InteractivePremium

InteractivePremium is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) that combines the capabilities of adware with those of a browser hijacker. Like all PUPs, InteractivePremium relies on deceptive distribution methods predominantly to proliferate itself. Mac users may not even realize that an additional application is being installed on their computers. However, the effects of having a PUP present on the Mac, will become noticeable almost immediately. 

InteractivePremium is designed to monetize its presence by running an intrusive advertising campaign. The generated advertising materials could take multiple forms including pop-ups, banners, surveys, in-text links and more. Engaging with any of them is not advisable, as the advertisements could lead to unsafe third-party websites. At the same time, InteractivePremium will establish control over the Web browser, and more specifically, it will modify the homepage, new tab page and the default search engine settings. All three will be set to open the fake search engine SafeFinder (via akamaihd.net). Fake engines are incapable of producing any meaningful search results. Instead, any search query initiated into the URL field of the affected browser or the main page of the fake engine will be redirected to a legitimate search engine such as Yahoo, as in this case, Bing or Chrome. 

While so far InteractivePremium may sound more like an annoyance than anything else, users should keep in mind that the PUP might be spying on them. Usually, applications of this type possess data-harvesting functionality with which they collect various data about the user's browsing habits. Information such as visited websites, clicked URLs, and all conducted searches may be packaged, uploaded to a remote server, and then offered for sale to interested parties.