Search.searchgrm.com

You may be given the impression that Search.searchgrm.com is a legitimate search engine, but let us assure you that it is not and we propose that you remove it as soon as the opportunity arises. This search engine falls into the category of browser hijackers because it has been configured to hijack your web browser’s homepage and/or new tab page. The reason for this is making money from online advertising since we have found that Search.searchgrm.com’s developers have configured it to include promotional links in its search results. This is bad news for ordinary users because it can promote malicious software that can infect your computer with more malware.

According to Search.searchgrm.com’s EULA, its developer is based in Portland, Oregon, USA. The EULA also states that this hijacker was developed by Get Radio Music SOFTWARE. We suspect that this is a non-existent company because we were unable to find any information about it whatsoever. While comparing this particular hijacker with other browser hijackers we discovered that it is nearly identical to Search.searchlttrn.com, and even their names are similar. Nevertheless, it has other clones, such as Search.yourpackagesnow.com and Search.yourmapscenter.com. Therefore, there is no doubt that all of them were released by the same group of developers that will continue to release more hijackers in the near future because the level of quality of Search.searchgrm.com indicates that its developers are professionals and have a vested interest in continuing their operation.

We have found that this browser hijacker was published on December 19, 2015. Currently, this hijacker is being disseminated using two methods. The first one is pretty common. It involves configuring a malicious software installer to inject Search.searchgrm.com with the addition of accompanying browser extensions into the browser (note that it is compatible with Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox) without your authorization. At present, we do not know the exact names of the software-distributing websites that host such installers, but judging from the demographic information that we have obtained, those websites are popular in the US and the UK.

The second method used to distribute it is via a website at Getradiomusic.com. This site features a big blue “Get Started Now” button, but nothing happens when its pressed, so it seems that the sever hosting the download is down. Now, you might be surprised to find out that Search.searchgrm.com is featured on Chrome Web Store at Chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/get-radio-music/ddgpapbpiamiaaafdhgmokjfjkdebfoi. It comes bundled with Get Radio Music browser extension. The extension this hijacker comes with for Firefox is Radio 0.0.3. However, this hijacker does not have an extension for Internet Explorer. Thus, for this browser, it is installed as a program.

Now let us elaborate on how Search.searchgrm.com works. When this hijacker’s accompanying browser extension or application is installed, it will automatically set Search.searchgrm.com as the homepage of Internet Explorer and Firefox and as the new tab page of Chrome. As mentioned, this is done with the intention of generating advertising revenue as this hijacker’s search results are modified to include promotional links even though it redirect all search queries to Yahoo.com. Given that this hijacker was created by an established group of malware developers, we believe that they might or already have entered into an agreement with cyber crooks to promote scam websites, such as online shopping sites to extract your online banking credentials. Moreover, they might promote download of malicious software, such as rogue antivirus programs that imitate an infection and demand that you purchase the full version for the threat to be deleted. In short, there is just no way of knowing what kind of content you can be subjected to. So given that this search engine acts as a browser hijacker and is used to promote questionable content, we recommend that you remove it.

Now you know everything about this browser hijacker. It goes without saying, it is an undesirable search engine that will not improve your browsing experience in any shape or form. Our research suggests that it can only obstruct your browsing by replacing your preferred homepage and new tab page and show you potentially malicious promotions in its search results if you use it for searching the web.

Uninstall Via Control Panel (Internet Explorer only)

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Open Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Find Get Radio Music and click Remove.

Windows 7/Vista

1. Press Windows Key+R and type Control Panel, and then click OK.
2. Go to Uninstall a program and find Get Radio Music.
3. Right-click on it and click Uninstall.

Windows 10/8.1/8

1. Press the Windows Key+R.
2. Type Control Panel in the dialog box and click OK.
3. Go to Uninstall a program.
4. Find Get Radio Music and click the Uninstall button.

Remove the browser extension

Google Chrome

1. Press Alt+F.
2. Click More tools.
3. Go to Extensions.
4. Find Get Radio Music.
5. Click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A.
2. Click Extensions and find Radio 0.0.3.
3. Remove the extension.

Replace the homepage/new tab page manually (in case the first method fails)

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Press Windows key+R.
2. Enter regedit in the box and click OK.
3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Find Start Page on the right side of the window and double-click it.
5. Change the Value Data from http://search.searchgrm.com/ to your desired homepage address.

Google Chrome

1. Open the browser.
2. Press Windows key+E and enter C:\Users\{ your username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address box.
3. Delete Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files. (Chrome will generate new unmodified files.)

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the browser.
2. Press Windows key+E and enter C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique mozilla user ID} in the address box.
3. Find prefs.js and open it with Notepad and remove the string user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchgrm.com/");
4. Close and save changes.