Search.searchfana.com Removal Guide

Search.searchfana.com is not just a search engine. We have found that it is distributed through malicious software bundles, so we recommend that you remove it from your browser because its search results are littered with advertisements that can also (but not always) include links to shady websites that can compromise your computer’s security. In this article, we will discuss how this hijacker works, how it is distributed, and how you can get rid of it. So if you have Search.searchfana.com on your browser, then you might want to continue reading.

Search.searchfana.com is a search engine, but it does not have its own search algorithm. Therefore, it redirects all entered search queries to a modified Yahoo search engine that will present you with search results. We want to note that Search.searchfana.com features ads on its main page as well as the search results of the modified Yahoo search engine. The ads are littered with promoted links that are included in the search results. Most of them should be legitimate and relevant to a particular search. However, since Search.searchfana.com is a browser hijacker, you should not trust it because some of its ads can promote malicious content that can redirect you to infected websites that, in turn, can infect your PC with malware.

Additionally, this hijacker was designed to collect information about you to be used for advertising purposes. Apparently, this hijacker was set to automatically collect information such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, Internet Service Provider (ISP) domain name, browsing history, search queries entered, approximate geographical location, browser type, operating system type, and so on. All of this information is considered anonymous, so this search engine can obtain it legally for geotargeting purposes. Indeed, this hijacker can be set to show you personalized search results and ads. Nevertheless, that does not mean that this hijacker is any safer to use.

Our research has shown that Search.searchfana.com was created and published by a company known as Polarity Technologies that is based in Cyprus. This company makes browser hijackers and is responsible for releasing the likes of Search.searchfaa.com, Search.searchytdvta.com, Search.hfreeforms.co, and many others. This company has been around for a while now and has been steadily releasing browser hijackers every week. All of this company’s browser hijackers are disseminated using bundled software installers featured on freeware sharing websites. The installers featured on those websites were configured to inject Search.searchfana.com into your browser secretly. As a result, it replaces the homepage of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as the new tab page of Google Chrome. The installers set Search.searchfana.com as the default homepage and search engine without your knowledge or consent. For this reason, we classified as a browser hijacker and recommend that you remove it.

In closing, Search.searchfana.com is a typical browser hijacker that was designed to be distributed secretly and replace your browser’s homepage address and/or new tab without your permission. Its search results are ad-supported, so some of its links are actually ads. This would not be a problem is it were not for the fact that the promoted links can redirect you to malicious websites. Therefore, we recommend that you remove this hijacker as soon as you can.

Removal Instructions

Google Chrome

1. Simultaneously press Alt+F keys.
2. Select Settings.
3. Click Set pages and enter a new address.
4. Click OK.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Simultaneously press Alt+T and click Options.
2. Select General.
3. In the Home Page box, enter a new address box.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Simultaneously press Alt+T keys.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Enter a new URL in the home page address line.
4. Click OK.