Search.smartmediatabsearch.com

Posted by Max Lehmann on June 19, 2017

What is Search.smartmediatabsearch.com?

Search.smartmediatabsearch.com is a search engine that our malware analysts have classified as a browser hijacker because its developers distribute it using malicious distribution methods. Hence, you can get it onto your browser by installing a software bundle. You should consider removing this search engine, provided that you get it unintentionally. However, you should also know that this hijacker can present you with modified search results with promoted links that come from unknown sources, as well as collect some information about you to customize and personalize the promoted links you see. test

Where does Search.smartmediatabsearch.com come from?

Search.smartmediatabsearch.com is by no means a unique browser hijacker. Our malware analysts have seen and tested Search.futuremediatabsearch.com, Search.ourmediatabsearch.com, and Search.rapidserach.com that are very similar to this new hijacker. The fact of the matter is that all of them come from Stepitapp, a company dedicated to releasing malicious search engines. Malware analysts have concluded that Search.smartmediatabsearch.com can be featured in software bundles hosted on Descargar.es, Filewin.com, Filewon.com, Malavida.es. These websites are free software distributing sites that feature bundled installers. The installers can install this new browser hijacker on your browser without your knowledge or consent. Therefore, you should avoid these websites as they are prone to featuring malware and are, thus, unreliable.

What does Search.smartmediatabsearch.com do?

If this hijacker were to infect your PC, then it will replace the homepage address if you use Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. Testing has shown that this hijacker does not affect Microsoft Edge which is shipped with Windows 10. This hijacker’s developers did not create Search.smartmediatabsearch.com to replace your browser’s homepage address for the sake of replacing it. This hijacker redirects all entered search queries to a modified Yahoo search engine. The results you get can be relevant, for the most part. However, our malware analysts say that, in some cases, the results can feature promotional links and advertisements of unverified legitimacy. Indeed, this hijacker can subject you to questionable content and even malware such as spyware, ransomware, and fake anti-virus program downloads.

You can be tricked into clicking a fake search result link because this hijacker has been configured to customize and personalize the promotional links you see. As a result, they may not standout from the rest of the results. This hijacker has been set to collect certain information about you automatically. According to our malware analysts, Search.smartmediatabsearch.com can obtain information such as your IP address, Internet Service Provider (ISP) name, browsing history, search terms entered, browser type, operating system type, and so on. The hijacker obtains this information using browser cookies, web beacons, pixels, and other information gathering technologies. You should not allow it to obtain this information as it is bound to be misused for commercial purposes. Therefore, we invite you to remove this hijacker from your browser altogether.

How do I remove Search.smartmediatabsearch.com?

To summarize, Search.smartmediatabsearch.com is a fake search engine that we have classified as a browser hijacker due to the way its developers chose to distribute it. It can replace your browser’s homepage address secretly and present you with modified search results with additional ads and promotional links that can redirect you to all kinds of shady websites that can even infect your PC with more dangerous malware. Therefore, we recommend that you remove this hijacker using the guide included below this article.