'Wants access to control Safari' Browser Hijacker

"Wants access to control Safari" is a macOS alert message associated with a lot of browser hijackers that affect the Safari browser on Mac systems.

The string found before the "wants access to control Safari" message can vary. That exact string is the real name of the browser hijacker in question. Sometimes those hijackers have misleading names like "Finder.app", tailored to trick the user into thinking they are a legitimate system component.

Other times, the browser hijacker's name found before the "wants access to control Safari" string is just a completely random string of numbers or letters. What those hijackers have in common is the fact that they can make unwanted changes to your browser.

Clicking "ok" in the "wants access to control Safari" prompt will give the browser hijacker access to the internals of your Safari browser. From that point on, the hijacker will have free rein over a wide range of settings and functionality inside your Safari install. This includes changing your home page and default search engine, as well as displaying unsolicited and potentially dangerous ads inside your browser.

Browser hijackers may partner up with rogue ad networks. This means that the ads sourced through them may link to questionable online content, untrustworthy websites, misleading pages and scam or phishing portals.

All of this can be avoided if you simply click "Don't allow" when the prompt asking you to allow access to control Safari comes up.