[bannerTop]
Welcome to our Secure Surf Virus removal guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.
In the following article we are going to talk about a program, classified as a browser hijacker. This particular hijacker is Secure Surf Virus, which may change your browser apps in the following ways:
- Your default homepage and/ or search engines might be removed. New ones are usually set in their place.
- A very big number of banners/ pop-ups/ boxes (online ads) may start getting displayed as soon as the program has entered your system. It is even possible that at times this ad generation might make your browsing impossible because of its intensive nature.
- Some redirecting processes could take place once you try to open a particular web page, an activity that may irritate you to a great extent.
In general, such software is not among the dangerous malicious types and we are going to explain why below. Please, continue reading for further information on the topic.
Is it possible that a browser hijacker might indeed take control of your browser apps?
Despite the fact that no hazardous processes are likely to occur as a result of the Secure Surf Virus contamination (or any other browser hijacker), such software may really ‘hijack’ all your of your browser apps. Apparently, neither Chrome, nor Explorer and Firefox will be spared by any hijacker. As a result, you may face some great annoyance. To be precise, your browsers are the only parts of your OS, which could be accessed by any hijacker. All other programs and files will be inaccessible to programs like Secure Surf Virus, no matter whether your computer has caught it or not.
Is there anything else that Secure Surf Virus may perform once inside your system?
In fact, the only rather shady apect of any hijacker’s way of acting (while inside your PC), is their ability to access and explore your browser history. What happens is that the program may try to determineyour particular interests. As a result, all the advertisements and redirecting processes, which you could experience, will try to match the majority of your search requests. Indeed, some of the users worldwide may see such an extensive research into their browsing patterns quite intrusive. Consequently, browser hijackers are generally known as a potentially unwanted software category.
What could be concluded about the nature of browser hijackers then?
In spite of the aforementioned questionable features, all of the known hijackers could be considered more or less harmless. Precisely, we may conclude that Secure Surf Virus is a piece of software, which strives to provide efficient advertising of various products. What it does is it serves the marketing industry as any TV or radio ad does. Consequently, nothing about this software type could point to a malicious nature. For the purpose of proving this statement, below we will compare Secure Surf Virus to a representative of the file-encrypting Ransomware, a truly dangerous malware group, in order to further emphasize the fact that there is really nothing malicious in the nature of any hijacker. Briefly speaking, the major differences are the following ones:
- Viruses like the ones based on Ransomware invade your PC without your approval (even your unknowing permission is UNNECESSARY);
- Browser hijackers cannot “invade your system’’, it is necessary that you install them;
- Another great difference focuses on the ways the two software types normally act. While hijackers may only slightly affect your browser apps, the known ransom-requiring programs ACCESS ALL your files and directories and make them inaccessible to you;
- Last but not least, as you can see above, Ransomware inflicts considerable damage, while programs like Secure Surf Virus could only result in annoyance.
Where you may come across hijackers
The major browser hijacker source is the process software bundling. Through it, program bundles are created. Programmers mix apps, hijackers, Adware, games and various other programs inside them. However, as they are paid to distribute advertising software, you should stay particularly careful, especially if you have downloaded such a bundle and want to use something from it. For the purpose of keeping your system hijacker-free, just complete the installation process in a sensible way. It may only be done if you choose the Advanced and/or the Custom installer features. All the other possible options are NOT good for your system. The ones to especially avoid are the Default and Automatic ones. Refrain from using them and your PC will be safe (even from threats as harmful as Trojans and Ransomware).
The process of the Secure Surf Virus removal
This infection could be treated if you implement all the steps of our Removal Guide.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Secure Surf Virus |
| Type | Adware/Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | Modification of browser apps – setting them to redirect you; show new homepages and produce a great number of pop-ups. |
| Distribution Method | Via some software mixtures called bundles; torrents; infected pages; spam and shareware. |
Secure Surf Virus Removal
I – Uninstallation
[bannerMiddle]
- Use the Winkey+R keyboard combination, write Control Panel in the search field and hit enter.
- Go to Uninstall a program under Programs.
- Seek the unwanted software, select it and then click on Uninstall
- If you are unable to spot Secure Surf Virus, search for any unrecognized programs that you do not remember installing on your PC – the unwanted software might disguise itself by going under a different name.
II – Safe mode and revealing hidden files
III – Cleaning all your browsers
- Go to your browser’s icon, right-click on it and select Properties.
- Go to the Shortcut tab and in the Target make sure to delete anything written after “.exe”.
- Now, open your browser and follow the instructions below depending on whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla or IE.
- Chrome users:
- Go to your browser’s main menu located in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
- Scroll down, click on Show Advanced Settings and then select Clear browsing data. Just to be sure, tick everything and clear the data.
- Now, in the left pane, go to Extensions and look through all extensions that are integrated within your browser. If you notice any suspicious add-on, disable it and then remove it.
- Firefox users:
- Similarly to Chrome, go to the main menu and select Add-ons and then Extensions.
- Remove any suspicious browser extensions that you may have even if they do not have the name Secure Surf Virus on them.
- IE users:
- Go to Tools and select Manage add-ons.
- Click on all add-on types from the left pane and check if there is anything suspicious in the right panel. In case you find anything shade, make sure to remove it.
IV – Removing Shady processes
[bannerMiddleSecond]
- Go to your start menu, type Task Manager in the search field and from the results open View running processes with Task Manager.
- Thoroughly look through all processes. The name Secure Surf Virus might not be there, but if you notice any shady looking process that consumes high amounts of memory it might be ran by the unwanted program.
- If you spot the process ran by Secure Surf Virus, right-click on it, open its file location and delete everything in there. Then go back to the Task Manager and end the process.
V – DNS check
- In the start menu search box write View Network Connections and open the first result.
- Right-click on the network connection you are using and go to Properties.
- Select Internet Protocol Version (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
- If Obtain DNS server addresses automatically is not checked, check it.
- Go to Advanced and select the DNS If there is anything in the DNS server addresses field, remove it and click OK.
- Click OK on the rest of the opened windows.
