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What is a Browser Hijacker? |
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Also known as hijackware,
browser hijackers
alter web browser settings to change your default start
pages
and search
pages.
Most browser malware is
written purely to increase web traffic and advertising revenue. Some of the more
dangerous malware Hijacker
programs will even leave bookmarks or favorites in your browser, without your
consent.
Browser malware can
redirect your webpages, homepages,
search results, and the pages you try to get to by clicking on a link. They
will often redirect you to an advertising page against your will. These
advertising pages may falsely claim that your computer is infected. Some browser
hijackers will try to redirect you to pornographic
websites. A few hijackers will even leave sites in your favorites list or
bookmarks, and will put them back if you try and remove them.
There are a number of ways to
get infected with a browser hijacker. Hijackware is
often accidentally downloaded from freeware or
email attachments, they can also be delivered by drive-by
downloads, bundled with other malware,
or installed by other infections. Users should take caution when installing freeware, hijackware can
often be found in the fine print.
You may be infected with hijackware if
you have any of the following symptoms:
- You open your browser
and your homepage has
been changed and when you try to change it to the original page; it
changes back to the unwanted home page.
- You run a search with Google,
or some other search engine,
and when you try to click on the search
result links, it takes you to an unrelated page.
- You are surfing the web
and randomly get redirected
to a certain page or set of pages over and over again.
- You find that there are
mysterious bookmarks
or favorites
added to your computer, which you cannot remove.
On occasion, the changes
incurred by browser
hijackers
can be fixed by changing the internet options back to the original
settings. However, some hijackers are more difficult and require you to go into
the registry and undo the changes that were
made. There are even hijackers that not only add changes
into the registry, but also add files
strategically placed on your hard drive that will change the settings back if
you try to fix them. Some hijackers will even remove or restrict
browser settings in order to prevent a
user from controlling their settings. Stop-Sign's Internet Security Suite offers comprehensive
programs for protecting your computer against the threat of malware hijackers.
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