Surf-live.com Removal Guide

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 Surf-live.com redirect is a new browser hijacker that is actively being used to infect users worldwide. The malware code retrieves personal data from the victims and can institute additional threats to the compromised hosts.

Threat Summary

Name	Surf-live.com
Type	Browser Hijacker, PUP
Short Description	The Surf-live.com redirect is a typical example of a hijacker that redirects the users to a hacker-controlled site and can cause dangerous system changes to the infected computer.
Symptoms	The redirect code changes the default home page, search engine and new tabs page to point to the hacker-controlled page.
Distribution Method	Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Surf-live.com Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Surf-live.com.

Surf-live.com – Delivery Techniques

The Surf-live.com redirect infections are primarily caused by using the most popular delivery tactics employed by the hacker controllers. Such malware are usually part of malware browser plugins that are found on the software repositories. The hackers behind the threats utilize fake developer credentials and user reviews in order to infect as many users as possible.

Email messages constitute the other option used by the hackers which is usually made in two distinct forms. The first one relies on malware hyperlinks inserted in the body contents of the messages. They coerce the targets into clicking on them by posing as password reset links, notifications or other messages that are frequently sent by web services. In a lot of cases the hacker developers hijack text and graphics from popular sites in order to manipulate the users into interacting with the malware element. The other tactic uses file attachments that are sent directly to the users.

In a similar way the malware files can be hosted on download sites and file sharing networks such as BitTorrent.

In the past few months we have detected that more and more criminals rely on the use of two additional tactics.

The first one relies on the inclusion of the malware code in software installers. The way they ar is made by takin the legitimate installers from the official vendor sites and bundling them with the dangerous code. The resulting file is then uploaded to download sites or BitTorrent trackers. The Surf-live.com redirect malware can also be bundled within documents as well. They can be of different types (rich text documents, spreadsheets or presentations) and once they are opened a notification prompt is spawned which asks the victims to run the built-in code (macros). This leads to the actual infections.

Surf-live.com – More Details

The Surf-live.com redirect follows the typical behavior tactics that make it compatible with the most popular web browsers: Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Such threats are modeled to harvest sensitive user and system information. This is usually done by introducing a tracking cookie and other web beacons.

Once the users open up their browsers the next time they will notice that the home page, search engine and new tabs page will be changed to reflect the malware page. Such changes are part of the malware’s instructions.

The instituted tracking components relay sensitive information about the infected hosts that is usually classified in two major groups:

• Personally-Identifiable Data — The computer criminals can use the harvested data to directly expose the victims identity. This includes data such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, preferences, account credentials and passwords.
• Anonymous Data — This information consists mainly of data related to the operating system: version information, available hardware components and etc.

Surf-live.com redirect infections can also be used to deploy additional malware as a first stage delivery mechanism — ransomware, Trojans and other advanced computer threats.

The site is designed using a typical site template that poses as a search engine. It is dominated by a search engine box in the center with a small logo above it and two options — text and image search. On the bottom bar there are links to the privacy policy and terms of use documents.

All interaction with the malware site leads to a profile building operation. Using the information gathering technology the Surf-live.com redirect code will create a full profile of the user which may include demographic and sensitive data that is pooled into a large database. Such sites are usually created in groups and are part of a whole network operated by a single company. The collected data is then usually sold to marketing agencies and other interested parties for profit. As a result all user searches and interactions will be recorded.

We also warn that browser hijackers are a popular mechanism for spreading malware scripts. The sites may redirect the users to false pages, ads, banners, pop-ups. A popular tactic is to insert affiliate links in e-commerce sites which generates income for the hackers every time the victims purchase something on the Internet.

Surf-live.com – Privacy Policy

The privacy policy reads that the Surf-live.com redirect is operated by a company called Coinup Ltd. It lists that the service is hosted on a Microsoft Cloud account. No further information is revealed about the company (such as their contact details) which is highly suspicious.

The documents list that upon the first site visit the user automatically give their consent to share sensitive data with the site. Cookies and other web technology are deployed automatically. The following types of data are collected by the malware:

• Your Name
• Your Email address
• Time and date you access and use the Service
• Approximate geographical location
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• IP address
• Preferred language
• Preferred search settings
• Browser type
• Operating system type
• Other Data you provide

How to Remove Surf-live.com Redirect

Below are listed all the steps that will help you to remove Surf-live.com redirect completely from an affected Chrome, Mozilla, Explorer, or Safari browser. The guide includes steps that reveal how to remove the nasty program from the Windows system as well. You can choose whether to follow a manual or an automatic removal. However, you should know that the manual instructions are not always enough to eliminate the infection as some leftovers may remain on the system. As a result, you may still experience redirects to Surf-live.com website while browsing the net. Maximum efficiency can be achieved with the help of an advanced anti-malware tool as it can quickly locate all leftovers.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by Surf-live.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 Surf-live.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 Surf-live.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 Surf-live.com

Remove Surf-live.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 Surf-live.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.

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 Surf-live.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for Surf-live.com and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove Surf-live.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: