A quick GTH and FU to the company that somehow infected my computer with a nearly uninstallable extension. Thanks for adding ads and pop-ups to my browser.
I hate you.
Your software package has been removed permanently. It didn’t go without a fight.
I am extremely diligent. I read EULAs… or at least scan them. I don’t click blindly. This must have snuck in with something else.
It made it past Microsoft’s normally respectable Windows Defender. It wasn’t found on a second more thorough Defender scan either.
Malwarebytes got it. Hats off to you.
The people who design these browser hijacks are hardcore. If this stuff is on your PC the number of ads you see has multiplied! Mine also picked keywords and highlighted them. Using javascript, popover boxes were spawned when you moused over the words. Annoying.
The culprit is a browser extension. It seems to be randomly named, because when I entered it in Google I got no returns!
If you remove it or disable the extension, it respawns! Remove what seem to be the executables, it finds another way to execute. You might kill it for a session, but it’s back after every reboot.
It took around an hour to truly kill it. Malwarebytes found 14 instances of suspicious code on my machine. Gone-zo… but not without some serious sweat.
I’m a techie. I know how this stuff works. It wasn’t particularly fun nor easy. You’re mucking around near critical files. Think surgeon.
Anyway, it’s gone. I’ve rebooted a few times All is well.
I asked Helaine how non-techies deal with this? She didn’t have to stop and think.
“They buy a new computer.”
21st Century problems.