Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com

Posted by Lisa Blanc on February 24, 2016

What is Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com?

Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com may seem like a “blessing” if you travel a lot and you find this search engine in your browsers, but, unfortunately, to us this is only a new browser hijacker that may put your virtual security at risk. Although it is possible that you install this browser extension knowingly, through official channels, reports show that this hijacker can also crawl onto your computer in free software bundles. In the latter case you need to expect several more malware infections on your computer that could introduce you to harmful third-party web content. Keeping this unreliable search engine in your browsers may pose a threat to your system security. Therefore, our specialists at Anti-Spyware-101.com suggest that you remove Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com before it is too late and the threats start to multiply. Please read on to find out more about this hijacker and how you can protect your PC from similar attacks. test test test

Where does Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com come from?

It is possible to install this extension directly through its official website, mydrivingdirectionsxp.com, but you can also get it through the Chrome web store at chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/my-directions-xp/phoidnoiohobnjfnpneiilkgjcobnoag. It seems that 80 thousand users have already installed this tool through the store. Nevertheless, our researchers say that it is more likely that this browser hijacker travels the web bundled with other malicious software installers.

Such infectious bundles can be downloaded mainly from suspicious websites associated with file sharing, such as torrent, shareware, and also pornographic sites. Therefore, prevention is possible if you try to keep away from such websites. However, it is also possible that your computer had already been infected with adware, including IntelliTerm, TermTrident, and SwiftSearch, and this infection displayed a corrupted advertisement that you clicked on and that is how this browser hijacker ended up in your browsers. So apart from being careful about what sites you land on, you also need to be cautious with third-party advertisements like pop-ups. If you notice this browser hijacker in your browsers, the safest thing to do is to remove Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com and run a full-system malware scanner to identify all possible threats.

How does Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com work?

Our researchers have found that this hijacker is identical to Search.myspeedtestxp.com, Search.mygamesxp.com, and Search.MyTelevisionXp.com. Finding any of these questionable search engines in your browsers is bad news as they can all introduce you to potentially harmful web content. The only difference between them is the cover, i.e., the theme. In this case it is obviously anything related to travelling, such as maps, driving directions, and live traffic updates, are offered as third-party services. However, we do not recommend that you engage with these at all. This hijacker may be able to inject third-party ads into these sites, which are available through quick links on a fake toolbar at the top of the search page.

There are also several easy-access thumbnails below the search box, which are supposed to lead to popular websites, including Facebook, Amazon, and YouTube. But even these cannot be fully trusted as you may be simply redirected to a modified Yahoo search page by clicking on them. As is the case with the search tool itself as well. All your search queries get redirected to extsearch.maxwebsearch.com server and then to a possibly manipulated Yahoo search results page. Browser hijackers usually use reputable third-party search engines in order to make users feel safe so that they will click anywhere without doubting the reliability of the results. Unfortunately, this hijacker may insert third-party ads and links into the normal results. This kind of content should never be trusted since clicking on it may take you to dangerous websites run by criminals. If you do not want to infect your computer with more malware threats or end up being scammed out of your money, we suggest that you delete Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com immediately.

How do I delete Search.mydrivingdirectionsxp.com?

You can get rid of this useless browser extension in two steps. First, you need to run its uninstaller through Control Panel as long as you have one, of course. It is possible that your version is a simple browser extension that modifies your homepage and new tab settings. But, even if you have an uninstaller, it will only remove the extension from Internet Explorer. So, as a second step, you will need to manually take care of the other two browsers. Please follow our guide below if you have no clue how to uninstall a program or reset your browsers. Also, remember that with a proper security tool installed you would have no more issues with malware infections as it would protect your PC from all known threats. But, of course, it is all up to you how you decide to safeguard your virtual world.