Search.searchdcnow.com

Search.searchdcnow.com is yet another product created by Polarity Technologies Ltd, and new hijackers from this family emerge practically every single day. Other mentionable examples include Search.searchmpct.com, Search.searchlypackage.com, and Search.searchpackaget.com. The company is creating hijackers so fast that mistakes are being. For example, at the time of research, the terms of use statement representing it was routing to http://search.searchfindactivec.com/home/terms, which, of course, is associated with a different hijacker (search.searchfindactivec.com). All in all, the hijackers tat come from this family share the same terms of use and privacy policies, and so this does not make much difference. As you might have figured out by now, we advise deleting all of these hijackers. Luckily, you can remove Search.searchdcnow.com even if you are inexperienced because this threat is quite straightforward.

Most hijackers created by Polarity Technologies have unique extensions to represent them. The suspicious Search.searchdcnow.com is represented by Download Converter Now, and this name is shown on the top right corner of the home page as well. The same extension is also linked to Search.searchdconvertnow.com, which is another hijacker created by the same company. This add-on is officially represented at downloadconverternow.com, and it is also available from Chrome users via the Chrome web store at chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/download-converter-now-v3/dbofppkdkmlgookecegpliobonpnabnk. Have you acquired this extension from any of these sources? It is most likely that you have not. According to our research, software bundles could be used to promote this suspicious add-on. Do you understand what this means? Unfortunately, it means that Search.searchdcnow.com could come bundled with other programs that might be malicious and might require removal. We advise using a malware scanner to find out.

As you can tell by the name of the extension representing Search.searchdcnow.com, it has something to do with file converting. In fact, this hijacker represents the services of cloudconvert.com, and these services are legitimate and reliable. Despite that, the “Download Converter Now” links does not work, which is kind of a nuisance. Besides offering that, the hijacker also offers the service of web browsing. This is where this suspicious tool becomes suspicious. First of all, it redirects to a third-party search engine without any warning, and it does not matter that you are redirected to Yahoo Search. Second, as our researchers warn, the results shown to you could be modified to showcase sponsored links. Can they be trusted? You should not rely on that. In fact, because there is a risk that security backdoors could be opened via the links shown to you, we advise deleting Search.searchdcnow.com immediately.

You also should not trust Search.searchdcnow.com because it might record information that you might want to keep safe. Users are informed via the Privacy Policy that personally identifiable information could be recorded if users enter it when using the search tool. Does that mean that the hijacker can record all data that you enter, including login information? We cannot confirm that, but do you want to take the risk? There are hundreds of more reliable and useful search engines out there, and you can convert files using much more reliable software. In general, we believe that there is no purpose to keep this infection active because it does not offer exclusive services. On the contrary, it might do you a disservice by putting your security at risk.

If you are completely inexperienced, you might not know how to change the homepage URL. Well, that is easy to do, and you can follow the instructions below. Because the hijacker targets Chrome, Firefox, and IE browsers, we show how to modify the homepage on these browsers; however, if you are trying to delete it from a different one, let us know in the comments section below, and we will assist you right away. Overall, the task is easy, and we are sure that you can have Search.searchdcnow.com deleted in no time. What about other infections? If they exist, research them one by one to learn how to erase them, or install anti-malware software that can simultaneously erase all infections at once. We support the latter option because anti-malware software also acts as security software ensuring that malware cannot slither in again.

Search.searchdcnow.com Removal

Internet Explorer:

1. Tap Win+R to access RUN and then enter regedit.exe to access Registry Editor.
2. In the pane on the left move to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
3. Open the value called Start Page (double-click it to open) and change the URL. Click OK.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Tap Win+E to launch Explorer and enter %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ into the address bar.
2. Double-click the folder that represents your Firefox profile to open it.
3. Find the file called prefs.js, right-click it, and select Open with… Notepad.
4. Find the string user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchdcnow.com");.
5. Change the URL of the hijacker and save the file.

Google Chrome:

1. Tap Win+E to access Explorer and enter %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ into the address bar.
2. Double-click the Default folder to open it. Note that if more than one Chrome profile exists, you might have to open the folder representing your Chrome profile.
3. Delete the files named Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data. You can also open these files with a text reader (e.g., Notepad) and change the hijacker’s URLs found in them).