Following successful infiltration, they reassign browsers' homepage, default search engine and new tab/window URLs - to the addresses of fake search engines. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and other popular browsers with large user bases are common targets of browser hijackers. Browser hijackers operate by making modifications to browser settings.Īdditionally, they often have data tracking abilities, which are used to spy on users' browsing activity.
These dubious products do not need express user permission to be installed onto devices, because of this - they are also classified as PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications). However, users can experience undesirable redirects to it - due to rogue software, called browser hijackers, having infiltrated the browser and/or system. is a legitimate search engine, developed by the Yahoo! web services provider.
