Remove Safesurfs.com (Removal Guide) - Aug 2016 update
Can I stay safe while using Safesurfs?
If Safesurfs.com virus showed up on your browser, you should know that you have become a victim of a browser hijacker. Just like its “twin” Safesurs.net, it spreads like a useful search engine which is capable of improving people’s browsing. Unfortunately, but neither the first page nor the second is capable of showing you legitimate search results. They are designed to modify your computer, hijack each of web browsers, and display search results that are considered untrustworthy. Because of these results, you may find yourself redirected to malicious domains seeking to infect your computer with malware. There is no doubt that you must think about Safesurfs removal and stop using this search engine because it has nothing in common with staying safe while browsing on the Internet. The easiest way to fix computer is to rely on such programs as Reimage Reimage Cleaner Intego. We used it while testing this redirect virus and we must say that it showed great results in detecting each of its components. Of course, it is also possible to remove this hijacker manually. For that, you should scroll down to see each of removal steps.
Questions about Safesurfs.com
Once installed on the system, Safesurfs virus is assigned to each of web browsers that are installed on the affected PC system. Beware that it can affect each of web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, etc. Here, it appears instead of the start page, a default search engine, and a new tab page. For protecting itself, this hijacker uses various browser helper objects, such as third party installers, browser plugins and similar components that can be seen easily. They start working as soon as they get a notification that user is trying to reset browser settings and remove Safesurfs from the system.
Why should you be careful with Safesurfs.com? This search engine is commercial one and its developers have been using it to promote suspicious third parties in exchange for money. So, you should realize that its search results are corrupted and filled with sponsored links. After clicking one of such search results, so you can easily be redirected to a malicious website. In addition to SafeSurfs.com redirect activity, there is another thing that you must keep in mind. It is related to previously-mentioned BHOs (browser helper objects) that can not only protect this browser hijacker. These “objects” can also track people and collect information related to their activity on the Internet. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that personal information that you share thru Safesurfs can’t get into hands of unreliable people. If you are against tracking and redirected searches, you should not postpone the removal of this browser hijacker.
Why should I treat this search engine as risky and how can I avoid it?
While Safesurfs.com seems like a trustworthy search engine with a search box and quick links, security experts believe it to be a risk (although minor) to people’s privacy and virtual security. There are several reasons for such assumptions. The research has revealed that this search engine is quite controversial. Although it may boast being able to provide selectively chosen and customized search results, it may rather present people with altered search results. It means that the majority of links and advertisements that it provides may be sponsored, i.e. linked to affiliate websites. Unfortunately, but its redirects can make you visit both, reliable and unsafe, domains which is why this search engine is considered a threat to people’s virtual security.
To prevent yourself from Safesurfs hijack, you must monitor installation of the freeware by selecting Advanced or Custom installation option. Also, make sure you read the Privacy Policy, End User’s License Agreement and similar information provided by the developer of the software. If you can find suspicious statements, you should choose another program. However, if you have been using this browser hijacker, you need to think about Safesurfs.com removal from the system. For that, you can use instructions that are provided down below.
How can I remove Safesurfs.com?
We hope that you understand that you must remove Safesurfs from your computer because it is a seriously suspicious program which uses BHOs for tracking its users. Security experts have already warned people by saying that they discovered about the accumulation of personally identifiable and non-identifiable information. For example, it may accumulate search terms, downloads and uploads, software and hardware information, browser’s type, language, email address, and so on. However, third parties may apply it for unfair purposes, so there is no doubt that Safesurfs.com removal should be considered. Of course, just like any other PUP, it may pose you difficulties while trying to get rid of it, so we highly recommend you to apply an automatic removal method. Using a reliable anti-spyware will eliminate this hijacker along with its counterparts without any difficulties. However, if you do not want to use additional software, you can use the guide given below:
You may remove virus damage with a help of Reimage Reimage Cleaner Intego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
To remove Safesurfs.com, follow these steps:
Eliminate Safesurfs.com from Windows systems
Security experts have revealed several free programs which are used to spread this browser hijacker. To make sure that Safesurfs.com removal from Windows OS is successful, you need to uninstall each of these programs: VPlay, LessTabs, WebCake-related entries, Conduit-related entries, Yontoo, Yealt, and others. Of course, don’t forget to remove SafeSurfs and its entries as well. To fix your browser helper shortcuts, you should eliminate //www.safesurfs.net/… from the target field.
