All of us probably go through the days when our computers work slower than we would like. There are many reasons why computers suddenly slow down, but then users often turn to various programs like PC Smart Cleanup to clean up their systems and improve their performance. Unfortunately, such programs are often categorized as potentially unwanted software (PUP). It means that they often have particular features that might not be considered desirable by users and security specialists. Therefore, it is recommended that you remove PC Smart Cleanup and other similar applications from your computer, especially if you did not plan to have them in the first place. Read more »
Boxedsearch.com Redirect
If you see a change in your home page when you open your browsers, it is possible that you have been infected with Boxedsearch.com Redirect. This browser hijacker can appear in your browsers without your noticing it or remembering how you installed it. This is due to the fact that this search engine is promoted and spread in questionable ways. Our malware specialists at anti-spyware-101.com have found that this is not the only hijacker of its kind as it is practically identical to another hijacker that has also appeared only recently called Strixchase.com. While the latter is actually a working search engine that cannot be trusted, this malware infection seems to be half-finished or its web server could be down because somehow it does not display any results. Of course, this could be fixed any time soon, so we can assume that it can present to you potentially risky search results just like its sibling. Since this browser hijacker may not be the only one that has entered your system recently, your PC could be under attack by several threats and this also means that you could be exposed to an increased number of malicious web content. If you would like to defend your computer from total failure to operate, we believe that it is important that you remove Boxedsearch.com Redirect and all other threats you may find on your system. Read more »
Microsoft Has Detected A Porn Virus Scam
If you are introduced to an alert indicating that you need to remove malware, make sure this alert is authentic and reliable. Microsoft Has Detected A Porn Virus Scam represents a bogus security warning suggesting that Zeus Virus and Porn Virus have invaded your operating system, but that, of course, is not the truth. The creator of this misleading scam is trying to make you think that you need to call a bogus helpline number. If you called it, you could get yourself into trouble. Whether you have encountered the misleading alert once or more times, you need to inspect your operating system to check if malware exists. If it does, you need to eliminate it as soon as possible as that is how you will delete Microsoft Has Detected A Porn Virus Scam as well. If malicious infections do not exist, it is possible that you were redirected to the misleading security alert via a corrupted link. In this case, it is possible that you will not need to do anything besides closing the web page representing the scam. Continue reading to learn more. Read more »
Home.searchfreehoroscope.com
Home.searchfreehoroscope.com is a page users find set on their Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox browsers after installing the extension called Search Free Horoscope New Tab. Of course, it might also be installed on users’ web browsers without their knowledge. Because of this, specialists often call Home.searchfreehoroscope.com a browser hijacker. We do not say that users are completely not informed about the changes this extension makes; however, some information is left unsaid. Specifically speaking, users are only told that Home.searchfreehoroscope.com will be set as a New Tab URL, but, in reality, it changes all major settings of web browsers, i.e., a default homepage, search engine, and a New Tab page. This means that users no longer see their preferred pages, so it is not at all surprising that so many users find the changes they see applied to their browsers undesirable and wish to delete Home.searchfreehoroscope.com from their browsers. Luckily, it should not be hard to do that because it will disappear from browsers when you delete the extension promoting it from your browsers. Read more »
Strixchase.com
Finding Strixchase.com as your new homepage in Google Chrome can only mean that a browser hijacker has managed to infiltrate your system without your knowledge. This browser hijacker may look totally innocent to you at first look and may strike you as a legitimate search engine page. However, our malware specialists at anti-spyware-101.com say that it may display questionable third-party content on your screen as it can only generate revenue by promoting all kinds of third parties, which may not always be reliable and trusted. It is also quite likely that this malware infection enters your computer along with other threats. All in all, we believe that it is important that you take action and remove Strixchase.com from your computer. Leaving this threat on your system could expose you to malicious websites and further infections. Let us tell you more about this browser hijacker and how you could possibly avoid such an infection. Read more »
Notice - First Warning Scam
Notice - First Warning Scam is one of the keywords we use for a tech support scam that is created to push innocent users into spending their money on a non-existent product. There are several reasons this notification appears on your screen, and we will look at each of them further in this description.
What you have to understand from the first paragraph is that Notice - First Warning Scam is a fake message that should not be trusted, and there is nothing reliable about the things it says. Hence, you will do yourself a favor if you close your browser’s window right now. Read more »
Mind Ransomware
Mind Ransomware, also known as MindSystem Ransomware, is a threat that might become your worst nightmare if it is ever updated and cyber criminals start distributing it actively with the intention of obtaining money from users. Judging from the sentence “For education only!” available in file.jpg, a file it drops on Desktop following the successful entrance, this infection has been originally developed for educational purposes. Unfortunately, we cannot give you any guarantees that it will never be used for money extortion. We are sure you would not want to encounter the original version of Mind Ransomware either because it encrypts files too. Luckily, this version also drops a separate file called key.txt with a unique key that can be used to restore the encrypted data. Needless to say, it will no longer act like this if it is ever taken over by cyber criminals. We have the same piece of advice for all users who discover Mind Ransomware on their computers – delete this infection as soon as possible no matter it has locked your files or not because keeping a ransomware infection active on the system will sooner or later result in even more problems. Also, it is not very likely that you could use your PC normally if this infection stays because it has disabled a bunch of system tools and features. It should be emphasized that files stay as they are, i.e., encrypted even if crypto-malware is gone from the system, so do not expect to find your data intact again if your files have been locked by Mind Ransomware. Read more »
Home.fastemailaccess.com
If you want easy and fast access to your e-mail accounts, Home.fastemailaccess.com may seem like a good idea to have in your browsers, but let us beg to differ. Our malware experts at anti-spyware-101.com say that this is a relatively new browser hijacker that can alter your browser settings (homepage, new tab page, and default search provider) to promote questionable third parties through its surface. Since engaging with potentially harmful content may result in more infections or being scammed on malicious websites, we do not advise you to use this browser extension at all. In fact, we recommend that you remove Home.fastemailaccess.com right away if you do not want to put your system security at risk. Please continue reading our article to find out more about this annoying browser hijacker and how you can avoid similar attacks in the future. Read more »
Bonzersearch.com
Our cyber security specialists have recently analyzed a search engine called Bonzersearch.com. They concluded that Bonzersearch.com is a useless and unreliable search engine because it redirects all entered search queries to a modified Google search engine, so you should consider removing it. It can show customized advertisements that are customized with the help of information collected about you. Furthermore, it is distributed via software bundles, so you can get it accidentally. For more detailed information, please read this whole article. Read more »
AnytimeAstrology Toolbar
AnytimeAstrology Toolbar is another addition to the ever-growing Mindspark Toolbars family. All these programs work as browser extensions, and they are supposed to provide your browser with such additional functionality. However, it is very often that users are confused about these programs and how they entered their computers. Hence, if you happen to have this toolbar on your browser too, you should see to it that you remove AnytimeAstrology Toolbar as soon as possible. It is not about how dangerous this application is. It is about the fact that some program entered your computer when you did not want it. And no user should ever tolerate that. Read more »