Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Leechlink.net and other threats.
Threats such as Leechlink.net may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files. SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy
Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Leechlink.net is a malicious domain, that can attach to any website you visit. It is also a browser hijacker and has one of the most aggressive adware campaigns around the internet. To know how to remove everything related to Leechlink.net, you should carefully read the whole article.
The redirects lead to various sites, some of which are ad-supported, others have some unwanted software for download. You can also get redirected to phishing sites or ones with malicious code. Your homepage and new tab page could be modified, and a browser toolbar or extension are not excluded to be added to your browsers.
Threat Summary
Name
Leechlink.net
Type
Malicious Domain, PUP
Short Description
The homepage of your browser could be modified and you will be redirected to advertising, malicious and phishing sites.
Symptoms
Browser settings are changed. You experience redirects on almost every click. Advertisements show on webpages.
Distribution Method
Freeware Installers, Bundling, Suspicious Sites
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Leechlink.net
Leechlink.net can be distributed most commonly via an application extracted by a third-party installer setup. You can get such software on your PC, unaware that it hides in freeware installations and bundle packages. Such bundle packs have additional components for installation inside. These components are rarely disclosed, thus the Leechlink.net domain attaches to your browsers. Installing it is avoidable if you find a Custom or an Advanced install sub-menu in the setup.
There are other distribution methods that can attach the malicious domain in your browsers. That can happen via advertisement clicks, pop-ups, pop-unders, banners and suspicious website visits. Leechlink.net can generate all sorts of redirects. The malicious domain might add a browser extension as well. Every browser can be affected, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.
Leechlink.net – More Information
Leechlink.net is a malicious domain. If you have software, related to it on your computer, you will start seeing all kinds of unwanted activity when you are browsing. Your homepage and new tab page can be modified, and you might see a browser extension added as well. Not only does this malicious domain have hijacking capabilities, but also has its very own search engine with the address: leechlink.net/search?q=. This is shown in the picture here:
You can see different sites being advertised and also a there is link to the Bing search engine, but the leechlink.net domain is attached, which creates a frame around the main page of a targeted website. That frame might contain only in-text links with redirects to other sites or a lot of ads on the page you are visiting.
You can see an example shown in the picture below, where the whole page is a copy of the original one but filled with advertising content from top to bottom:
When you are browsing, you will get redirected to various domains. All of them probably make money on a pay-per-click scheme. These redirects can land you on phishing sites, ad-supported sites, sites with software downloads and malicious code inside. You shouldn’t click on any redirects, although some of them load automatically, even without hovering with the mouse. Some of the most notorious and common redirects are to the following sites:
Those sites will display prompts for different actions, like installing fake video players or updates, presented as necessary. Other prompts for installing things that are claimed to be useful by the sites happen as well. You can often get redirected to an official, trusted and well-renowned domains, but with the frame of Leechlink.net on them. As it happened to us when researching:
Leechlink.net – Privacy Policy
There is no Privacy Policy presented by Leechlink.net. Know that from every redirect you get, you automatically accept the policy of that site you are on. You also give your consent for your information to be collected and shared by many of these sites. That information is both personally and non-personally identifiable and can contain your usernames, password or banking data.
Remove Leechlin.net Completely
To try and remove Leechlin.net and its every file and modification manually from your computer, follow the step-by-step removal instructions given below. If the manual removal does not get rid of the malicious domain and redirects completely, you should search for and remove any leftovers with an advanced anti-malware program. Such software will also keep your computer safe from future threats.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Leechlink.net 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 Leechlink.net. 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 Leechlink.net 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 Leechlink.net
Remove Leechlink.net 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 Leechlink.net 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.
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 Leechlink.net with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Leechlink.net and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Leechlink.net. 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.
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.
Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Berta is a dedicated malware researcher, dreaming for a more secure cyber space. Her fascination with IT security began a few years ago when a malware locked her out of her own computer.
Remove an extension from Mozilla Firefox
Remove an extension from Google Chrome
Remove an extension from Internet Explorer
Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge
Fix registry entries created by Leechlink.net on your PC.
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Leechlink.net and remove them.
Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.
