EdgeBegin
EdgeBegin is an intrusive application that generates money for its creators by performing annoying and intrusive actions on users' Mac systems. More specifically, the application is tasked with running an ad campaign delivering unwanted advertisements to the device, as well as promoting a fake search engine. In short, EdgeBegin is both an adware application and a browser hijacker.
Users also should be aware that applications such as EdgeBegin are not spread via the normal distribution channels. After all, very few users would decide to download and install such software products intentionally. That is why the creators of these PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) employ various underhanded distribution methods. Two of the most commonly encountered are 'bundling' and fake installers pretending to be for legitimate software products.
When dealing with adware, users should pay attention and not engage with any of the generated advertisements. The advertisements could employ various clickbait techniques to promote additional dubious applications, lead the users to shady phishing pages, or even highly compromised websites.
The PUP also will leave its mark on the installed Web browsers. EdgeBegin will target the homepage, new tab page, and the default search engine settings and modify them to open a promoted Web address, which usually belongs to a fake search engine. Fake engines simulate the ability to deliver results but they instead redirect the users' search queries to other engines. As a result, users risk being presented with results that are inaccurate, lower in quality and potentially filled with sponsored ad links.
Finally, PUPs like EdgeBegin are known for being equipped with data-harvesting routines. These intrusive applications could be spying on users' browsing activities, collecting information about their devices, or, in the most dangerous cases, extracting sensitive information that has been saved into their Web browsers. The data could include account passwords, banking details or other payment information.
