Fast Search

Posted by Max Lehmann on October 10, 2016

What is Fast Search?

It is possible that you have seen a flow of potentially unreliable third-party ads and websites lately, which could be due to an infection by Fast Search. This useless program is only good for one thing: To make money for its creators. The only function of this questionable software is to promote third parties through advertising. This is why your browsing experience may have changed and became a nightmare with the exposure to potentially harmful coupon offers and commercials (banners and pop-ups). According to our malware researchers at anti-spyware-101.com, this is a Russian adware program that mainly promotes Russian affiliated websites. Leaving this program on board could lead to further malware infections or you could also end up in the center of online scams. If you want to avoid such scenarios, you should not hesitate to act and remove Fast Search from your computer. test test test

Where does Fast Search come from?

Our researchers have found a page that can infect you with this ad-supported program (quick-searcher-v4.biz) through obfuscated JavaScript code. You might end up on this site after a redirection, for example. This can happen after you click on a corrupt third-party ad or link. Once your browser loads the specific page on this site, it may drop this infection onto your machine. Another way this malware program can show up on your system is that you download a potentially unwanted program (PUP) called “Messenger Plus!.” You can install this PUP from its official website, msgplus.net/Downloads/Messenger-Plus-Live-Detail-Download, or via malicious freeware bundles.

But you may also download this adware via other bundles that may hold several malware “surprises” for you, including adware programs, browser hijackers, fake alerts, and potentially unwanted applications, too. There are two possible ways for you to end up with such a malicious software package. There is a chance that malware infections have found their ways to your system recently. For instance, adware programs and browser hijackers can easily introduce you to unsafe third-party ads and links that can redirect you to malicious websites or directly drop an undesirable package of threats onto your computer. Another possibility is that you are looking for a free file or program to download and you land on an unfamiliar and questionable file-sharing website. But, in fact, this can be any suspicious website that hosts third-party advertisements. These ads can be quite misleading and pose as other types of content, such as buttons and system notifications. This is why it is important to always download programs, updates, and other files from official and trusted sources only. All in all, if you notice this adware on your computer, it is quite likely that you will find other malware infections on board. Therefore, we advise you to check your system for potential threats right after you delete Fast Search.

How does Fast Search work?

Since this is a Russian ad-supported program, it may come as no surprise that it promotes Russian third parties through banner and pop-up ads as well as loading their websites on new tabs. The presence of this adware program is rather annoying as its commercials can keep disrupting your browsing experience. However, this is not even the biggest issue here. Unfortunately, this malicious program can spy on you and collect information about you and your online activities, which can be used by third parties to show you related ads, ones that can draw your attention. Imagine what cyber criminals can do with such information. The ads and sites this adware may present to you could be unreliable and lead to more infections and malicious websites once you click on them. Ending up on malicious websites can result in online scams that could cost you money, but you could also lose your personal details to criminals, which can be used to commit different kinds of online crimes, for example. This is why it is so important that you do not engage with any content coming from this application. Instead, you should act right now and remove Fast Search ASAP.

How to delete Fast Search

Since this infection cannot be removed via Control Panel, the easiest way for you to get rid of it is to delete the related extension called “Fast Search” from the affected browsers, i.e., Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. You can follow our instructions below if you are not an experienced user. If this adware found a way to your system, it means that your computer is not well protected. Maybe you keep ending up on questionable websites or you tend to click on the wrong ads or contents. If you cannot be more cautious with these, we suggest that you install a professional anti-malware application that can provide you the best protection against all existing malware infections.