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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Browser Hijackers
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Jun 2020

How to remove Searchdefenderlive.com

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Linas Kiguolis · Expert in social media

Searchdefenderlive.com is a potentially unwanted program that claims to increase the safety of the web browsing but instead hijacks browsers and displays ads

Searchdefenderlive.com

Searchdefenderlive.com is one of many browser hijackers that claims to focus on online security – and many users are concerned about it due to numerous data breaches and increased malware activity worldwide. However, these “security” tools are often PUPs themselves and do not provide the functionality they claim to. Instead, users are shown pop-ups, flashing windows, pop-unders, banners, and other ads during their browsing sessions.

Search Defender Live is the application that causes numerous changes on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, or another browser. The first sign of a browser hijack is that its homepage and new tab URL get set to hxxps://www.searchdefenderlive.com, and a customized engine applied. All the search queries are then redirected to search.yahoo.com, and the search results are not genuine – users will see multiple sponsored links at the top. This way, Searchdefenderlive.com hijacker alters the way users browse the web.

Name Searchdefenderlive.com
Type Browser hijacker, potentially unwanted program
Associated app Search Defender Live
Developer Femto Media
Offered functionality The browser extension offers users an indication markings for harmful websites
True purpose There are no criteria that are used to allegedly indicate harmful sites, making the functionality of the app questionable. Additionally, Search Defender Live tracks various user browsing-related activities in order to show ads and promote affiliated sites for profits
Infiltration Potentially unwanted programs are either installed via bundled software packages or after being tricked by an attractive ad or fake update
Symptoms
  • Unwanted extension Search Defender Live installed on the web browser
  • Homepage, new tab and the search engine altered (set to hxxps://www.searchdefenderlive.com)
  • All searchers directed to search.yahoo.com and are filled with sponsored links at the top
  • Unwanted advertisements show up on various websites that do not come from them
Removal You can check the instructions on how to terminate the PUP manually below; additionally, we recommend scanning the machine with anti-malware software to check for other unwanted apps or malware 
Recovery & optimization To recover from infections and prevent system crashes and errors, we recommend resetting all the installed browsers and run a scan with repair tool FortectIntego

Despite claiming to focus on users' privacy and security, Search Defender Live tracks users' anonymous and personal information obtained during the registration process. Searchdefenderlive.com removal is highly recommended, as the traits of a potentially unwanted program make this hijacker an unneeded addition to the system.

As stated on the Searchdefenderlive.com official site, the following data might be collected:[1]

We gather Personal Information and Non-Personal you provide to us directly or that is obtained from you use of our Services. “Personal Information” means information, such as your first and last name, email address, physical address, telephone number, billing information, or social security number, that is able to personally identify you. “Non-Personal Information” means information that is not capable of personally identifying you.

Besides, the collected information can be shared with commercial and third-parties for various purposes, including the distribution of advertising material via e-mail or other means. Such data is tracked and collected with the help of monitoring tools like Flash Cookies, web beacons, web server log information, and other methods. In other words, Searchdefenderlive.com turns the collected details into profits by sharing it with affiliates that provide you with ads as long as Search Defender Live is installed on your browser. Without a doubt, information tracking can cause serious privacy and security issues to end-users.

Searchdefenderlive.com

Additionally, inserted browser cookies and other tracking means might be still present even after you remove Searchdefenderlive.com hijacker from your machine. For that reason, we highly recommend resetting your browsers as per the instructions below.

Because Search Defender Live is distributed via software bundling, there is a high chance that other potentially unwanted programs or malware might be present on your machine. To ensure it is not the case, experts recommend performing regular scans with anti-virus software. After termination of such infections, however, computers might experience slow response times due to such issues as the corruption of certain registry files. To prevent system crashes and fix virus damage, we advise scanning the computer with FortectIntego.

Avoid potentially unwanted programs by following simple security tips 

Potentially unwanted programs usually enter users' machines unnoticed, i.e., they are not installed deliberately. Even if they are, users are mostly unaware of underlying tasks (such as unwanted ads display) that the app can create post-installation. In other words, potentially unwanted programs are truly unwanted, although they cannot be called malware as users generally install them deliberately themselves (note that malware uses completely different infiltration techniques, including malicious installers, spam emails, exploits,[2] weak RDP connections, and similar). Despite that, the installation process of third-party programs is often deceptive, as the developers or/and host site owners consciously try to hide optional components from users.

Although, users are also to blame, as they often do not pay close attention to the installation instructions of bundled applications, and end up with tools they never wanted to install in the first place, and not all of them perform browser changes as browser hijackers do, so the intrusion might not always be apparent. All in all, it is best to avoid PUPs in the first place – here are some tips from security researchers:[3]

  • Before installing any application, read up on it online – check out reviews, blog posts, tech forums, etc.;
  • Make sure the app provides access to Privacy Policy and Terms of Service before proceeding;
  • When prompted, always go for Advanced/Custom installation settings that often reveal the underlying programs;
  • Beware of tricks used by bundled software installers: watch out for misplaced buttons, misleading deals, fine print text, pre-ticked boxes, etc.;
  • Employ a security application that specializes in PUP detection and removal.

Search Defender Live extension

Remove Search Defender Live and other PUPs and use reputable tools that provide additional browsing safety

If you are looking for a tool that can enhance your web browsing experience and protect you from potentially malicious websites, Search Defender Live is not the application you should be going for, as all your web browsing activities will be tracked and used for marketing purposes. There are plenty of other free programs and browser extensions that do not engage in such activities and are capable of providing relevant information when it comes to online safety. In fact, many AV vendors include such functionality in their comprehensive plans.

If the Searchdefenderlive.com virus managed to hijack your computer, you should hurry up with Search Defender Live removal. As we previously mentioned, its functionality is questionable at best, as it does not provide any details on how the extension works – which criteria the websites are marked as insecure.

You can remove Searchdefenderlive.com relatively easily if you opt for a browser reset – all the extensions will be deleted. However, because the PUP might not be the only one on your machine, we highly recommend a scan with anti-malware software.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

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

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

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

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
  2. Pick Manage Add-ons.
  3. You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.Remove add-ons from Internet Explorer

Change your homepage if it was altered:

  1. Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
  4. Click Apply and then select OK.Reset IE homepage

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

  1. Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
  2. Select Reset.
  3. In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.Reset Internet Explorer

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

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

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

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

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

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

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Reset the homepage:

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

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

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

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Clear history and website data:

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

Reset Safari:

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

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