SurfManaged

SurfManaged is a dubious application that is targeting Mac users. The goal of the program is to get installed on Mac via any means so that it can begin generating monetary gains for its creators by running an intrusive advertising campaign. There are countless applications nearly identical to SurfManaged, and the vast majority of them are spread via deceptive distribution tactics. One popular scheme is known as 'bundling.' It consists of wrapping the suspicious app inside the installation process of a more popular software product. As a result, most Mac users may not even realize that another application was delivered to their systems. This underhanded behavior serves as a basis for the classification of such applications as PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs).

There are several serious consequences of having a PUP installed on your Mac. First, it will cause a massive increase in the encountered advertisements and browser redirects. The whole browsing experience on the device may suffer drastically. The advertisements themselves could employ lure and clickbait messages to entice users into clicking on them. Then, via forced redirects, they may lead to unsafe or questionable third-party websites. Users risk being taken to phishing pages, online tactics, dubious game portals, promotional pages for even more PUPs, etc.

At the same time, the PUP may be spying on the browsing activities conducted on the device. The collected data might include the entire browsing history, clicked URLs, and conducted searches alongside various device details (IP address, geolocation, etc.). However, in some cases, the PUPs could even try to obtain sensitive data from the browser, such as the user's payment information or debit/credit card numbers. It is strongly recommended to remove all PUPs from your Mac as soon as you notice their presence.