Remove Google Redirect Virus

Google Redirect Virus continues to plague users globally in 2017. This redirect is among the most dangerous, annoying and difficult to remove infections that are now spreading through the World Wide Web. The virus is causing redirection of the Google search results. Users have been reporting for a few years now that every time when they click on a desired search result, instead of going to the original page, they are being redirected to third-party sites. Such web locations can be very dangerous, since they are well known to either scam users, install adware PUPs (potentially unwated programs) or infect them with malware.

Threat Summary

Name	Google Redirect Virus
Type	Rootkit
Short Description	Executes redirect scripts into legitimate Google search results.
Symptoms	Redirects to third-party sites of unknown origin by clicking on search results. Difficulty to remove.
Distribution Method	By clicking on a malicious link. By opening a malicious email attachment.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Google Redirect Virus Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Google Redirect Virus.

How Does Google Redirect Virus Affect the User’s Computer?

When the user of the Google redirect virus affected PC is doing a search in Google, the search machine shows approximately ten links. When the user clicks on these links he is redirected to advertisement or hacker hoax webpages. These pages are designed to trick the user and to steal one’s personal information.

The experts sometimes refer to this virus as Yahoo redirect virus or Bing redirect virus, as the same infection affects the other search engines too. A new variant of this infection has been recently found and called Happili redirect virus and Nginx redirect virus. All these symptoms are caused by the same group of computer infections.

To be more precise, there isn’t one particular virus responsible for the so-called Google redirect virus, or the similar redirects mentioned above. This term is used to describe various issues and infections stemming from malware or viruses leading to redirecting users to Google or a page that is made to look like the search engine. In fact all the displayed search results will lead to further issues and interacting with them is not advisory, to say the least.

Google Redirect Virus: Technical Details

According to security researchers, the virus has been reported to link to many suspicious sites, the most notorious of which are:

• search.babylon.com (One of the most famous browser hijacker related search engines).
• livejasmin.com (Ad-supported online adult website).
• adf.ly(Legitimate ad-supported service that can be exploited via malvertising).
• neatsearchserver.com (known associations with ZeroAccess rootkit).

Besides those, there are several other sites believed to be associated with the Google redirect virus:

→“Search.babylon.com, scour.com, blinkx.com, Worldslife.com, Blendersearch.com, Bodisparking.com, coolsearchserver.com, webplains.net, find-fast-answers.com, search-netsite.com, toseeka.com, AboutBlank, La.vuwl.com, 10-directory.com, 63.209.69.107, 67.29.139.153, 7search.com, adorika.com, adf.ly, admarketplace.com, alive-finder.com, alltheservices.com, articlemule.org, asklots.com, ave99.com, b00kmarks.com, background-sleuth.net, bargainmatch.com, beoo.com, bestdiscountinsurance.com, bestsearchpage.com, bestclicksnow.com, bestmarkstore.com, bestwebchoices.com, bestwebsearch.com, bidsystem.com, secure.bidvertiser.com, britewallet.com, budgetmatch.net, buzzclick.com, celebrity-gossip.net, cheapstuff.com, citysearch.com, clicksor.com (Clicksor), clkads.com, feed.clickbizz.com, comparedby.us, comparestores.net, couponmountain.com, digitaltrends.com, easilyfindlocal.com, everythinghere.com, evoplus.com, expandsearchanswers.com (expand search answers), fastfinder.com, feedsmixer.org (starFeedsMixer), find-quick-results.com, FilesCup.com (FilesCup), findexmark.com, find-answers-fast.com, Zinkwink.com, us-srch-system.com, finditreport.com, findology.com, finderquery.com, findstuff.com, flurrysearch.com, forless.com, gimmeanswers.org, glimpse.com, google-redirect.com, googlesearchserver.net, get-search-results.com, goingonearth.com, goodsearch.com, gomeo.co.uk, gossipcenter.com, gquestionnaire.com, greatsearchserver.com, greenluo.com, grooveswish.com, guide2faucets.com, happili.com, HelloLocal.com, hyperpromote.com, informationgetter.com, inruo.com, jerseyscatalog.com, juggle.com, k100searches.com, YouPorn, liutilities.com, livejasmin.com (creative.livejasmin.com popups), local-search-pages.com, localpages.com, localsearchbug.com, lowpriceshopper.com, manufacturersdirectory.com, multifind24.com, mybestclick.net, mycustomsearch.cn, mydealchoices.com, mydealmatch.com, mylocalhero.com, neatsales.com, neatsearchserver.com (neat search server ZeroAccess rootkit), netsearchfinder.com, netshoppers.com, nexplore.com, privacycheck.ru, Pulse360.com, qooqle.com, questyes.com, quick-search-results.com, quick-suggest.com, redirectsite.net, results5.google.com, safecompare.com, saveandcoupon.com, savecompare.com, savingwithads.com, scoursearch.net, search-redirector.com, searchforall.info, searching4all.com, search-results.com (int.search-results.com), searchbacon.com, searchdiscovered.com, searchqu.com, searchqualitysites.com, searchnext.com, searchspice.com, shopcompare.net, shopcompareus.com, shopfinded.com, shopica.com, shopica.com/search, shopzilla.com, socialsurvey2011.info, Social Search Redirect, Search-netsite.com, kitchenrenopages.com, kingtopsearch.net, kiseek.com, lawyerinsight.org, letsbuystuff.com, njksearc.net, qooqlle.com, Storeordersonline.com, somesearchsystem.com, startnow.com, startsearcher.com, supersearchserver.com, TabDiscover.com, tazinga.com (tazinga!), theifinder.com, Thewebtimes.com, Marveloussearchsystem.com, merchantsnearby.com, monstermarketplace.com, mooter.com, TheTop10.com, tubedownloader.com, theyellowpages.com, theyellowpagez.com, topdaodrugs.com, tubedownloader.com, Therelatedsearch.com, unblock-us.com, valueapproved.com, vshare.toolbarhome.com (vShare), vehiclefind24.com, whatcarefreefeelslike.com,weeklycontestwinner.org, weeklyusa-winner.com, webshoppinghelper.com, webresults6.org, yellowmoxie.com, search.yellowise.com, ylwbook.addresses.com, youfindmore.com and Zwankysearch.com.”

