What is search2016-ping.com?
search2016-ping.com may look like a regular search engine, but it is not one that you would want, and there is nothing regular about it. In fact, it is irregular because it is a browser hijacker and we recommend that you remove it if it has secretly replaced your browser’s homepage. Indeed, it is distributed in a highly malicious manner and is set to feature questionable and even malicious promotional links in its search results, and that may prove detrimental for your computer. The sooner you get rid of it, the better. However, before you do that, please read this whole article.
What does search2016-ping.com do?
Before we go any further, we want to clarify that at the time of this article, this browser hijacker was down and could not be accessed. However, because it can come back online, we are obliged to inform you about that it can do, provided that it worked. Our cyber security specialists have determined that the software bundles that distribute it are designed to replace the homepage address of your browser if you use Google Chrome Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Its developers count on you not the notice the change of your homepage and use search2016-ping.com for searching the web. However, you cannot help but notice that this browser hijacker is vastly different from any legitimate search engine. Its main page features eight categories of preset search queries, but at the time of our research, those preset search queries are only copied to the address box when clicked, but the search engine itself does not work and will not present any search results.
Security specialists say that if this hijacker were to work, then its search results would feature promotional links and ads of unverified legitimacy. Therefore, it is quite likely that its featured promotional links can compromise your computer’s security and even your privacy. Indeed, this hijacker can subject you to links that can take you to infected websites that feature malicious content such as ransomware, fake anti-virus programs, adware, spyware, and so on. Given that there is no information about its developer, there is no guarantee that the promoted links come from legitimate sources and, given how this alleged search engine is distributed, the chances of its content being unsafe are rather high.
Where does search2016-ping.com come from?
As mentioned, this browser hijacker’s developers are unknown. However, our researchers have linked this hijacker with other browser hijackers that look and should work the same. For example, search2016-ping.com is almost identical to Daiksearch2016.com, Max-search2016.com, and Paper-search2016.com. Therefore, there is no doubt that they originate from the same secretive source. Their developer name is not indicated at search2016-ping.com for a purpose — to avoid getting in trouble with the authorities because its distribution method is malicious.
Our researchers have discovered that, like its clones, this new browser hijacker is also distributed with the help of malicious installers of bundled software. These installers are designed to hide the presence of additional content such as search2016-ping.com and install it on your computer secretly. You may or may have encountered such installers on obscure and little-known software distributing websites that make money off bundling freeware with adware and browser hijackers.
How do I remove search2016-ping.com?
If your web browser’s homepage was hijacked by search2016-ping.com and you want to remove it, then you have come to the right cyber security website. The information we have provided in this short article confirms that this search engine is nothing more than a browser hijacker and suggests that its search results can feature links to malicious websites that can compromise your computer. Feel free to refer to the instructions below on how to change your browser’s homepage.
Change the homepage address manually
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Simultaneously press Windows+R keys.
- Enter regedit in the dialog box and click OK.
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Locate Start Page on the right side of the window and right-click it.
- Select Modify and replace http://search2016-ping.com with another URL.
- Exit the Registry Editor.
Google Chrome
- Simultaneously press Windows+E keys.
- Enter C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address line and hit Enter.
- Find and delete Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
Mozilla Firefox
- Simultaneously press Windows+E keys.
- Type C:\Users\{User name}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} in the address box and hit Enter.
- Open prefs.js using Notepad.
- Replace http://search2016-ping.com in user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search2016-ping.com"); with another URL.
- Save and Close.
tested removal of search2016-ping.com*
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