Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.
Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.
Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Searchprotector.net and other threats.
Threats such as Searchprotector.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
Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.
Searchprotector.net is a questionable search engine that may hijack popular browsers like Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, Explorer, Opera and other. According to its Privacy Policy when a user is on the website it doesn’t collect any personally identifiable information but only receive and record certain non-personally identifiable logs on its server. However, it is likely to be distributed via shady techniques so you may notice its presence on the computer even though you don’t remember installing it. Furthermore, Searchprotector.net may cause unexpected redirects to corrupted websites and diminish your browser performance by flooding it with annoying advertisements. As long as you are using Searchprotector.net browser hijacker, your system is vulnerable thus can be exploited by malware while information connected with you and your online behavior may be sold to third party services or used for advertising purposes.
This article provides detailed removal instructions that will help you to get rid of all files installed on your PC and browser by Searchprotector.net browser hijacker.
Threat Summary
Name
Searchprotector.net
Type
Browser Hijacker, PUP
Short Description
All browsers on your computer could be affected. The hijacker will redirect you and redirect your search queries.
Symptoms
Browser settings which are altered are the homepage, search engine, and new tab. A browser extension and a toolbar can be added, as well. Your browser can be flooded with targeted advertisements.
Distribution Method
Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages
Detection Tool
See If Your System Has Been Affected by Searchprotector.net
Distribution of Searchprotector.net Browser Hijacker
Such unwanted programs often access users’ PCs via the so called bundling technique. It allows authors of different freeware and paid apps to include browser hijacker installation files into the installation set up of their app. So the last time you installed free software, you may have unnoticeably installed Searchprotector.net as well. This is why it is good to look for Advanced or Custom options while installing programs instead of just clicking the Next button. Once you open the Advanced installation options, you can unmark all unwanted insets.
Details of Searchprotector.net Impact
The visible impact of Searchprotector.net browser hijacker is its presence in all installed browsers. It may modify browser settings to set its malicious URL as homepage and new tab destination. Also it may install an unwanted browser extension that is likely to generate many unwanted ads into the browser. Below you can see the homepage of Searchprotector.net browser hijacker:
The same page will be placed as your default search engine of the browsers you have. Currently, all search queries are redirected to Yahoo Search. It appears that Searchprotector.net is just a way of its creators to generate data about users’ online behavior without providing any real utility. Unfortunately, this information, as well as identifiable personal information provided by you, may be disclosed to third parties and used for advertising or malicious purposes. In the next part of the article, you can see what data is stated to be collected by Searchprotector.net browser hijacker.
Privacy Policy of Searchprotector.net
Once Searchprotector.net is installed on computer and browser, it starts recording certain information from your browser on its server including:
Your IP address
Browser type
Internet service provider (ISP)
Cookie information
Webpages that you visit
Searchprotector.net may request you provide an e-mail address in order to send you any offers, updates, newsletters, and service related announcements. However, for the sake of your security, it is better to avoid this action and continue with the removal process. Otherwise, your information may fall into the wrong hands making you a potential victim of aggressive advertising campaigns and malware attacks.
Remove Searchprotector.net Efficiently
Searchprotector.net may be tricky to remove. If you choose to get rid of it manually, there is a chance that some leftover will remain on the system. A more secure and efficient way to remove the hijacker is running a full system scan with the help of a trustworthy anti-malware tool. Such tool will detect and clean all potentially unwanted programs and keep your system safe in future.
Note! Your computer system may be affected by Searchprotector.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 Searchprotector.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 Searchprotector.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 Searchprotector.net
Remove Searchprotector.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 Searchprotector.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.
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 Searchprotector.net with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Searchprotector.net and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Searchprotector.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.
Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.
Gergana has completed a bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy. She has been with the STF team for three years, researching malware and reporting on the latest infections. She believes that in times of constantly evolving dependency of network connected technologies, people should spread the word not the war.