Search.bittsearch.com – a browser hijacker that is aggressively promoting MacKeeper app
Search.bittsearch.com is a browser-hijacking application which promises to improve people's browsing experience. Unfortunately, all it does is promoting MacKeeper and other suspicious software.
Search.bittsearch.com is a fake search engine which is promoted via a BittsearchDS browser extension. When this browser hijacker enters the computer system, it starts modifying web browsers and redirects its victims to sponsored websites. In most of the cases, the hijacker is affecting Mac OS X, so the main app it has been promoting is MacKeeper. No matter how professional this program appears, it aims to trick users into buying its full version. If your main page, search engine, and the new tab URL have been changed to search.bittsearch.com, make sure you take care of virus removal because it cannot only redirect you to the browser hijacker-supported pages but can also start collecting various non-personal details about its victims.
Name
Search.bittsearch.com
Type
Browser hijacker
Danger level
Low. Harms only browsers but does not touch any other systems.
Affected OS
Mac OS X, Windows OS
Browsers infected
Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, etc.
Distribution
Freeware, shareware, dubious sites, P2P networks, links on questionable websites.
Eliminate it
Use FortectIntego and delete the hijack just in a couple of minutes.
To continue, search.bittsearch.com gathers information such as:
Various search queries;
Saved bookmarks;
IP addresses;
Sites and links you have visited;
etc.
In some cases, the browser-hijacking application might even collect some personal data, which is rare but does happen sometimes. The loss of such data can lead you to identity theft, so we highly recommend avoiding programs having the ability to track their users.
Furthermore, when browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, or Safari are affected, this redirect virus starts rerouting its victims to various dubious sites and might even show misleading search query results. In most of the cases, changing back to your normal search engine is hard, unless you remove search.bittsearch.com from your infected browser. For that, we recommend using FortectIntego.
Also, numerous intrusive ads might also interrupt you. The appearance of MacKeeper ads is one of the signs showing that you have caught search.bittsearch.com virus. If you happen to overcome various pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, coupons, and similar content while browsing, that might also be a sign of a browser hijacker infiltration. Such advertisements typically interrupt people's browsing activity and might even cause regular crashes.
To avoid various harmful consequences which can be brought by a browser hijacker, you should perform search.bittsearch.com removal as soon as you spot the symptoms mentioned previously. This PUP is not as harmful as a ransomware infection or a Trojan horse[1], but it still does cause damage to you and your computer by affecting certain browsers.
Search.bittsearch.com - a PUP which has a purpose to gain income for the developers. Browser hijackers spread around in many ways
According to tech professionals[2], hijackers can spread around with the help of various techniques. The most common way is through bundled software or third-party installers. These kinds of sources might be improperly disclosed and include damaging content as they are provided from secondary hands. Furthermore, you might accidentally download or install a browser-hijacking app by clicking on dubious sites and links, or even skipping recommended updates and provided downloading steps.
Notice, that your PC safety is all up to you. Pay attention while browsing the web to keep your systems safe and clean. Avoid using third-party sources for downloading software but if you still do that – check the Custom/Advanced section for any unwanted components and opt-out them from the downloading process. A big recommendation is to download and install an antivirus[3]. If you already have one running on your computer – make sure that it is always updated. If it is – the program will do regular system scans and protect your PC from various cyber threats.
Get rid of search.bittsearch.com easily
To remove search.bittsearch.com hijack by using a manual removal option, you should consider eliminating all unnecessary browser extensions, various applications and other familiar plug-ins that might be the infection source. This method will help you get rid of the cyber threat from browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, IE, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari. The instructions for the deletion are shown below this article.
Moreover, if you want to do the search.bittsearch.com removal a little bit faster, you need to download an anti-malware program. It will give you quick guidance thru the whole process and let you delete the hijack just in a few minutes duration period.
When a PUP such as a browser hijacker infiltrates the system it might leave lots of damaging content in your web browser. After you deal with the search.bittsearch.com virus, do some browser refreshings and system backups just to make sure that everything is properly cleaned and back to its starter positions.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. 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.
Compatible with Microsoft Windows
Compatible with macOS
What to do if failed?
If you failed to fix virus damage using Fortect Intego, submit a question to our support team and provide as much details as possible.
Fortect Intego has a free limited scanner. Fortect Intego offers more through scan when you purchase its full version. When free scanner detects issues, you can fix them using free manual repairs or you can decide to purchase the full version in order to fix them automatically.
Follow the instructions in order to eliminate the PUP from your Google Chrome browser:
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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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.
Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
Click Safari > Clear History…
From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
Click Safari > Preferences…
Go to Advanced tab.
Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Search.bittsearch.com registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting stealing programs
Choose a proper web browser and improve your safety with a VPN tool
Online spying has got momentum in recent years and people are getting more and more interested in how to protect their privacy online. One of the basic means to add a layer of security – choose the most private and secure web browser. Although web browsers can't grant full privacy protection and security, some of them are much better at sandboxing, HTTPS upgrading, active content blocking, tracking blocking, phishing protection, and similar privacy-oriented features. However, if you want true anonymity, we suggest you employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN – it can encrypt all the traffic that comes and goes out of your computer, preventing tracking completely.
Lost your files? Use data recovery software
While some files located on any computer are replaceable or useless, others can be extremely valuable. Family photos, work documents, school projects – these are types of files that we don't want to lose. Unfortunately, there are many ways how unexpected data loss can occur: power cuts, Blue Screen of Death errors, hardware failures, crypto-malware attack, or even accidental deletion.
To ensure that all the files remain intact, you should prepare regular data backups. You can choose cloud-based or physical copies you could restore from later in case of a disaster. If your backups were lost as well or you never bothered to prepare any, Data Recovery Pro can be your only hope to retrieve your invaluable files.
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