Searchiu.com is a malicious browserhijacker that is pretended to be a real search engine while it is not. Actually, it is used by Cyber criminals to promote their domain and also to steal sensitive user information from victim PC. The imitsearch.net redirect “Broser Hijacker” is a malicious browser extension which can inject Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet explorer without your knowledge and awareness.
If you keep getting redirected to Searchiu.com while searching on Google, Yahoo or Bing, this means your system has been hijacked by Searchiu.com, actually it spreads using legit but unfair tricks such as bundling this malware with free software programs which are packed with a wrapper or special installer that can download third party or sponosred adware.
Symptoms and risks
- It changes your home page and displays unwanted pop-ups advertisements.
- Causes frequent web redirects to wrong websites, hijacks search engine settings and leads to unexpected webpages.
- Keeps record of browsing activities and interests.
- Private information such as your IP address, browser data, and search habit are compromised and collected by cyber theft for commercial purpose.
- Your computer could be easily infected with other malware or adware if you keep using this nasty domain.
Searchiu.com redirect virus [Removal Guide]
All tools used in our malware removal guides are completely free to use and should remove any trace of malware from your computer.
Please be aware that removing Malware is not so simple, and we strongly recommend to backup your personal files and folders before you start the malware removal process.
1. Run a scan with AdwCleaner
Download download AdwCleaner to your desktop.
- Important! Before starting AdCleaner, close all open programs and internet browsers.
- Double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
- Click on Delete, then confirm each time with Ok.
- Your desktop icons will be disappear, this is normal so don’t be worry about that.
- Your computer will be rebooted automatically. A text file will open after the restart.
- NEXT, double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
- Click now on Uninstall, then confirm with yes to remove AdwCleaner from your computer.
3. Run a scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to your desktop.
- Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
- At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
- Then click Finish.
- If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
- Once the program has loaded, select Perform quick scan, then click Scan.
- When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
- Be sure that everything is Checked (ticked) except items in the C:\System Volume Information folder and click on Remove Selected.
- If you accidently close it, the log file is saved here and will be named like this: C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware\Logs\mbam-log-date (time).txt
- Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts.
- Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process.
- If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.
- After the restart in Normal mode, start Malwarebytes Anti-Malware again and perform a Full System scan to verify that there are no remaining threats.
3. Run a scan with HitmanPro
Please download HitmanPro to your desktop from one of the following links
HitmanPro (32bit) – Direct download link
HitmanPro (64bit) – Direct download link
- Double click on HitmanPro to start the program, if you are experiencing problems while trying to start HitmanPro, you can use the Force Breach mode.
- To start HitmanPro in Force Breach mode, hold down the left CTRL-key when you double click on HitmanPro and all non-essential processes will be terminated, including the malware processes.
- HitmanPro will start and you’ll need to follow the prompts (by clicking on the Next button) to start a system scan with this program.
- The program will start to scan the computer. The scan will typically take no more than 2-3 minutes.
- Click on the next button and choose the option activate free license
- Click on the next button and the infections where will be deleted.
- Click now on the Save Log option and save this log to your desktop.
- Click on the next button and restart the computer.
Restore the Internet Explorer Settings
- Start Internet Explorer, click on the gear icon (Tools for Windows XP users) at the top right, and then click on Internet Options.
- In the Internet Options dialog box, click on the Advanced tab, then click on the Reset button.
- In the Reset Internet Explorer settings section, check the Delete personal settings box, then click on Reset.
- When Internet Explorer finishes resetting, click Close in the confirmation dialogue box and then click OK.
- Close and open Internet Explorer and check everything is fixed as well.
Restore the Firefox Settings
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu (on Windows XP, click the Help menu at the top of the Firefox window), and select Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
- Click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.
- Firefox will close and wil be reset with the default settings.
- When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and check everything is fixed as well.
Incoming search terms:
- searchiu
- loadgovstates pw virus
- www google serchiu