BeyondLaunch

BeyondLaunch is yet another dubious application that Mac users must be wary about. As is typically the case, BeyondLaunch is classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) due to the underhanded distribution methods it employs to spread itself. PUPs are known for relying on a tactic known as bundling or fake installers pretending to be for another more popular software product.

From a functionality standpoint, BeyondLaunch is capable of acting both as adware and a browser hijacker. The application will deliver annoying, intrusive, and largely untrustworthy advertisements to the Mac systems it is present on. Users who interact with the generated advertisements could find themselves exposed to additional risks such as hoax websites, phishing pages, offers to install more PUPs, etc.

At the same time, the browser hijacker code will establish control over the user's Web browser. To be more precise, these applications are mostly interested in modifying the homepage, new tab page, and the default search engine and forcing them to open a promoted address. Typically, browser hijackers are involved in the promotion of fake search engines that cannot deliver any results on their own. Users will instead be shown results gathered by a legitimate engine such as Yahoo, Bing or Google.

Keeping a PUP on your Mac may not be a good idea. In addition, to their more obvious and mostly annoying actions, these applications also might be collecting sensitive browsing data in the background. The acquired information could be transmitted to a remote server continuously so that the operators of the particular PUP can decide on how to exploit it exactly.