www-search.net Related to Tuvaro, How to Stop Hijacking?

remove www-search.net

OUTLINE

• Will www-search.net Dangerous?
• Why www-search.net keeps hijacking?
• Conclusion on www-search.net hijacking consequence
• Learn the way to remove
• Other related posts

Will www-search.net Dangerous?

PC users that update security knowledge frequently would have now known that     is not technically a virus. It is called browser hijacker and categorized as PUP, the one that causes unpleasant scenarios without adopting vicious codes and may contain potential dangers.

People should be aware of the potential dangers to be constantly hijacked by the PUP like www-search.net.

1. Presenting as a normal search engine, www-search.net displays random ads on its surface. By doing so, www-search.net would get PPC revenue to support its running and it is because of the ads it cooperates with that help propagate rapidly and show the browser hijacker abruptly without permission or knowledge.


2. As a freeware. www-search.net Has to bundle with third-party programs to help with propagation and high exposure rate without consuming much money. It resembles blackhat SEO. In return, the PUP would install the programs that helped it on the target machine, which would take up limited resource and badly harms the compactness and effectiveness of the PC performance, making the machine weak enough to be attacked easily by virus should there be any.


3. Once www-search.net is capitalized by virus, the JS and BHO techniques (the two are widely used in building websites) will be utilized maliciously to record in-put information and preload vicious codes into the target machine easily. Therefore, it is recommended to remove www-search.net the sooner the better.

Why www-search.net Keeps Hijacking?

If one looks into computer world, one would notice the fact that many virus makers start attacking/self-making web applications to help with information theft as such method will not be effectively stopped by installed anti-virus programs automatically as computing techniques are involved and will not be noticed by victims.

Yet, PUP like www-search.net is not originally made for that. It is a tool to intercept traffic and thus help augment page rank and exposure rate for effective promotion. With huge traffic,www-search.net would have online operators/advertisers paid it to direct traffic as asked. Besides, with JS technique,www-search.net manages to get online whereabouts and that data can contribute to a more accurate decision on marketing strategy. The more www-search.net hijacks, the more such data will be obtained and the more traffic it’ll get.

Conclusion on www-search.net Hijacking Consequence

1. Additional web applications will be installed without permission and knowledge.
2. A lot of cache and temp files will pile up in local disk to slow down the overall PC performance as well as the page-loading speed.
3. Warning alert about infections can be expected.
4. Search redirect can happen intermittently.
5. Money loss and identity theft.

Learn the Way to Remove www-search.net

A. Reset browsers.


Internet Explorer: Tools menu > Internet Options > Advanced tab > Restore Defaults button > OK.



Mozilla Firefox:  Firefox button > Help > Troubleshooting information > ‘Reset Firefox’ button.


Google Chrome:‘Customize and Control Google Chrome’ menu > ‘Options’ > ‘Under the Hood’ > ‘Reset to Defaults’ button.

 
Opera: Show hidden files and folders (see Step B) > navigate to "C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera\" > remove Operapref.ini.


Safari: Safari menu > ‘Reset Safari’ > tick all given options > ‘Reset’ button.




B. Show hidden files and folders to remove Temp file and the ones related to www-search.net.





Windows 7/XP/Vista
‘Control Panel’ > 'user accounts and family safety' > 'Folder Options’ > View tab > tick ‘Show hidden files and folders' and non-tick 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’ > ‘OK’.

Windows 8
Start screen > Windows Explorer > View tab > tick ‘File name extensions’ and ‘Hidden items’ options > OK button.

a.when done, remove the given items:

C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Temp\
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet File

b. navigate to the following directories and remove the items generated on and after the date when www-search.net was firstly detected(according to creation day):

C:\Windows
%SystemDriver%\
C:\Program Files\
C:\windows\system32\
C:\users\user\appdata\local\
C:\Users\[your username]\Documents\
c:\users\[username]\appdata\locallow\

Mac OS X
Finder > Utilities folder > Terminal > copy and paste "defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES" > return key > copy and paste the "killall Finder" > return key.

a. remove temp files and folders:

Finder > Utilities folder > terminal:

1. type

   cd ~/Library/Logs
   sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/*

   and press Return button.


2. type

   rm -rf ~/Library/Safari/Downloads.plist
   cd ~/Library/Caches
   sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*

   and press Return button.

b. access the following locations to remove the items generated on and after the date when www-search.net was firstly detected (according to creation day):

Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ 
Home folder/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ 
Applications
Dock
Display

C. Modify Hosts file.


Windows
Win+R key combination > type CMD > hit Enter key > type "ping www-search.net" > Enter key > note down the IP address > navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc > click open Hosts file > paste the IP address to the last line > save file.


Mac OS X
Finder launchpad icon > Utilities > Terminal > type "ping www-search.net" > Enter/Return key > note down the IP address > shift+command+g key combination > type “etc” (/private/etc/hosts) > Enter/Return key > click open Hosts file > paste the IP address to the last line > save it to modify host file.

As a freeware to propagate by drive-by download method, it is not surprise to have additional items installed during the process. It is advisable to remove all the related items after removing www-search.net completely. As any related item can bring www-search.net back in a minute though what you have done is complete and correct. Besides, what offers above is removal thread that shows how to identify the responsible and associated ones rather than showing the exact ones that one should remove as the name and the directory can vary from OS to OS and time to time. For corresponding solution, please navigate to virus reservoir.

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