Google redirect virus won’t be easy to locate and recognize, as it won’t display any visible signs as with other virus-related scams (e.g. tech support scams). In fact, the redirect aims to do exactly the opposite – stay concealed within your machine for extended periods of time to monitor your online activities. Cybercrooks usually seek to infect PCs on a massive scale as parts of different campaigns. Such campaigns ensure them different benefits, some of which may be generating profit and obtaining different information about worldwide users. If they have one user’s information, it won’t be nearly enough to satisfy their malicious needs. However, if infections are done on a massive scale that allows them to be very powerful. More so, they can make money on pay-per-click schemes by receiving profit per percentage as a part of an affiliate agreement or a particular contract. This is a more advanced marketing strategy that may aim to push the above-mentioned sites’ traffic upwards.

According to Wiki researchers, the Google redirect virus is believed to be associated with the following processes, DLL files, registry values and other objects on your PC:

→Processes
dmgsh.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Xzagua.exe
Xzagua.exe
Xwk.exe
Xwo.exe

→DLLs
C:\WINDOWS\system32\UAC.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\uacinit.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\_VOID.dll
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\4DW4R3c.dll
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\4DW4R3.dll
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\_VOIDmainqt.dll

→Other Files
C:\Windows\System32\wdmaud.sys
TDSSserv.sys
C:\WINDOWS\_VOID\
C:\WINDOWS\_VOID\_VOIDd.sys
C:\WINDOWS\system32\UAC.db
C:\WINDOWS\system32\UAC.dat
C:\WINDOWS\system32\uactmp.db
C:\WINDOWS\system32\_VOID.dat
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\4DW4R3sv.dat
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\_VOID.sys
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\UAC.sys
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\4DW4R3.sys
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\4DW4R3.sys
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\_VOIDtmp
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\UAC.tmp
%Temp%\UAC.tmp
%Temp%\_VOID.tmp

→Registry Keys
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\_VOIDd.sys
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\_VOID
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UACd.sys
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\4DW4R3

Furthermore, Symantec researchers have identified a new malicious threat associated with the virus, naming it Backdoor.Tidserv. Also, they have created a removal tool especially for this virus, calling it the Backdoor.Tidserv removal tool.

In addition, Symantec researchers believe that this threat uses sophisticated rootkit–like behavior with the purpose of staying undetected for longer periods of time. Such threats are created with one and only purpose – to generate profits to their author. Most adware applications only display three to four ad-supported search results, pop-ups or sometimes redirects. This threat may display redirects from genuine links on the computer. So in case you get redirected multiple times by clicking on genuine links you know for sure are legitimate (Facebook, eBay, etc.) this is a clear, sign that you have the Google redirect virus on your system.

What Is a Rootkit?

First of all, rootkits can be both malicious and legitimate. Some rootkits can be installed as parts of legitimate apps.

Malicious rootkit is the type application that no user wants to ever encounter. It is an application designed to hide its presence, or the presence of another program, on the system. To do so, rootkits use some of the lower layers of the OS such as API function redirection. This approach makes rootkits very persistent to detection, at least by average anti-malware program.

How do rootkits infect systems? The most common distribution method is via Trojan horses or malicious email attachments. Nonetheless, there are other infection vectors, including the installation of dubious plugins and the overall unsafe user behavior.

What Does Google Redirect Virus Infection Do?

The Google redirect virus can lead to many other infections. Some of them are simple like modification of the host file, others however are very serious as they are state-of-the-art computer rootkits like the fearsome rootkit from the TDSS family. The rootkit infections are hard to be removed, as they are quite different from the ordinary virus. When the PC user is affected by a simple virus, it can be deleted from the hard drive. The users have to search through the system when not loaded and get an idea of the situation.

The rootkit infections are different. They are viruses written in a special way that get inside the computer and integrate into the heart of the operating system. The rootkits make the users’ PC windows show them things that they hide the things that should be there and show things that do not exist. In addition to that, the rootkit of Google Redirect Virus can download Trojans.

Why Removing Google Redirect Virus Is So Difficult?

All computer experts confirm that the removal of this redirect is very difficult. This virus has the power to alter the Master Boot Record (MBR) and make a partition of its own. The experts cannot find this when Windows is running and without special anti-rootkit techniques.

When infected, some of the main windows files will be patched and the operating system will keep on working as intended. However the patched files can receive commands from hackers and then they can do anything they want to the user’s system. It is not simple to delete these files, as windows will not boot.

How Can You Remove Google Redirect Virus?

Complete removal is not possible with the rootkit infection. In order to fix this problem, the user will need professional removal tools. Here is what the user can do on his own:

• Remove the suspicious extensions and add-ons from the browsers Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
• Reset browser settings.
• Manually remove the browser hijacked homepage.
• Manually remove the unwanted search engine.
• Modify the Windows hosts file and delete the unwanted IP addresses.
• Review the Domain Name Server (DNS), as it might be poisoned.
• Check the proxy settings.

It is also an essential strategy to disconnect the web connection and boot the computer in Safe Mode while performing the actions described above. Experts highly recommend to download an offline installer of the latest version of an advanced malware protection from a safe PC and install it in the infected computer in order to scan and remove all traces of Google redirect virus completely.

Also, in order to be thorough, it is essential to use a portable rootkit remover program and a registry cleaner. In order to clean your browser data, boot your PC in safe mode and attempt any manual removal please refer to the removal guide below and download a particular anti-malware tool after manual removal. Also refer to the above mentioned files associated with Google Redirect Virus.

Manually delete Google Redirect Virus from your computer

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Google Redirect Virus files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

2. Find malicious files created by Google Redirect Virus on your PC

Find malicious files created by Google Redirect Virus

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Automatically remove Google Redirect Virus by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove Google Redirect Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Remove Google Redirect Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Google Redirect Virus.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Google Redirect Virus.

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

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly 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.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any Google Redirect Virus files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

3. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by Google Redirect Virus in the future

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 automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

To back up your files via Windows and prevent any future intrusions, follow these instructions:

1. For Windows 7 and earlier 1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 1. Enabling the Windows Defense Feature (Previous Versions)

1-Click on Windows Start Menu

2-Type Backup And Restore
3-Open it and click on Set Up Backup

4-A window will appear asking you where to set up backup. You should have a flash drive or an external hard drive. Mark it by clicking on it with your mouse then click on Next.

5-On the next window, the system will ask you what do you want to backup. Choose the ‘Let Me Choose’ option and then click on Next.

6-Click on ‘Save settings and run backup’ on the next window in order to protect your files from possible attacks by Google Redirect Virus.

1-Press Windows button + R

2-In the window type ‘filehistory’ and press Enter

3-A File History window will appear. Click on ‘Configure file history settings’

4-The configuration menu for File History will appear. Click on ‘Turn On’. After its on, click on Select Drive in order to select the backup drive. It is recommended to choose an external HDD, SSD or a USB stick whose memory capacity is corresponding to the size of the files you want to backup.

5-Select the drive then click on ‘Ok’ in order to set up file backup and protect yourself from Google Redirect Virus.

1- Press Windows button + R keys.

2- A run windows should appear. In it type ‘sysdm.cpl’ and then click on Run.

3- A System Properties windows should appear. In it choose System Protection.

5- Click on Turn on system protection and select the size on the hard disk you want to utilize for system protection.
6- Click on Ok and you should see an indication in Protection settings that the protection from Google Redirect Virus is on.

Restoring a file via Windows Defense feature:
1-Right-click on the encrypted file, then choose Properties.

2-Click on the Previous Versions tab and then mark the last version of the file.

3-Click on Apply and Ok and the file encrypted by Google Redirect Virus should be restored.

Milena Dimitrova

An inspired writer, focused on user privacy and malicious software. Enjoys 'Mr. Robot' and fears '1984'.

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