Saturday, September 14, 2013

Malware Attack my browsers

Anyone got this funny search link: websearch(dot)the-searcheng(dot)info?

On the first look, it looks like a simple search engine and a web ad. I thought google had changed their search engine.

I got this search link affecting the following browsers: IE, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. As long as you select a new tab, the affected browser will point and redirect to the intended link: websearch(dot)the-searcheng(dot)info.

Did some searches to find out the the behavior of the search and learned that it is some kind of malware and infected my computer.

Detection and Removal:

Perform a anti-malware scan and removed the infected stuff but it still stays. I even uninstalled and reinstalled firefox and it stayed! So what is next?
.
Reset to the default state helps.

For IE, go to Internet Options and select the Reset button and let it reset. Remember to check if the link appears in the home page (Look under Internet Options --> General tab) and change it.

For Mozilla Firefox, go to Firefox --> Help --> Troubleshooting Information and look for Reset Firefox button. Click on the reset firefox button and reset it.For my case, it takes a couple of  minutes and after that the link does not show up any more when I select a new tab.

For Google chrome, look for a button with 3 horizontal bars on the top right side of the browser and click it. Select Settings and look fo Reset browser settings. Click on Reset browser settings.

I didn't install Opera nor Safari and I cannot comment if the method work for Opera and Safari.

- wong chee tat :) 


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