Search.easyrecipesnow.com

It seems to us the only benefit of keeping Search.easyrecipesnow.com on the browser is having links to cooking web pages, such as Recipes Simplified, Food Network, Yummly, and other. Still, a few popular links you could easily bookmark yourself is hardly worth enough to allow this browser hijacker stay on the system. If you leave Search.easyrecipesnow.com, you will probably use it for surfing the Internet and once you do you may receive suspicious advertising content that might come from malicious web pages. We do not say all of the ads would be dangerous, but some of them could be and as we already stated we do not think the search engine is worth taking any risks. Accordingly, our researchers have prepared deletion instructions to assist users with the browser hijacker’s removal; we will add them at the end of the text. However, we encourage you not to rush and read the rest of the text first to get to know this threat better.

It is thought the application could be showing suspicious advertising content because it redirects the user to possibly modified Yahoo search results. It means there is a possibility Search.easyrecipesnow.com may inject the results Yahoo gathers with the ads from its third-party partners; in other words, there might be advertisements you would not see while using the original search.yahoo.com.

The search engine’s End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy statements only mention the user could come across third-party content and that the software’s developers might share particular information it gathers, while the user is browsing, with its advertising partners. The problem is such associates are not listed, and there are no guarantees their provided content will be reliable. This is why we think some of the advertisements may not necessarily but could be malicious. To give you a couple of examples, the ads might redirect to web pages designed for scamming the user, stealing his sensitive data, distributing threats similar to the browser hijacker or malware, and so on. Thus, if you see any advertising content that raises your suspicion, it might be best to avoid it for safety reasons.

Furthermore, according to Search.easyrecipesnow.com End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy statements, the search engine was created by a developer called Polarity Technologies Ltd. The company is known by our researchers since it is not the first time we came across it while testing a browser hijacker. Sadly, we have already tested numerous similar threats from the same developer. Given the similarities between this search engine and other unreliable tools from Polarity Technologies Ltd we tested before, we think it should be distributed the same way; through bundled software installers or pop-up ads suggesting unreliable browser extensions. For instance, Search.easyrecipesnow.com could be bundled with a plugin targeted at users who are looking for cooking recipes, tips, etc.

If you think you may have accepted this search engine without even realizing it, we recommend being a bit more cautious in the future. Users who download installers from doubtful sources, such as P2P file-sharing networks, sites distributing pirated software, and so on, should pay more attention to the installation process. It is quite likely that the setup files you receive from the mentioned sources could be bundled with potentially dangerous or even malicious threats. Therefore, it would be wise to select custom installation settings and read all provided terms. If the setup wizard suggests additional applications you find suspicious or unwanted, you should just deselect them. Also, among the terms, there could be statements claiming the software might install or download other programs without notifying the user. In such case, it is advisable to cancel the process.

Of course, the mentioned precautions might be not enough to protect the system from every threat, and it might be a smart idea to keep a reliable antimalware tool that could do a better job. Such a tool can help users get rid of Search.easyrecipesnow.com too, so if you prefer removing the threat with automatic features, a trustworthy security tool is worth to consider. The browser hijacker can be erased manually as well, although the process could appear to be a bit complicated for some users. Nevertheless, we are adding deletion instructions just as we promised below the text and if you feel up to the task, you should follow them to eliminate the suspicious search engine on your own.

Erase Search.easyrecipesnow.com

Internet Explorer

1. Press Windows key+R.
2. Type Regedit and click Enter.
3. Find the provided location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Choose a value name called Start Page.
5. Right-click it and select Modify.
6. Replace http://search.easyrecipesnow.com and press OK.
7. Go to this location: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
8. Search for these particular value names: FaviconURL, FaviconURLFallback, TopResultURL, and URL.
9. Right-click them separately, and press Modify.
10. Replace their current value data and press OK.
11. Exit the Registry Editor.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click Windows key+E.
2. Find the particular location: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[Unique User ID]
3. Select a file named prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
4. Look for the specific code line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://search.easyrecipesnow.com”).
5. Replace http://search.easyrecipesnow.com and press Ctrl+S.
6. Exit Notepad.

Google Chrome

1. Click Windows key+E.
2. Find the listed directory: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Choose the following files:
   Preferences
   Secure Preferences
   Web Data
4. Right-click this data separately and click Delete.
5. Leave the Explorer.