If you wish to browse the web efficiently, you should not rely on Startpage-home.com. This search tool does not offer beneficial services, and it is possible that you could put yourself at risk using them. If you are being offered this search tool right now, we advise refusing it immediately. Also, research the software that it might have been offered along with because it might turn out to be unreliable as well. In case you have already installed this tool, or if it has hijacked your browsers without your permission, you need to read this report to understand what kind of situation you might be putting yourself into by using the hijacker. It is highly recommended that you delete Startpage-home.com from your browsers right away. If you are not sure how to proceed, you can read this report. We discuss the distribution, the activity, and the removal of this suspicious browser hijacker.
Although Startpage-home.com has been detected in nearly 30 different countries, our researchers have found that it mostly affects users in Mexico. Since this hijacker does not have a website representing it, it is not surprising that it is spread via software bundles. Do you know why it is risky to interact with software bundles? Some of them can carry malicious threats, such as Trojans, rogues, as well as adware and potentially unwanted programs (e.g., bogus system optimizers). Malicious bundles are usually represented via unreliable websites, and so you have to be very selective when it comes to file-sharing sources. Only use sites that are reputable, or, better yet, only use official sources. Notably, Startpage-search.com, Search-startpage.com, Homepage-web.com, and other hijackers created Bontio Media are distributed in the same manner. These are the clones of Startpage-home.com, and we advise removing them as well.
When Startpage-home.com takes over your browsers, it might replace the homepage, default search provider, and new tab pages. The interface of this hijacker reminds us of a search engine, and we are sure that it is promoted like one via software bundles. In reality, the hijacker enables redirecting to third-party search engines, which means that it does not provide web search services at all. Isn’t that suspicious? Of course, it is, and you should not ignore the fact that the “search tool” does not work the way it should. You also should not just assume that Startpage-home.com is harmless because it redirects to well-known search engines, such as Google Custom Search or Yahoo Search (the hijacker can be modified to route to different engines). The hijacker could include advertisements in the results shown to you, and that might put you at risk of encountering unreliable content (e.g., fake offers and installers). These links could be selected based on your browsing history that is recorded by tracking cookies. Keep in mind that third-party cookies could be used as well to spy on you, and you might want to delete them.
Do you know how to remove Startpage-home.com and all data tracking tools that could supplement this hijacker? You can reset your browsers. You can also employ automated malware detection and removal software, and you should really consider this if other threats have slithered into your operating system. If you have no clue if you are dealing with other threats – and they could be hidden or have misleading interfaces – you can install a legitimate malware scanner. The threats this scanner identifies are the threats that you need to eliminate, and there should be no exceptions. If you decide to follow the guide below, do not forget to scan your PC afterward to check for leftovers, and set up a security system to ensure that malware does not threaten your virtual security in the future.
Internet Explorer:
Google Chrome:
Mozilla Firefox: