'Hmopt Will Damage Your Computer' Message
Users are reporting seeing a warning prompt with the 'Hmopt will damage your computer' message and that they have no idea what caused it. This alert is part of Apple's efforts to crack down on the proliferation of adware, browser hijackers, and other PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) within their ecosystems. The specific alert for Hmopt has been linked to the presence of exactly such PUP named MacOptimizer.
The goal of all PUPs, and most likely Hmopt itself, is to monetize their presence. They achieve this through different methods but the most popular ones are running an intrusive advertising campaign or causing frequent redirects to dubious and untrustworthy third-party websites. Users are advised to abstain from clicking on any of the displayed advertisements as they could lead to phishing pages, domains distributing additional PUPs, or even compromised websites that may try to drop a malware threat onto the computer.
Private user data also may be compromised by the installed PUPs. Information such as conducted searches, visited websites, clicked URLs, IP address and geolocation can all be packed and then exfiltrated to the creators of the application.