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Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
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If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
- Uninstall Safesurfs.com and related programs
Here, look for Safesurfs.com or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Safesurfs.com from Windows shortcuts
Right click on the shortcut of Mozilla Firefox and select Properties.
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Go to Shortcut tab and look at the Target field. Delete malicious URL that is related to your virus.
Repeat steps that are given above with all browsers' shortcuts, including Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Make sure you check all locations of these shortcuts, including Desktop, Start Menu and taskbar.
Erase Safesurfs.com from Mac OS X system
When trying to uninstall Safesurfs.com manually, you should remove each of its entries. We also recommend you to uninstall these suspicious applications from Mac OS X: VPlay, LessTabs, WebCake-related entries, Conduit-related entries, Yontoo, Yealt, etc.
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If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for Safesurfs.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Remove Safesurfs.com from Internet Explorer (IE)
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Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons.
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You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for Safesurfs.com and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
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Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
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When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete Safesurfs.com removal.
Delete Safesurfs.com from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions.
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Here, select Safesurfs.com and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the menu (top right corner), choose Options → General. - Here, delete malicious URL and enter preferable website or click Restore to default.
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Click OK to save these changes.
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Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information.
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Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete Safesurfs.com removal.
Uninstall Safesurfs.com from Google Chrome
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions.
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Here, select Safesurfs.com and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage and default search engine if it was altered by your virus
Click on menu icon and choose Settings. -
Here, look for the Open a specific page or set of pages under On startup option and click on Set pages.
- Now you should see another window. Here, delete malicious search sites and enter the one that you want to use as your homepage.
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Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
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When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
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Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
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Click Reset to confirm this action and complete Safesurfs.com removal.
Eliminate Safesurfs.com from Safari
- Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences.
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Here, select Extensions and look for Safesurfs.com or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Open your Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu section. Here, select Preferences as it was displayed previously and select General. -
Here, look at the Homepage field. If it was altered by Safesurfs.com, remove unwanted link and enter the one that you want to use for your searches. Remember to include the "http://" before typing in the address of the page.
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Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari....
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Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete Safesurfs.com removal process.
Access your website securely from any location
When you work on the domain, site, blog, or different project that requires constant management, content creation, or coding, you may need to connect to the server and content management service more often. It is a hassle when your website is protected from suspicious connections and unauthorized IP addresses.
The best solution for creating a tighter network could be a dedicated/fixed IP address. If you make your IP address static and set to your device, you can connect to the CMS from any location and do not create any additional issues for server or network manager that need to monitor connections and activities. This is how you bypass some of the authentications factors and can remotely use your banking accounts without triggering suspicious with each login.
VPN software providers like Private Internet Access can help you with such settings and offer the option to control the online reputation and manage projects easily from any part of the world. It is better to clock the access to your website from different IP addresses. So you can keep the project safe and secure when you have the dedicated IP address VPN and protected access to the content management system.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer various losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Software issues created by malware or direct data loss due to encryption can lead to problems with your device or permanent damage. When you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work.
It is crucial to create updates to your backups after any changes on the device, so you can get back to the point you were working on when malware changes anything or issues with the device causes data or performance corruption. Rely on such behavior and make file backup your daily or weekly habit.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware occurs out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the system restoring purpose.
About the author
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October 19th, 2015 at 11:57 pm
Hi guys!! Ive found this hijacker on my computer right after installing a PDF viewer. It doesnt bother me a lot, but it has been redirecting me to websites that I see for the first time. Ive removed it successfully, but I have some doubts that it might have helped other threats infect my computer because I keep receiving ads during browsing.
October 20th, 2015 at 12:14 am
Hi 2Egisss2! I have the same issue in my web browser. Im using Chrome, but I cant get rid of it manually. I have removed it from the plug-ins list and replaced it by Google.com in the field of homepage. However, it reappears as soon as I reopen my web browser. What did I do wrong?
October 20th, 2015 at 1:17 am
I dont know whats the problem with me because its a second time when Safesurfs.com hijacks my computer. I assume that it has infiltrated my computer as a free addition of a freeware. The next time I will install free programs much much much more carefully.
October 20th, 2015 at 2:43 am
I cant believe Ive been using this search engine instead of Google! It actually seemed to be useful until Ive noticed that most of the links that it provides are sponsored. Dont use Safesurfs.com hijacker because it can cause you inconveniences and expose to suspicious websites! To remove it, Ive used SpyHunter. Successfully detected and removed.