Search-shield.com

If you wonder why the browser loads Search-shield.com, but the title above the search bar says Bing, you should read this article and learn about a browser hijacker that might have settled in your system. The application fell under the category because it may hijack different browser preferences. For example, Search-shield.com could replace default search engine, homepage, or new tab page. Furthermore, the search engine might state that the results are brought to you by Bing, but the truth is slightly different. The software uses mentioned search engine to gather the results, but it might also inject them with third-party ads. The reason why you should keep away from the ads is because they could be from malicious websites. We will explain more about the application further in the article, and if you want to erase it, you can follow the instructions below the text.

For starters, we found out that the browser hijacker should be compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. It could hijack the browser while modifying particular data of the listed browsers. For instance, if you have Google Chrome as your default browser, Search-shield.com should locate Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files on the system. This data holds various settings, including preferences of a search engine, homepage, new tab page and so on. For example, if your default homepage used to be google.com, the application should delete the link in mentioned files and replace it with http://Search-shield.com.

The bad thing about the search engine is that it might modify Bing results and add third-party content to them. As a result, you might notice suspicious advertisements that could redirect you to other web pages. It is possible that some part of the ads might come from unreliable web pages created for malicious reasons, e.g. some of them could spread Trojans, worms, viruses, and other malware. The other ones may try to convince you to submit your personal data. For instance, the site could offer you a free trial or other freebies in exchange for your phone number, email address, etc.

The other reason we do not trust Search-shield.com is because it was developed by ClientConnect Ltd. Our researchers say that this company is responsible for releasing other suspicious programs, e.g. Snap.do.

The way the browser hijacker is spread also concerns our specialists. Users might receive the application while clicking pop-up advertisements. Unfortunately, it might be that these pop-ups were shown by other doubtful software, e.g. adware, different browser hijackers, and so on. Thus, it could be a good idea to check recently installed software on the computer. If you are an inexperienced user, it might be easier to download an antimalware tool and use it to scan the system for suspicious programs.

As for the future, you should be extremely careful while installing applications. Before you download any program you should read some reviews about it and make sure that you get the installer from a reliable source. Keep it in mind that torrent or other file-sharing web pages are not the best sources to get reliable software. It is more likely that you might download a bundled installer, which could offer potentially dangerous applications.

It might be difficult to get rid of Search-shield.com if you do not know how to deal with the browser hijacker. It is not enough to replace the search engine through browser settings. Before that, it is crucial to either delete or fix all data that could have been modified by the software. However, the process could be slightly complicated especially for inexperienced users. Thus, you may want to slide below this text and check the manual removal instructions. It lists the directories and files that should be fixed or erased. If it appears to be too difficult for you, get a reliable antimalware tool and let it eliminate the threat. Also, if you require further assistance, try to contact us via social media or leave us a message in the comments section at the end of the page.

Remove Search-shield.com from browsers

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R, type regedit and click Enter.
2. Find this path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
3. Search for a Value Name titled as Start Page on the right side.
4. Right-Click the Start Page and choose Modify.
5. Replace Value Data, with a website you prefer, e.g. google.com.
6. Click OK.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the Explorer (Win+E).
2. Navigate to C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
3. Locate a file named as Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
4. Find and delete given line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://Search-shield.com”).
5. Save the document and close it.

Google Chrome

1. Launch the Explorer.
2. Locate the given path: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Find and erase the following files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.