrent services. Also, the freeware installation mode can make a huge difference because Advanced or Custom options provide the opportunity to remove any unwanted application from the list. Recommended or Quick installations agree to all the pre-bundled programs at once.

UtilityParse virusUtilityParse virus is usually distributed via fake Flash Player update prompts

Get rid of the Utility Parze macOS PUP

Since the UtilityParse virus is not properly disclosing what happens on the machine once it is in, you should clean the machine by relying on the automatic methods. Since macOS is generally a safe system and devices are not that vulnerable to cyber infections, you may think that additional security tools are not needed.

However, it is not that easy to find all the files and PUP applications to remove UtilityParse manually. This is why we and other cyber threat researchers or experts recommend getting proper AV tools for the job. Security tools designed for the cleaning purposes can check and find, then remove all the threats that bother you.

When you choose the tool for the UtilityParse removal, you need to select the proper application and run the full system scan, so PUP traces get eliminated. Also, since virus damage may still trigger additional installations and issues, remove the affected files or at least check for corrupted parts with a system tool.

You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.

Offer
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Compatible with Microsoft Windows Compatible with macOS
What to do if failed?
If you failed to fix virus damage using Fortect Intego, submit a question to our support team and provide as much details as possible.
Fortect Intego has a free limited scanner. Fortect Intego offers more through scan when you purchase its full version. When free scanner detects issues, you can fix them using free manual repairs or you can decide to purchase the full version in order to fix them automatically.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Fortect, try running SpyHunter 5.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Intego, try running Combo Cleaner.

Getting rid of UtilityParse. Follow these steps

Delete from macOS

Make sure to get rid of the program that is creating issues for you. Full UtilityParse removal can be achieved by the following steps

Remove items from Applications folder:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
  3. Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash) Uninstall from Mac 1

To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
  3. In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
  4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files. Uninstall from Mac 2

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

You may need to go through settings to find UtilityParse programs or set the browser to default fully

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove. Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Options.
  3. Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data…
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear. Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information. Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox. Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove. Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data. Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings. Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Get rid if any material related to UtilityParse App

Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
  3. Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall. Remove extensions from Safari

Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Clear History…
  2. From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
  3. Confirm with Clear History. Clear cookies and website data from Safari

Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. Go to Advanced tab.
  3. Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  4. From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches. Reset Safari

After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of UtilityParse registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.

How to prevent from getting adware

Access your website securely from any location

When you work on the domain, site, blog, or different project that requires constant management, content creation, or coding, you may need to connect to the server and content management service more often. The best solution for creating a tighter network could be a dedicated/fixed IP address.

If you make your IP address static and set to your device, you can connect to the CMS from any location and do not create any additional issues for the server or network manager that needs to monitor connections and activities. VPN software providers like Private Internet Access can help you with such settings and offer the option to control the online reputation and manage projects easily from any part of the world.

 

Recover files after data-affecting malware attacks

While much of the data can be accidentally deleted due to various reasons, malware is one of the main culprits that can cause loss of pictures, documents, videos, and other important files. More serious malware infections lead to significant data loss when your documents, system files, and images get encrypted. In particular, ransomware is is a type of malware that focuses on such functions, so your files become useless without an ability to access them.

Even though there is little to no possibility to recover after file-locking threats, some applications have features for data recovery in the system. In some cases, Data Recovery Pro can also help to recover at least some portion of your data after data-locking virus infection or general cyber infection. 

 

About the author
Jake Doevan
Jake Doevan - Computer technology expert

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