VideoSearchCenter

VideoSearchCenter is another PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) whose only purpose for existing is to drive artificial traffic towards a fake search engine. It does so by taking control over the user's Web browser and modifying specific settings. This particular behavior classifies VideoSearchCenter as a browser hijacker.

The application's installation to the system usually remains unnoticed by the users, due to the underhanded tactics employed in VideoSearchCenter's distribution. However, once it is present on the computer, the consequences of its activities become obvious almost instantly. Users would find that their normal homepage, new tab page, and the default search engine of the browser have all been changed to now open an unfamiliar new address - videosearchcenter.com. This is a fake search engine and as such, it cannot produce any search results on its own.

However, what it can do is redirect to a legitimate engine, such as Yahoo and show results generated by it. Depending on factors such as the user's geolocation, videosearchcenter.com might instead redirect to searchlee.com, a dubious engine that could show inaccurate results riddled with sponsored ad links.

When dealing with PUPs, users have one more thing to worry about as these applications are notorious for having data-harvesting capabilities. The targeted information might include various browsing activities, device details, and in the most dangerous cases, even banking and credit/debit card details saved in the affected browser.