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Remove Yahoo Search redirect adware

Wednesday 1 September 2021, 7:40PM

By David Blaine

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Yahoo Search redirect virus
Yahoo Search redirect virus Credit: David Blaine

Intricate money-making tactics employed by cybercriminals have been largely focused on the realm of online advertising recently rather than spreading things like scareware, screen lockers, or indulging in carding schemes. There are reasons for this gradual departure from the past misdemeanors – these guys have gotten more watchful and careful in the face of law enforcement countermeasures. So, how is this new approach reflected? Through adware, that is, programs that get hold of web traffic on affected computers in order to display ads to their victims.

The app called Yahoo Search demonstrates this trend to the fullest. “Catching” this cyber malady is always associated with installations of other software, the developers of which authorize the extra component to be also downloaded along with their program. Incidentally, these application makers may or may not necessarily know that the bundle is malicious. Another important nuance to keep in mind is that the accompanying utilities are typically free, exemplified mostly by media players, browser toolbars, file downloaders and similar apps.

The unanticipated appearance of Yahoo Search adware on a PC goes side by side with evident symptoms. The virus installs an add-on in major web browsers used on the machine, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. This BHO (Browser Helper Object) circumvents authorization by the user while considerably contorting such preferences as the default search as well as the start page and new tab page. No matter what URLs these settings were previously assigned, they will now direct to https://search.yahoo.com in every instance where these values are supposed to apply. The mentioned web page has built-in search functionality, where any given query produces fairly relevant results along with sponsored items. It’s these ads that contribute to the fraudsters’ welfare. However, the infected computer users are definitely not an interested party in this nasty scheme.

All the aspects of the Yahoo Search app taken into consideration, there is one obvious takeaway: it must be removed otherwise visiting the sites you want will remain unfeasible. The instructions below are there to explain how this adware can be exterminated so that search.yahoo.com stops popping up without permission.