Stg-234i23r9-sph.com

As you might already suspect it, Stg-234i23r9-sph.com is a questionable search engine. So far there is not much information about this application, but the research shows it could be a recently created browser hijacker. From the software’s Privacy Policy and End User License Agreement documents, it becomes clear that it was developed by a company called Bontio, Inc. However, we could have guessed it from the application’s appearance as well since it is almost identical to other browser hijackers created by the same publisher. We can also tell you that the search engine should display modified search results, which could have additional advertising content from the software’s third-party partners. Since the ads might be dangerous, we advise removing the suspicious application. If you require some assistance with this task, you should check the instructions located at the end of the text.

Stg-234i23r9-sph.com could be distributed through various channels, for example, suspicious pop-up advertisements, unreliable web pages, bundled installers, etc. Thus, in order to avoid such threats, it is important to be cautious with bundled installers and avoid downloading setup files from unreliable file-sharing web pages. Also, users should pay more attention to the software’s publisher, because you can usually assume if the program could be reliable or not by the company that developed it. As we mentioned earlier, in this case, the search engine was released by Bontio, Inc., and Stg-234i23r9-sph.com is not the first application from this company that was identified as a browser hijacker.

After the application gets installed, it could modify some browser settings, such as your homepage, default search engine, or new tab page. We cannot say which of the listed changes could occur on your browser as the threat might work differently on separate browsing programs. In any case, if you one way or another end up using Stg-234i23r9-sph.com, there are some things you should know. Firstly, the hijacker should use yahoo.com to gather the results, but it may still modify these results and add some extra content to them. For example, it might be various third-party pop-ups, banners, and so on. The worst thing is that some of the ads may lead you to web pages, which could distribute similar threats, try to infect the system with malware, or invade your privacy by gathering sensitive data without any permission, etc.

If you have not reviewed the browser hijacker’s Privacy Policy and End User License Agreement documents yet, we would advise you to do so as soon as possible. According to them, the search engine’s creator take no responsibility for any harm resulting from the usage of Stg-234i23r9-sph.com or any interaction with the third-party content. What’s more, according to one of the statements in the software’s End User License Agreement documents it “may automatically download and install updates from time to time from Bontio.” To be more precise, these updates may take the form of “new software modules and completely new versions.” In other words, the hijacker could not only automatically update itself, but also download other programs without your knowledge. If you want your computer to be secure, it is probably not the best idea to allow such unreliable applications like Stg-234i23r9-sph.com to be able to download anything without your permission.

Considering the risks mentioned in the article, we would advise against the applications usage. Therefore, our researchers prepared manual removal instructions, which you can see placed below the article. They will show users how to reset the affected browser to fix the settings that might have been modified by the hijacker. Afterward, it could be a good idea to scan the computer with a reliable security tool as well, since there could be other threats on the system. As a matter of fact, if you want to, you can use the antimalware tool to get rid of Stg-234i23r9-sph.com. In such case, the user should install it on the computer with the hijacked browser, set the software to scan the system and click the deletion button once it appears.

Remove Stg-234i23r9-sph.com from browsers

Internet Explorer

1. Press the Alt+X combination and select Internet Options.
2. Mark the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
3. Select the Delete personal settings option, press Reset again and click Close.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Choose Help from the menu on the top-left corner.
2. Press Troubleshooting information, then select Refresh Firefox.
3. Click Refresh Firefox again and press Finish.

Google Chrome

1. Click Alt+F at the same time and choose Settings.
2. Slide down to select the Show advanced settings option.
3. Scroll down again, then press the Reset Settings button, and click Reset.