Search.searchdirex.com

If your browser’s homepage has been changed to Search.searchdirex.com, then your computer has been infected with Search.searchdirex.com, a malicious search engine that we have classified as a browser hijacker due to the way it is being distributed. Therefore, you should consider removing it. Furthermore, it is possible that this hijacker can feature commercial advertisements and promotional links in its search results that are annoying and also potentially malicious. There is no way to determine whether its promoted ads are safe to click, so we do not recommend that you click them. As if that was not enough, Search.searchdirex.com can collect information about you and use it for marketing and advertising purposes. So the pros (of which being none) do not outweigh the cons, so we advise that you get rid of it.

Search.searchdirex.com is another hijacker that was released by Polarity Technologies Ltd. This company is known for its highly unreliable, ad-supported search engines that were created for generating adverting revenue because they do not offer any added value to the end user. The information found on Polarity.com.cy, this company’s main website, claims that “Polarity Technologies Ltd helps our millions of users save time by keeping their favorite content right at their fingertips.” However, this statement does not say much about what this company is all about. However, its releases speak volumes on this company’s behalf. We have previously analyzed hijackers such as Search.directionsandmap.com, Search.searchdp.com, and Search.searchliveson.com that all come from this company. And, all of them are equally unreliable and distributed in a malicious manner.

We believe that, like its predecessors, Search.searchdirex.com should be distributed via malicious bundled software installers featured on shady, low-grade freeware distributing websites. The free applications are used as bait for the user to install the bundle that can feature all kinds of undesirable programs and search engines such as Search.searchdirex.com. There is no concrete information at the moment that would clarify whether you can opt out from installing this particular search engine, but given that its predecessors were actually installed secretly, we think that the same might be true of this new hijacker.

If Search.searchdirex.com were to infect your computer, then it will replace the homepage address of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Obviously, the purpose for doing so is making you use this hijacker for conducting your online searches. And, you can use it as a regular search engine because it redirects all entered search queries to a custom Yahoo search engine. We say custom because Search.searchdirex.com can alter and modify its search results to accommodate additional links of unreliable nature because there is no information on Polarity Technologies’ advertising partners. This hijacker already features promoted links on its main page, but they are all for legitimate websites. It also features a toolbar at the top of the page that features a link to a shady news website as well as links to Google Maps and Bing Maps.

On closer inspection of its legal documents, we found that Search.searchdirex.com can collect information about you. Apparently, this hijacker can obtain certain information about you automatically. It is set to automatically collect non-personally identifiable information that includes the browser that you use, operating system type, IP address, domain name of your Internet service provider (ISP), browsing history, and so on. Allegedly, this information is used to improve this search engine’s services, but the privacy policy states that it will be used to” present you with offers for other products, offerings, programs, features and/or services that may be of interest to you.” So it is clear that it will be used for personalizing the ad campaign to generate more advertising revenue.

In closing, Search.searchdirex.com is one malicious search engine that can compromise your computer’s security. It can subject you to various promotional links that are supplied by unknown advertisers. Furthermore, it is set to keep tabs on you in order to show you personalized ads. So, as you can see, this search engine is all about generating advertising revenue and not about providing you with a safe and reliable online search service. To remove it, we invite you to make use of the guide provided below.

How to change the homepage address manually

Google Chrome

1. Hold down Win+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in the address line and hit Enter.
3. Find Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
4. Right-click and delete them.
5. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Hold down Win+E keys.
2. Go to C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} in the address box.
3. Open prefs.js with Notepad.
4. Replace http://search.searchdirex.com in user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchdirex.com");
5. Save and Close.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Hold down Win+R keys.
2. Enter regedit in the dialog box and click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Locate Start Page on the right side of the window and right-click it.
5. Select Modify and replace http://search.searchdirex.com/ with another URL.
6. Click OK.
7. Close the Registry Editor.