Remove Thebrighttag (scam)

Thebrighttag – an adware program that displays sponsored content on Netflix and other sites

Thebrighttag is an adware that has a purpose to gain income from advertising. Developers use the cost-per-click marketing technique to receive revenue from their ads. Such advertisements come in form of annoying pop-ups and pop-unders that appear on Netflix, WordPress-based sites, Youtube, and similar domains. While s.thebrighttag.com malware is not technically a virus, security experts have started calling it malicious due to its ability to infiltrate the computer system without any notice and modify the web browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, IE) without asking for permission. Note that it is better to ignore ads caused by this adware and eliminate their main cause – adware-type virus, from Mac and other operating systems.

Name	Thebrighttag
Type	Adware
developer	Signal Inc.
Main symptoms	Causes continuous pop-up ads and redirects to sponsored sites
redirects to	s.thebrighttag.com
the main browsers affected	Safari, Firefox, Chrome
the main OS affected	Mac OS
Distribution	Adware-related programs can distribute via bundled freeware or shareware
Prevention	Use the Custom/Advanced installation mode to control all incoming downloads
Elimination	Get rid of adware and use Fortect Intego to detect unwanted components

If the virus has infiltrated your computer system, there is a big possibility that you will spot symptoms such as:

Frequent advertising which appears each time you enter the infected browser;
Dubious redirects^[1] are taking you to questionable websites;
Browser's homepage and new tab bar have been changed without your permission;
Your web browser has been struggling to perform simple actions lately.

Note that these before-mentioned symptoms signify an adware infection in your computer. If you figure out that Thebrighttag is responsible for this activity, you should strongly consider removing the potentially unwanted program as it is not a necessary component for your computer system and might even indirectly do some damage to it.

An important reason to remove s.thebrighttag.com malware from the system is its ability to redirect to questionable sites. As we have mentioned before, adware programs are likely to take users to dubious-looking websites. Some pages can turn out to be malicious and include malware^[2]. You can easily infect your computer system by clicking on an infected link.

Moreover, performing the removal is recommended as this ad-supported program has the ability to gather data that relates to the user's browsing habits. These potentially unwanted applications gather the information that is related to users' most commonly visited websites, saved bookmarks, performed search requests, etc.

This data is collected by using the Thebrighttag cookie which can be detected by your anti-virus as The Bright Tag. If you happen to receive a notification from your anti-virus about this component, you should get rid of it without any doubt. You can use Fortect Intego or any other similar tool to detect all suspicious components on the computer system. If you want to remove the intruder from Mac manually, follow the manual tutorial at the end of this post.

Avoid adware programs by following simple rules

According to the cybersecurity experts' team from Virusai.lt^[3], potentially unwanted applications, including adware-related ones, can be easily spread via the bundling technique. Such a thing happens very often when computer users download software from free Internet sources and do not pay attention to installation steps. Gladly, you can take some actions to avoid this type of activity.

All you have to do is activate the “Custom” or “Advanced” installation mode over the “Quick” or “Recommended” one. If you do follow this advice, you will be able to control all incoming downloads, opt-out the unwanted wants and leaves those which are necessary. Furthermore, IT specialists recommend downloading and installing a reputable antivirus program that will allow you to perform regular system scans and keep your computer protected.

Terminate TheBrighttag certificate and other components

If this adware has appeared in your computer system and web browsers with its ads, you need to remove the virus as soon as possible. There is no need for keeping this potentially unwanted program^[4] on your computer as it will bring only unpleasant consequences. You can perform the elimination process by using reliable anti-malware tools which will assure you that your PC is fully cleaned and free of malware.

Moreover, you can follow our below-given instructions to carry out the Thebrighttag removal. This method is suited for more experienced users but you are welcome to try it on your own if you are likely to. Be careful while performing each step as you will have to get rid of all browser extensions, add-ons, and adware-added plug-ins from infected web browsers such as Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:

In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:

Select Go > Go to Folder.
Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
Then find On startup section.
Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
Select Details tab.
Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:

Click on Menu and go to Settings.
Select Privacy, search and services.
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Under Time range, pick All time.
Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
On the left side, pick Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values.
Confirm with Reset.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
Select Add-ons.
In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
Choose Settings.
Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

Click Menu and pick Settings.
Go to Privacy & Security section.
Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
Click on Clear Data...
Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

Click on Menu and pick Settings.
Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:

Click menu and choose Settings.
Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

How to remove Thebrighttag

Thebrighttag – an adware program that displays sponsored content on Netflix and other sites

Avoid adware programs by following simple rules