Woso Hijacker

The Woso Hijacker is a browser hijacker application observed promoting the fake search engine quickgosearch.com. In the vast majority of cases, applications of this type are not downloaded and installed by the user intentionally. Instead, they rely on dubious and manipulative marketing tactics for propagation. This gives infosec researchers enough reasons to classify them as PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs).

When browser hijackers establish themselves on the user's computer successfully, they waste no time in taking control over certain browser settings such as the homepage, new tab page, and the default search engine. All affected settings will be modified to open the promoted fake search engine - quickgosearch.com. It should be noted that some variants of the Woso Hijacker use different methods in promoting the sponsored address.

Quickgosearch.com lacks the ability to produce search results on its own. Whenever a search query is initiated in an affected browser, the fake search engine will either redirect to search.yahoo.com directly or go through a redirect chain that involves other fake search engines. It can open Bing via search-checker.com or go to Google by first opening my-search.com and amazonaws.

Although some browser hijackers can provide some features that users could find useful, it is still strongly recommended to remove all apps of this type from your device. Indeed, nearly all browser hijackers are capable of harvesting user data such as browsing and search history. Some also monitor and log the IP address and geolocation of the affected device. In the most dangerous cases, the apps will try to extract data from the browser that could include sensitive payment or credit card details.