Remove Gl-search.com Redirect

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

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The gl-search.com Redirect is a malware browser hijacker that redirects the victims to a hacker-controlled page. Additional viruses can be instituted, as well as any extra components.

Our in-depth gl-search.com Redirect shows how victims can effectively remove active infections and protect their machines from incoming infections.

Threat Summary

Name	Gl-search.com
Type	Browser Hijacker, PUP
Short Description	The gl-search.com is a dangerous hacker-controlled site that is distributed using browser hijackers and other tactics. It is modeled after legitimate services and represents a common rogue strategy.
Symptoms	Important web browser settings are changed in order to redirect the victims to the malware site.
Distribution Method	Browser Hijackers, Email Spam, Bundled Packages
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Gl-search.com Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Gl-search.com.

gl-search.com – Distribution Methods

The gl-search.com redirect infections can be contacted via different methods. One of the most common ways is to use phishing email messages with social engineering techniques. The malware users can hijack the templates (both text and graphics) from well-known companies and attempt to manipulate the users into thinking that they are receiving messages from legitimate services. The infections happen when the targets interact with a malware script or execute a dangerous executable file. There are several primary ways that are being used to make this happen:

• Embedded Hyperlinks — The criminals can include links to the malware samples in the body contents of the messages. They are usually disguised as password reset links, login forms or other types of portal sites that deliver scam schemes. When the hackers want to distribute executables files that lead to infections they can be modeled to look like system utilities and other software.
• Downloads — The malware files can be directly placed in the messages as attachments.
• Infected Documents — The hackers can embed the malware script into documents of various types: rich text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once they are opened a notification prompt appears which asks the users to enable the built-in scripts. If this is done the malware is downloaded from a hacker-controlled server and the infection begins.

Special hacker-controlled sites can be made specifically to distribute threats like this one. The most common tools rely on templates that attempt to replicate the look and feel of download portals and legitimate software vendors. Many of them can also hijack the legitimate text and graphics of famous companies in order to manipulate the victims into installing the samples.

However browser hijackers remain one of the most common methods. They represent malware browser extensions which are typically distributed on the official software repositories of the most famous web applications (Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer). The hackers may use fake software developer credentials and user reviews as well.

gl-search.com – More Details

As browser hijackers are the main delivery method of the gl-search.com redirect, this article concerns the many dangers that such infections cause. Once they infect the relevant applications important settings are altered. This includes the default home page, search engine and new tabs page to the hacker-provided site.

As soon as the victims open up their web browsers they will see the malware site. In the background a tracking cookie is instituted which starts to gather information from the infected computers. The security experts classify the data into two main categories:

• Anonymous Metrics — This type of data is used for statistics purposes by the malware controllers. Examples include hardware components, operating system version, type of web browser and etc.
• Personally-identifiable Information — Such data consists of harvested strings that can be used to expose the identity of the victims directly. The hackers program it to automatically find information related to their names, address, interests, passwords and messages.

Beginner computer users may not be able to spot the difference between the gl-search.com redirect page and legitimate search engines as the two look very similar. This scam strategy is employed by the criminals in order to manipulate as many users as possible to interact with the malware site. There are two main components that are located in the center of the page — the search engine box and the grid-style links located below it. The bottom menu bar consists of links to the service documents (privacy policy and terms of use).

When the computer users use the search engine they will find that the returned results showcase sponsored or ad links and not the best possible sites. In addition dangerous malware can be installed alongside the hijacker. The hyperlinks can be of two kinds. The first approach uses affiliate links that generate revenue for every click made to the sites. The second type of hyperlinks can lead to malware-infected sites.

gl-search.com – Privacy Policy

The privacy policy does not list the company behind the gl-search.com redirect. This is extremely dangerous as the victims do not know who actually controls the harvested data. Browser hijackers like this one, as well as all forms of the gl-search.com redirect, are made in large networks. As one of the main actions it does is to gather personal data, the intelligence can be stored in databases. They are then sold to marketing agencies for profit or to other interested parties.

Once the users access the site they automatically give their consent on the information gathering technologies. The document lists several ways that the information can be accessed. Every time the users access the site its scripts hijack the data. Tracking cookies and web beacons are also employed, as well as data collected by third parties. This proves the fact that the site is heavily linked with other malware services that also hijack sensitive data from the victims. Victims need to pay special attention to the fact that the gl-search.com redirect does not respond to the “do not track” options.

How to Remove gl-search.com Redirect Effectively

The removal steps for gl-search.com redirect are listed below. If you don’t feel quite comfortable with the manual removal approach you can choose the automatic. For maximum efficiency and the complete removal of gl-search.com from affected browsers and Windows system it is good to fulfill all steps.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by Gl-search.com or other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as Gl-search.com.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

To remove Gl-search.com follow these steps:

1. Uninstall malicious programs from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

How to Uninstall malicious programs from Windows:

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear (fig.1).

In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER (fig.2).

This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC.
Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

2. Clean your Browser and Registry from Gl-search.com

Remove Gl-search.com by cleaning your Browser and Registry.

Remove an extension from Mozilla FirefoxRemove an extension from Google Chrome Remove an extension from Internet Explorer Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge Fix registry entries created by Gl-search.com on your PC.

Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Edge

Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting the Automatic Removal below, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs

3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Scan your PC and Remove Gl-search.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Gl-search.com and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Gl-search.com. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.

Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.

Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: