Boxed Search

The Boxed Search service from Boxedsearch.com is associated with a browser extension that was reported to travel with free software packages. Also, users have submitted complaints that their Web browser loaded Boxedsearch.com automatically. The Boxed Search service and browser extension may be bundled with free programs as a way for the freeware developers to earn some pay-per-install revenue. Search engines like Boxedsearch.com are part of extensive networks that welcome users to search the Web and receive "better search results." In this context, "better search results" translates to targeted advertisements based on your IP address, machine ID, Internet history, recent downloads and installed third-party software. These statistics can be recorded through the Boxed Search extension and help marketers, and advertisers boost their profit from users clicking on promoted content.

The Boxed Search browser extension is fagged as a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) that may be perceived as a browser hijacker by some AV vendors and security scanners. The Boxed Search browser extension may be found in the Extensions/Add-ons Manager of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. The app by Boxedsearch.com was analyzed, and we discovered that it has many clones, which exchange data with the 54.187.241.66 and the 52.89.48.89 IP addresses. Almost all domains registered to 54.187.241.66 and 52.89.48.89 appear to be connected to My-websearch.net that is an advertising network and a technology tracking domain. Evidently, the Boxed Search service is one of many to be used for advertisement distribution. Web surfers should read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy published on Boxedsearch.com/terms and Boxedsearch.com/privacy before they decide to keep using Boxedsearch.com and the associated software on their computers. If you are not sure that the companies behind Boxedsearch.com and My-websearch.net should have access to statics regarding your online activity — you might want to install and run a trusted anti-spyware scanner that can remove tracking cookies, Web beacons, and the pixels linked to Boxedsearch.com and My-websearch.net. The list below includes most of the clones of Boxedsearch.com, but you should note that the companies behind My-websearch.net may register new gateways:

• Allinsearch[.]com
• Birdfinds[.]com
• Bonzersearch[.]com
• Jp-search[.]co
• Onlinewebsearch.com[.]au
• Quivisi[.]com
• Reeturn[.]com
• Resultconnect[.]com
• Search14[.]com