Bonza Mobile Computer Repairs

Yesterday I lost 5 precious work hours. The first 3 struggling to find a cause why I suddenly couldn’t access Google, rebooting my system a few times, recycling the modem – nothing. Was Google down?  

It was strange; I could bring up client’s sites and our Bonza sites but could not search on Google. All I got was Page not Found when I searched. Firefox was doing the same. Curiously Bing (MSN) was working.

Finally, I called in a Bonza technician. Two hours later I was back in business.

If you thought Pop-ups were annoying, just wait until your web browser is hijacked!

The Adware parasite I had is called CoolWebSearch (or abbreviated CWS) a well-known spyware program that installs itself on Microsoft Windows and first appeared way back in May 2003!  Bugger, they never go away!

A browser Hijacker seeks to exploit security holes within Internet Explorer to install automatically without any user interaction at all. “All the installation is done silently, in the background”. The malicious software changes your I.E. settings among other things.

You can protect yourself against the malicious software installs by making sure your version of Internet Explorer is up-to-date with all current patches.

“Aha! You work in IT and don’t maintain your ‘puter!” You say.

I have the latest and greatest ESET spyware, antivirus, malware software installed in my system. I never miss installing software updates and patches.

“A browser Hijacker may disallow access to certain web pages and have been known to disable Antivirus and anti-spyware software.”

How did I get this parasite? I don’t know!

Some versions of CoolWebSearch can be installed through drive-by installation, in which a computer browsing a webpage automatically installs CWS. CWS itself attempts to evade others by not labelling its ads, not providing an EULA, not providing any data about itself and not having a website. Certain variants insert links on random text, leading to advertiser websites. Other attempts to access websites are redirected to pay-per-click search engines that may install more malware display ads. Some variants of CWS also add links to pornography and gambling sites to the user’s Desktop, Internet Explorer’s bookmarks and history. Certain versions attempt to edit users’ trusted sites and modify security settings as well as to hide from removal programs. (Source Wikipedia)

Browser hijacking is one of the web’s constant dangers. Whether it arrives in the form of a flood of annoying pop-ups, or malicious code taking over your browser completely, chances are that every Internet user will be subjected to this scourge in some form.

Tags: browser hijackers, browser hijacking, browser hikack