Threat Database Browser Hijackers Search.searchworm.com

Search.searchworm.com

Search.searchworm.com is a fake search engine being promoted by browser-hijacker applications that affect Windows and Mac users. The goal is to generate artificial traffic towards the specific address. To achieve this, search.searchworm.com has been detected to be promoted by variants of the notorious Trovi browser hijacker, as well as an application called New Tab Theme Buddy. Most often than not, these applications are not installed willingly by the users, and instead, they rely on deceptive marketing tactics. That is why they can be classified as Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs).

When a browser hijacker is installed onto the user's computer, it will take over certain browser settings. The homepage, new page tab, and the default search engine will be modified to open the search.searchworm.com address. Then, if the user simply opens the browse, it would result in increased traffic to the promoted fake search engine immediately. Search.searchworm.com is indeed fake, as it cannot produce any search results on its own. It takes the search query of the user and redirects it through a legitimate search engine, depending on the specific geolocation of the computer that can be either Google or Bing.

It is recommended to remove such browser-hijacker applications as soon as you notice any signs of their presence. Besides preventing the affected browser settings from being changed back to their default state, most browser hijackers collect various information such as search history, clicked URLs, all visited websites, etc. Some even log the IP address of the device, its geolocation and ISP.

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