Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker - How to remove

Search.abcnews.io is a browser virus that pretends to be a helpful search engine that offers all necessary functions in one place, yet secretly uses victim for crooks’ benefits. This hijacker is developed by Airfind Corp., which is well-known for making lots of other browser hijackers. Although Search.abcnews.io is not the most dangerous types of malware it can result in serious consequences like hacked accounts, leaked personal data and stolen identity. Furthermore, it may become a real challenge to get rid of it from your system if you do not know what you are doing.

2-viruses.com team prepared special instructions below this article on how to remove the Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker both manually and with the help of security tools, which should be useful for anyone with this virtual virus. Moreover, we will provide some information about Search.abcnews.io hijacker’s working principles, distribution and malicious behavior, which you should avoid at all costs, especially nowadays since malvertising.

What does Search.abcnews.io browse hijacker do

Search.abcnews.io is a browser hijacker that after invading victim’s computer in sneaky ways, replaces main search engine and sets itself as a default search provider, disabling the ability to change the browser back to the old preferred settings. This is done to allow hackers to take full control of your online activity and content that reaches you, therefore you end up seeing tons of promotions, pop-up offers, distorted website layouts (because of ads) and random words with hyperlinks, experience slower often-crashing browser and constantly get redirected to more offers/services and etc. And all of it is to bring more money for Search.abcnews.io virus developers.

After running a scan on VirusTotal.com we found out that the main Search.abcnews.io page is not marked as malicious, yet the US IP address leads to other Airfind’s browser hijackers like Search.clarobuscar.com, search.my-search.online, Search.swiftsearch.co, Browserhome.net, and others, sometimes are detected as suspicious. This is most likely because the main Search.abcnews.io homepage does not contain any dangerous content, so even if you visit once, crooks would only see the search queries you enter into it, yet the whole malicious core hides in further sites, that this page can redirect you to. For a proof take a look at the article about ads.

But this is not the only evidence that Search.abcnews.io is performing malicious things without you knowing. Actually, if you read carefully Airfind’s Privacy policy, you will understand that using Search.abcnews.io is only going to cause you more issues than benefit. Unfortunately, the company states all ‘evil’ features in EULA, therefore if something really happens, they will be able to easily avoid any lawsuit, since as a client, you agree with their statements by continuing to use this search engine. See for yourself:

Airfind may collect certain Personally Identifiable Information, including your username, full name, phone number, physical address, and e-mail address. Airfind may allow other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements in the Services. These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to send, directly to your browser, the advertisements, and links that appear in the Services. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content you see.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to send, directly to your browser or mobile device, the ads and ad links that appear on the Services, and will automatically receive your IP address when they do so. They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, web beacons, JavaScript, device identifiers, location data, and clear gifs, see above) to compile information about your browser’s or device’s visits and usage patterns on the Services (without using any Personally Identifiable Information), and to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize the advertising content.

Clearly, Search.abcnews.io virus is using affiliate to gain from unsuspecting users, which can be very dangerous because those third-parties have no regulations and can hide viruses behind the ads, and infect your PC even more. This explains why Search.abcnews.io manipulate your Internet traffic and divert your clicks to sponsoring ad networks or some websites like Bing (which Search.abcnews.io hijacker is using as the main search provider) generating revenue from increased traffic.

How can Search.abcnews.io virus spread

Most likely you noticed Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker instead of your regular search engine suddenly without any previous signs. Browser viruses have to use cunning approaches to infect users’ computers because rarely anyone wants to voluntarily replace their homepages which they are used to with some shady clustered site, which is allowing aggressive advertising, pop-ups and diverts to random pages. This is why the best option for Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker is to target victims through Bundling with other software.

Bundling is a common method of spreading for many malware threats, to browser hijackers like Search.abcnews.io especially. All the developers have to do is to make a deal with Freeware distributing sites to add their virus to some other programs Setup Assistant for a certain percentage of money, which they will be making off the number of systems infected. This is why you should always download a program from an official site, and always choose Custom installation, instead of Recommended, because Search.abcnews.io virus can be hiding there as a pre-selected application which will be set up together with the main software if a user will not unmark it. Yet, some bundling software that compiles legitimate programs with malware, leaves no option for user to make selection and installs Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker anyway. To avoid such situations, please take a look at this how article.

How to terminate Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker

Bottom line up front, the best way to get rid of Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker and all its malicious scripts is to use either Spyhunter automatic removal tools. We have reviewed plenty of other security programs for your liking if you decide to go with another anti-spyware tool, just make sure to read the description in order to figure out if the malware removal software is safe and not just a rogue antivirus.

The benefit of using our mentioned products is that all you have to do in order to solve the Search.abcnews.io virus infection is to run a full system scan and the rest will be taken care of by the security tool. This saves time and in the end, you can feel confident that your PC is clean, without having to restore the system fully.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Search.abcnews.io virus manually

How to remove abcnews browser hijacker using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to abcnews browser hijacker . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove abcnews browser hijacker from macOS

Delete Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the abcnews browser hijacker app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to abcnews browser hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall abcnews browser hijacker and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

If you know that any security program is not what you are looking for to solve Search.abcnews.io browser hijacker invasion, then follow our instructions below, which will explain step-by-step how to remove Search.abcnews.io virus from any browser.