What is Shielddefense.net Redirect?
If you have noticed that your homepage and new tab page changed in your browser, you may be experiencing Shielddefense.net Redirect. The redirections coming from this particular source are due to a potentially unwanted program (PUP) called Shield Defense. This Google Chrome browser extension claims to block malware and tracking of websites, and thus provide you with a safe browsing experience. Although we cannot claim that this PUP does not do as it says, we have found a few worrisome traits while testing it. In fact, this PUP changes your browser settings without your knowledge and it also quite persistent since you cannot even change those back. Therefore, you could be exposed to its potentially risky search engine that may show you modified results by promoting affiliates that may not all be of the trustworthy kind. All in all, having this PUP on your system could indirectly cause some system security issues for you. We suggest that you remove Shielddefense.net Redirect from your system if you do not want to see what might happen if you leave a questionable application active on board. For the details, please continue reading our article.
Where does Shielddefense.net Redirect come from?
This PUP has probably one of the strangest official webpages, shielddefense.net. This webpage is not even a real webpage as it is more like a search page that has a banner ad below the search box that promotes this browser extension to install. We would like to ask you to be cautious when you add this or any other extension though. A pop-up window always comes up that informs you about the rights the application in question needs to have to operate properly. You should always read these and decide whether it is safe for you to let a tool have such rights on your system. Another official source where this tool is available for direct installation is the Chrome web store at chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shield-defense/eadnlkgpakfjkgpgndbpmenoacfjahgo. At the end of this URL you can see that unique Chrome ID, "eadnlkgpakfjkgpgndbpmenoacfjahgo," which you can always research to find out what you are dealing with. In this case, you may find articles that would suggest that you should delete Shielddefense.net Redirect or the extension itself as a potentially unwanted program. This should help you decide whether it is worth risking installation or not. We have found that over 36 thousand users have found it worth it and four of them even left quite positive reviews to be frank. But how can you decide whether these reviews come from actual people and not some paid promoters? Still, we do not try to claim that this PUP is a harmful application.
Although we have not found proof of it and thus cannot confirm, this PUP might be found spreading in freeware bundles as well. It is important for you to know how you can infect your system with a bundle because this is the only way for you to prevent certain malware infections and PUPs from being able to enter your computer. Basically, it is all about making the right choice when you click on any content while browsing the web. Certain websites, mostly associated with file-sharing, gaming, betting, and porn, tend to promote annoying and unsafe third-party advertisements. Visiting such pages as well as unfamiliar sites may always be risky, let alone clicking on third-party content on suspicious pages. Also, you should always download updates and software from official pages only, which, again, could save you from ending up with a malicious software package that could contain adware programs, browser hijackers, fake alerts, keyloggers, ransomware, or PUPs. Though this may not be the case now, we still advise you to run a full-system malware scan after you delete Shielddefense.net Redirect to make sure that your system is clean and secure for you to use.
How does Shielddefense.net Redirect work?
This PUP changes your Google Chrome browser settings, namely your homepage, new tab page, and default search engine settings to shielddefense.net, which is a questionable search engine; even if it claims to be a safe way to search the web with the "best results." As a matter of fact, this search engine simply redirects all your queries to its own web server and then, to Yahoo. This means that this PUP may modify the search results and collect information about your browser habits, too. Obviously, as a free tool it can only make money by promoting third parties. This can be done by injecting third-party ads and sponsored links among the original search results. However, these third parties may not always be trustworthy. So even cyber criminals could pose as affiliates and promote their fake or malicious websites through this PUP. However, if you click on unreliable content, you may drop infections or get redirected to malicious websites. All in all, we do not think that it is safe at all to have such a questionable browser extension on board. We have also found that this PUP makes it a bit difficult for you to restore your browser settings, which is only possible after you remove Shielddefense.net Redirect from your computer. So let us see what you need to do.
How can I delete Shielddefense.net Redirect?
Since these redirections come from a browser extension, you can simply remove the undesirable extension and you should be free of any further threats that could be caused by it. Please use our instructions below if you are not familiar with these steps. Keep in mind that this PUP is a dangerous threat and there could be other ones on your computer that could actually endanger your system. If you want to be certain that your PC is all secure for you to use, we advise you to use a professional anti-malware program, such as SpyHunter to automatically defend your computer.
Remove Shielddefense.net Redirect from your browser
Google Chrome
- Enter "chrome://extensions/" in your address bar and press Enter.
- Find the undesirable extension in the list and press the Trash can icon on the right.
- Click Remove in the pop-up.
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