SearchUp

According to infosec researchers, SearchUp is a deceptive application belonging to the Pirrit adware family. As such, its goal is to infiltrate the user's Mac system, run an intrusive ad campaign, and generate monetary gains for its creators in the process. Applications of this type are typically distributed via deceitful tactics, such as bundling or being placed inside fake installers/updates. This way the application's installation is performed in the background and the users may not even realize that an intruder program was delivered to their devices. All applications using such underhanded methods fall into the PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) category.

Apart from the adware functionality, SearchUp, like other members of the Pirrit family, also may be equipped with browser hijacker capabilities. Users may notice that the homepage, new page tab, and the default search engine of their Web browser have all been set to now open an unfamiliar address. In nearly all cases, browser hijackers are used to generating artificial traffic towards a fake search engine.

Keeping PUPs on your device carries the risk of having your browsing activities monitored and then transmitted to a remote server. The tracked information could include various device details such as IP address and geolocation coupled with the entire browsing and search histories. 

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