Have you ever been redirected to a random website while browsing a shopping site? Or did you find your browser’s search and default pages altered automatically every now and then? Well, these signs clearly indicate that your browser has been hijacked.

A browser hijacker is basically a software program that alters the settings of your browser. Most often, it injects unwanted advertising into the user’s browser by altering default home pages and search pages to a target website in order to increase its advertising revenue.

Further, browser hijacking attempts are made to steal personal information of a user or tracking their browsing habits. In these attempts, a spyware program is injected into victim’s browser, such as a keylogger, to gather sensitive information like banking credentials.

Hijacked Browsers – Some Notable Examples

One of the first browser hijackers were CoolWebSearch which is basically a rogue search engine that promotes sponsored links. Other examples include Ask Toolbar, Go Save, Onewebsearch, etc.

Browser Hijacker Removal & Prevention

A majority of hijacking software enter computer systems as a part of freeware that is installed by users. So, ensure reading disclaimers and terms & conditions before downloading free software from the internet. Watch out which other programs are being installed along with the main program.

Infected emails are another source from where browser hijacking programs can enter your system. Do not click on random or suspicious email attachments and always confirm the authenticity of email sender before taking any action.

Keep your computer system on a high-security level by installing an anti-virus and anti-malware software

Check out the control panel on your computer system and look at the list of software that are installed. If any programs appear to be unknown, then you can uninstall them as they may be hijacking programs that have been installed without your knowledge by some other software.

Have a safe and secure browsing time!