Secure Search

Secure Search is a piece of software that promises to enable users to perform web searches anonymously. At the time of writing, it is compatible with the only browser Google Chrome, so you will discover it in the list of add-ons of this only browser if you ever install it. Although some users, especially those who wish to protect their privacy and perform secure web searches, find this piece of software quite useful, we cannot call this extension trustworthy. Because of this, we cannot let you keep it installed. Its first drawback is that it might be installed on users’ PCs without permission. Second, it alters browsers’ settings upon the successful installation, and, of course, users are not told about that in advance, so there are many people out there who find those changes applied undesirable. These drawbacks it has make it a suspicious program, so specialists at pcthreat.com have classified it as a potentially unwanted program, or PUP. Even though potentially unwanted software is not malware, we cannot say that it is a very good idea to keep such a program active on the system because it might still perform undesirable activities and cause a bunch of problems. Read the remaining article to find more about Secure Search and then decide yourself what to do with this extension.

After installing Secure Search, users see a Google search engine set on their browsers as a default search tool, but it is not the same trustworthy search tool we all know about. The one set by Secure Search seems to be its modified version because it redirects all the searches to other search providers. For example, research has shown that searches of those users living in Western countries are first redirected to services.searchy.info and only then Yahoo! search results are displayed for them. Users’ from other countries usually notice that all their searches are automatically redirected to plusnetwork.com, which is not a trustworthy search provider, but redirections to Search.hr and Search.gg might occur as well. Because of these redirections to search engines belonging to third parties, modified search results might be presented to users. These are search results used to promote certain third-party pages – we cannot confirm that they are all trustworthy. Also, we cannot promise that those search engines all search queries are redirected to are as privacy-friendly as Secure Search. Specifically speaking, they might collect information about users and record their search queries. Therefore, specialists do not believe that this potentially unwanted program can make users’ web searches anonymous. Since Secure Search is not as useful as it claims to be, there is no point in keeping this extension active on the system too.

Research has shown that its official website (https://lp.securesearch.online/) and the Chrome Web store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-search/pighdeelcfelhelmgdeiigfcppbcjenm) are not the only sources Secure Search can be installed from. This extension is also promoted via malicious pop-ups, research conducted by specialists at pcthreat.com has shown. On top of that, users might notice their browsers open in full-screen with alerts asking to click Add Extension to proceed. This usually happens if they end up on some kind of untrustworthy domain. Although potentially unwanted programs and other untrustworthy applications are usually very sneaky, it does not mean that it is impossible to prevent them from entering the system – it is enough to install a security application on the system and keep it always enabled. Users must be more cautious too, e.g. they should stop opening suspicious domains and clicking on links they come across while surfing the web.

Secure Search is a potentially unwanted program in the form of a browser extension, so it can be deleted like an ordinary add-on. If this does not tell you much, you should follow the step-by-step removal guide prepared by specialists working at pcthreat.com. Alternatively, potentially unwanted applications can be deleted with automatic tools as well. Of course, only those reputable ones could find and erase Secure Search for you, so definitely do not use the first tool claiming to be a powerful malware remover.

How to remove Secure Search

Google Chrome

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Open its menu by tapping simultaneously two buttons Alt+F.
3. Click More tools.
4. Select Extensions.
5. Select Secure Search and click on the Trash button next to it.
6. Click Remove.