TabQuery.com

TabQuery.com Image

On the surface, TabQuery.com appears to be a typical search engine. Its minimalist appearance and stereotypical magnifying glass icon are anything but suspicious. However, TabQuery.com belongs to a large family of search engines that share identical interfaces and are closely associated with browser hijackers. While visiting TabQuery.com will not infect your computer with malware directly, TabQuery.com may pose as a threat to your computer. This is because the search results on TabQuery.com are sponsored, almost never corresponding to the computer user's query, and often advertising malicious websites and online scams. However, the main problem with TabQuery.com is the fact that criminals use browser hijackers to ensure that their victims visit TabQuery.com repeatedly. Redirects to TabQuery.com are often accompanied with a slow connection speed, redirects to other websites, unwanted pop-up notifications, and general instability within your operating system.

The Main Problem with the TabQuery.com Website

Despite the fact that TabQuery.com is advertised as a real search engine, and even includes a User Agreement and Terms of a Privacy Agreement that computer users can view, these are all just a cover-up. In fact, TabQuery.com hosts links and content that is either malicious or can direct computer user to malicious websites. TabQuery.com's family of websites is characterized by their shared user interface. Dozens (and even hundreds) of clones of TabQuery.com are routinely added to security software's blacklists by reputable security software manufacturers. Examples of search engines directly related to TabQuery.com include such websites as Seekdns.com, Browserzinc.com, BarQuery.com, Zwankysearch.com and WinkZink.com.

Visiting these websites may lead your computer to several threats. These include malicious software that can steal your data and cause browser redirects, attack websites that attempt to use known exploits to install other malware on your computer system, websites that display alarming error messages and pop-up windows in order to trick you into buying fake security programs, and websites related with popular online scams such as illegal online pharmacies and pyramid schemes. TabQuery.com and its associated browser hijackers are not new. Most of the time, the culprit is a Trojan commonly known as the Google Redirect Virus, often installed as part of a multi-component attack involving a rootkit infection such as ZeroAccess.