Crusader Connect Mac Virus App

by Ventsislav Krastev | October 15, 2019 | 0 Comments Mac, Mac Virus, MacOS

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This is a post that will show you if Crusader Connect is a virus or legitimate and also how you can remove It effectively from your Mac.

Crusader Connect is classified as another one of those pesky browser hijacking applications. Crusader Connect aims to claim it is some sort of a helpful app, but in reality may modify Firefox, Chrome and Safari browsers to show a significant ammout of pop-ups, redirects and other types of ads on your Mac. The outcome is that some of those ads could lead to an infection or other risky sites. This is the main reason why you should read this article and learn how to remove Crusader Connect completely from your Mac.

Threat Summary

Name	Crusader Connect
Type	Browser Hijacker for Mac OS
Short Description	Crusader Connect can hijack your browsers to show you different advertised content.
Symptoms	Redirects, pop-ups, banners, highlighted text and other ads that may slow down your Mac.
Distribution Method	Via software bundling or by being advertised on a suspicious site.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Crusader Connect Download Combo Cleaner
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Crusader Connect.

Crusader Connect Virus – How Did I Get It and What Does It Do?

The primary method that is used by Crusader Connect virus to spread onto victims computers is to allegedly be bundled in the installers of other programs. This means that you could encounter it somewhere in the install steps. There, Crusader Connect could be advertised as an optional offer or a free extra that is added to your current installation.

Once in your Mac, Crusader Connect may begin to perform all sorts of unwanted activities. One of those activities is to modify the settings of the following web browsers:

Chrome.
Safari.
Firefox.
Opera.

Once having done this, the Crusader Connect app may begin to change your New tab and Home pages to show a custom search site, instead of the original ones (Google, Bing, etc.).

This is likely done to collect information about the things you search and track what you type while online. The main idea of this is to show you ads and aggregate information about you. The ads that appear after installing Crusader Connect could be of the following types:

Pop-ups.
Browser redirect ads.
Online search result ads.
Push notifications adverts.
Banners.

The ads that may be displayed by Crusader Connect could lead you to different sites that can be very dangerous to you. Some of the sites could be risky by showing scams and some sites can even be malicious and infect your computer with a dangerous virus.

Remove Crusader Connect Malware from Your Mac

Crusader Connect is the type of app that can be tricky to remove from your Mac. If you want it gone, we recommend that you follow the removal steps underneath this article. They have been made to help you manualy remove this app. Bear in mind that apps, like Crusader Connect could begin to perform quite the activities on your computer and can have leftover files that may remain after manual removal. This is why, we stronlgy recommend that you remove Crusader Connect automatically using an advanced malware removal software. Such cleaner will detect and remove all virus files of Crusader Connect from your Mac.

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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Crusader Connect may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download SpyHunter and run free scan to remove all virus files on your PC. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Preparation before removing Crusader Connect.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Crusader Connect

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot”, tick “Network” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by Crusader Connect on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Crusader Connect there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3: Find files created by Crusader Connect

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting “Step 4”, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4: Scan for Crusader Connect with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by Crusader Connect.

Ransomware infections and Crusader Connect aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.

1. Download the reccomended Data Recovery software by clicking on the link underneath:

Stellar Data Recovery Technician Version

If the above link does not work for you and your region, try the ones below, that lead to the same product:

Stellar Data Recovery Technician Version (Secondary link)

and

Stellar Data Recovery Technician Version (with Registration)

2. On the download page, click on the “Download” button:

3. Click on “Save File” button:

4. Accept all agreements and click “Next”:

5. After all the “Next” steps, click on “Install” and then wait for the installation to complete:

6. Run the software. Click on the location to scan for missing or deleted files and click on “Scan”:

7. Wait for the scan to complete, it may take some time. Be advised that this scan is not 100% guaranteed to recover all files, but it does have some chance to get your data back:

For more “how-to” file recovery methods and steps, you can visit our instructive article on “How to Restore Files Encrypted by Ransomware (Without Decrypter)“.

Ventsislav Krastev

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REMOVE IT NOW (PC)

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Preparation before removing Crusader Connect.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Crusader Connect

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by Crusader Connect on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Crusader Connect there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3: Find files created by Crusader Connect

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Step 4: Scan for Crusader Connect with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Ventsislav Krastev

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Follow Me:

OFFER

REMOVE IT NOW (PC)

with Spy Hunter

Preparation before removing Crusader Connect.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Uninstall Crusader Connect and related software from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.

2. In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER.

3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall”

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

Step 2: Clean your Browsers from Crusader Connect.

Remove an extension from Mozilla Firefox

Remove an extension from Google Chrome

Remove an extension from Internet Explorer

Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Internet Explorer:
2. Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

3. In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

4. Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

5. After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Edge

2. Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

3. From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

4. Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

5. Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Crusader Connect on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Crusader Connect there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 4: Scan for Crusader Connect with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Ventsislav Krastev

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REMOVE IT NOW (MAC)

with Combo Cleaner

Crusader Connect may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download Combo Cleaner and run free scan to remove all virus files on your Mac. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Combo Cleaner’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

Preparation Phase:

Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:

Backup your files in case the worst happens.
Make sure to have a device with these instructions on standy.
Arm yourself with patience.

Step 1: Uninstall Crusader Connect and remove related files and objects

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your Mac with Combo Cleaner

Keep in mind, that Combo Cleaner needs to purchased to remove the malware threats. Click on the corresponding links to check Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:

3. In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to Crusader Connect:

Tip: To quit a process completely, choose the “Force Quit” option.

4. Click on the “Go” button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.

5. In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to Crusader Connect. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash”.

6. Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference. Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to Crusader Connect. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“–“) icon to hide it.

7. Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:

Go to Finder.
In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.

In case you cannot remove Crusader Connect via Step 1 above:

In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:

Disclaimer! If you are about to tamper with Library files on Mac, be sure to know the name of the virus file, because if you delete the wrong file, it may cause irreversible damage to your MacOS. Continue on your own responsibility!

1. Click on “Go” and Then “Go to Folder” as shown underneath:

2. Type in “/Library/LauchAgents/” and click Ok:

3. Delete all of the virus files that have similar or the same name as Crusader Connect. If you believe there is no such file, do not delete anything.

You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:

→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.

Step 2: Remove Crusader Connect – related extensions from your Mac’s browsers

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla Firefox

Remove a toolbar from Google Chrome

Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the Extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the add-on and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Safari

2. After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.

3. From the menu, click on “Preferences“

4. After that, select the ‘Extensions’ Tab

5. Click once on the extension you want to remove.

6. Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Crusader Connect will be removed.

How to Reset Safari
IMPORTANT: Before resetting Safari make sure you back up all your saved passwords within the browser in case you forget them.

Start Safari and then click on the gear leaver icon.

Click the Reset Safari button and you will reset the browser.

Step 3: Scan for and remove Crusader Connect files from your Mac

When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Crusader Connect, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.

Download

Combo Cleaner