Browser hijacking is a growing and super annoying problem. I see way too many instances where a client of mine has downloaded a “free” program, only to have the program installer bring a host of unwanted and undesirable adware programs. Many times these freeware programs and games will change your default browser search provider from Google, Bing, or Yahoo to something like Search Conduit, My Web Search, or Babylon Search. These “alternative” search services exist solely to feed you search results that are paid for by advertisers, and well as serving up pop-up ads of all sorts, and showing system performance warnings that not only are untrue, but trick users into downloading useless freeware performance booster software, which then comes with another round of useless crapware. (See my earlier post.) The companies that sponsor this madness get paid for delivering these programs and ads, in case you are wondering why this keeps happening to you.
The good news is that the fine people at Google have introduced in their Chrome browser the ability to warn users when their search and other browser settings have been changed. When this happens you will see a warning like the one below:
Clicking the reset button will restore Google Chrome default settings. Of course if you have selected a different home page for yourself, you will need to manually reset that yourself.
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About the Author:
I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com