Search.searchlcl.com

Browser hijackers are very annoying infections that are often difficult to remove, so many users that allow them to remain on the systems’. Search.searchlcl.com is also a browser hijacker and we highly recommend getting rid of it because its main purpose to replace your browser’s homepage or new tab page with its address and force you to use it as a search engine. As a result, you might be subjected to customized search results that may include promotional links in them. The problem is that those links may come from unknown and possibly dangerous sources. Therefore, by using this hijacker as a search engine, you will put your computer’s security in jeopardy. We have more detailed information about this infection so, if you are interested, please continue reading to learn more.

To date, we do not know the exact distribution methods employed by this injection’s owners, so we will elaborate on the most plausible ones. We believe that this browser hijacker is disseminated using malicious software installers that are featured on shady freeware distributing websites. These installers are usually set to inject a browser hijacker such as Search.searchlcl.com without authorization or knowledge on the part of the user. As far as we know, this particular hijacker does not come with a browser extension, so we believe that a particular installer is used to modify a browser’s settings to infect Search.searchlcl.com. Furthermore, we have found that it is featured on a website called Localclassifiedlisting.com, a site that promotes this hijacker and installs it after you click a red “Get Started Now” button. In addition, we know for certain that it comes bundled with applications, such as SwiftSearch, InteliTerm, and TermTrident, among others. Hence, this hijacker has a wide selection of distribution methods, but we have found that it targets US-based users mainly.

Now, let us discuss how Search.searchlcl.com works. While conducting our research, we have discovered that this browser hijacker is compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer, — the three most popular web browsers. It is set to hijack the homepages of Firefox and in Internet Explorer, but on Chrome, because it is set to hijack Chrome’s new tab page. In any case, this is unacceptable because it is done without your authorization.

If you have decided to use Search.searchlcl.com as a search engine, then we want to inform you that it redirects all of its search results to Yahoo.com, a legitimate search engine. However, this hijacker’s developers use Yahoo’s custom search. Therefore, they may choose to add additional promotional links to generate advertising revenue. In fact, we think that the main purpose of this hijacker is to make money because it obviously does not provide any useful service that its user base could benefit from. We would like to mention that Search.searchlcl.com has many clone hijackers that include the likes of Search.youremailnow.com, Search.yourclassifiedscenter.com, and Search.yourinterestscenter.com. All of these hijackers work the same and can also advertise shady websites.

Our research has revealed that its promotional links are included at the top of the search results page before the real search results. So the promotional links are separated from the rest of the search results, but that may not be apparent. We fear that Search.searchlcl.com may be used to promote phishing or scam websites or even malware downloads that could obtain personal information about you, scam you or get your computer infected with ransomware and other malicious software.

As you can see, Search.searchlcl.com definitely not a legitimate search engine and it is clear that is was created for the purpose of promoting third-party content using clandestine means. An inattentive user might think that its promotional links are legitimate search results and experience undesirable consequences as a result. We assume that some of those promotional links may promote illegitimate content that may be harmful. Therefore, we invite you to delete this browser hijacker using our manual removal guide.

How to get rid of this browser hijacker

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Press Windows+R keys and type regedit.
2. Click OK.
3. Once in the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Locate the Start Page string and right-click on it.
5. Select Modify and replace the Value data from http://search.searchlcl.com/ to your desired address.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Windows+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} in the address bar.
3. Locate a file named prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
4. Locate the string user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchlcl.com/");
5. Replace http://search.searchlcl.com/ with your desired address.

Google Chrome

1. Press Windows+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address bar.
3. Locate the Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files.
4. Open each one of them with Notepad and replace http://search.searchlcl.com/ with your desired address.
5. Alternatively, you can delete Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files and the system will generate new unmodified files.