Myhomepage123.com Removal Guide

If your browser’s homepage address has suddenly changed its appearance, you should take a look at the address bar. If it reads Myhomepage123.com, then your web browser was infected with a browser hijacker. Myhomepage123.com is a malicious search engine set to replace your browser’s homepage address secretly. Therefore, you should remove it from your browser as soon as you can. However, there is more to this browser hijacker. Our research has shown that this fictitious search engine can feature promoted links in its search results and those links are supplied by unknown adware servers. Therefore, the search results might not be safe to interact with and might infect your PC with dangerous malware if you visit them. Also, Myhomepage123.com can collect information about you and use it to customize the ad campaign which generates its developers a healthy profit.

Our research has revealed that Myhomepage123.com is part of the ELEX browser hijacker family. This is a big deal because Luckypage123.com, LuckySearch123.com, Funnysiting.com, Funcionapage.com, and dozens of other fake search engines are also part of this family. Based on our experience with previous ELEX hijackers, we conclude that Myhomepage123.com can pose a threat to your computer’s security. Nevertheless, the possibility of it subjecting you to malicious content is small, but present nonetheless.

Like many of its clones, this new browser hijacker is disseminated through malicious bundled software installers. These installers can be found on various free software hosting websites and their free software is known to be bundled with adware, browser hijackers, and other malware to generate income. Some installers may not disclose that they feature Myhomepage123.com and install it automatically without your authorization. Furthermore, they might not allow you to deselect its installation. Therefore, we find that the method used to distribute this search engine is inherently malicious.

We have found that Myhomepage123.com is set to be injected by the installers that distribute it. Therefore, we conclude that it does not have a browser extension. They install it on Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. This hijacker was configured to replace the homepage address only and its developers expect you to use it as a regular search engine. While you can use it as a search engine, we want to inform you that it will redirect your search queries to Google.com, but the problem is that the search results can be modified. The modified search results can feature promoted links that are supplied by unknown and, therefore, unreliable servers. We fear that some of those promoted links can redirect you to infected websites and jeopardize your PC’s security. Now let us discuss matters regarding this hijacker’s privacy policy.

According to the privacy policy, “myhomepage123 may request or collect personal information from online users in a variety of ways, including through online forms for ordering products and services, and other instances where users are invited to volunteer such information.” The information this hijacker can collect includes your name, gender, date of birth, and country. Apart from this personal information, it should collect non-personally identifiable information such as your browsing history, IP address, Internet Service Provider, entered search queries, and so on. Now, you should not allow it to collect this information because it is used to customize the ad campaign that can subject you to malicious content.

As you can see, Myhomepage123.com is one malicious search engine that will not improve your browsing experience, but rather hinder it. It can promote questionable websites and gather information about you to customize them and make more money. However, given this search engine’s shady background, you should remove it from your browser as soon as possible.

How to replace the homepage address

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Win+E keys.
2. In the address bar, enter C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
3. Find prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
4. Replace the URL in user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://myhomepage123.com"); string.
5. Save and Close.

Google Chrome

1. Press Win+E keys.
2. In the address bar, enter C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Locate Preferences, Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
4. Open them with Notepad and replace http://myhomepage123.com your desired homepage.
5. Alternatively, you can delete these files.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R keys.
2. Type regedit in the search results and click OK.
3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Find the string Start Page, right-click it and select Modify.
5. Replace http://myhomepage123.com with your desired URL.
6. Click OK.