EXtSearchs

EXtSearchs is a browser hijacker application. No matter what other features it may boast of having, its only goal is to drive artificial traffic towards the promoted fake search engine. In most cases, browser hijacker applications such as this are not installed by the user willingly. Instead, various deceptive tactics are employed in the propagation of the applications, such as hiding inside the installation process of another more popular application or posing as installers for legitimate software.

When EXtSearchs enters a user's computer, it changes several browser settings - mainly the default search engine, the homepage, new page tab, and to open the searchnets.xyz, a fake search engine. As a result, whenever the affected browser or a tab is simply opened, it will result in traffic being generated for the promoted address. Furthermore, by itself, searchnets.xyz cannot deliver any search results as it lacks that functionality. Instead, it takes the user's search queries and redirects them through a legitimate search engine such as Yahoo. However, various sponsored advertisements can be injected into the list of displayed results, so users should use caution when clicking on unknown links.

Even more privacy concerns arise when the fact that most browser hijackers can harvest data is taken into account. The user's browsing history, conducted searches, clicked URLs could all be tracked and exfiltrated. The IP address of the device, Internet provider, and geolocation could also be among the logged information. That is why it is highly advocated to remove EXtSearchs from your computer as soon as possible.