What is Chitika adware (Chitika virus)?

Chitika (http://chitika.com/) is an online advertising serving platform, categorized as adware, and is often referred to as the Chitika virus, Chitika malware, Chitika Premium virus, or simply Chitika adware. Chitika displays unwanted advertisements in the form of Chitika pop-ups, in text advertisements, and mobile adverts on a variety of websites to targeted users. Chitika collects minuscule and personal information about the computer user’s browsing activities, such as browser history in order to display unwanted targeted advertisements.

Chitka ads will often state that they are from Chitika in the top corner of the pop-up advertisements, as well as provide links that may include premium, settings, eMiniMalls, and others that lead to a webpage that may allow victims of Chitika pop-up advertisements to “opt out” of the Chitika advertising service. Some Chitika adverts will have text that states “click to continue by Chitika”. Please note, opting out of any adware serving platform is never recommended.

Are Chitika advertisements dangerous? Is Chitika safe?

Chitika is not essentially dangerous and most advertisements displayed in Chitika pop-ups (etc) do not pose a threat, but Chitika is not entirely not safe either. Chitika is more of a nuisance than malicious entity and does invade the privacy of it’s victims and entrap them to unethical terms. Chitika is even known to install to a computer and attach to an internet browser without consent from the computer user and/or owner, but having said this there have been no reports or anything to indicate that the standalone Chitika adware platform will destroy computer functionality or involve collected information in cyber crime. There have also been no reports that indicate that advertisements displayed by Chitika are malicious, though some may be irrelevant, off topic, and appear without permission. Still, I would not click on any advertisements displayed by Chitika for any reason.

Chitika may bundle with third parties, including browser attachments, who pose a threat to an infected computer system. Please note, though Chitika standalone is not essentially dangerous, the third-party software Chitika may associate with or bundle with are potentially dangerous. If Chitika has infected your computer system without your consent, it is very important to check for third party malware infecting your computer system.

1. Chitika Adware Removal Software (Antivirus Scan)

Scan and Remove Chitika from your computer system using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (other suggested removal tools).

Instructions: 1. Install Malwarebytes 2. Update the software 3. Perform full scan (Image).

2. How To Uninstall Chitika

The instructions below detail how to uninstall Chitika and third party programs using Window’s Uninstaller.

1. Access Windows Start Menu and navigate to the Control Panel.

2. Click Uninstall a program or Add and remove a program.

3. Search for Chitika and additional/suspicious software in the list of installed software. Double click Chitika to uninstall it, or highlight the program and click the Uninstall button.

3. How To Remove Chitika Add-on And Extension

Mozilla Firefox

1. Type Ctrl+Shift+A.

2. On the Extensions and Plugin search for Chitika and additional third party add-ons and remove them.

Google Chrome

1. Click on the Customize icon (wrench or 3 bar icon) next to the address bar and navigate to Tools > Extensions.

2. Search for the Chitika and additional third party extensions. Remove them by clicking the trashcan icon adjacent to them.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Click Tools and select Manage add-ons.

2. On the Toolbars and Extensions tab search for Chitika and additional third party add-ons and remove them if located.

Alternative Chitika Adware Removal Options & Tips:

If Chitika is difficult to remove, please refer to alternative removal options and tips to bypass symptoms of the Chitika virus below.

System Restore

A System Restore is an easy solution to restore an infected computer to a date and time before issues. System Restores can be used to remove software that may have installed without consent, including adware serving platforms.

• To learn more please visit: http://botcrawl.com/how-to-restore-microsoft-windows-vista-microsoft-windows-xp-and-microsoft-windows-7/

Deny Flash

Many adware platforms serve pop-up advertisements utilize flash to serve pop-up ads.

• To disable (deny) flash visit: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/help09.html and select the “Deny” radio option (pictured below).

Hosts File (Advanced)

• Hosts file instructions

127.0.0.1  chitika.com

Remove Hijacked Home Page

If Chitika or related websites have changed your intenet browser settings without consent including the home page use the intructions below to repair home page and trouble shoot issues.

CCleaner ↔ Install

An alternative recommendation is to use a program such as CCleaner to repair all browser settings at once with productive accuracy.

1. Install CCleaner.

2. Navigate to Cleaner > Windows/Applications and click the Analyze button. Afterwards, click the Run Cleaner button on the bottom right of the program interface.

Manually Remove Hijacked Home Page

In Google Chrome click the customize icon (wrench or 3 bars) and navigate to Settings. Click “Set pages” under the On startup option. Remove any malicious websites and replace with your preferred URL.

In Mozilla Firefox navigate to Tools > Options. Under the General tab remove any malicious URL from the “Home Page:” field and replace with your preferred home page.

In Microsoft Internet Explorer navigate to Tools >Internet Options. Remove any malicious URLs from the Home Page field and replace with your preferred URL.

Remove Hijacked Search Engine

If Chitika or related websites have changed your intenet browser settings without consent including the default search engine, causing your browser to redirect to unwanted websites use the instructions below to repair your browser’s internal search engine.

CCleaner ↔ Install

1. Install CCleaner.

2. Navigate to Tools > Startup and search through each tab starting from windows, internet explorer, etc., all the way to Content Menu, for additional suspicious entries and click Disable and Delete once anything is found.

Manually Remove Hijacked Search Engine

In Google Chrome, click the customize icon (wrench or 3 bars) and navigate to Settings > Manage search engines… click the X next to any suspicious search engines.

In Mozilla Firefox, click the small search magnify glass near the search box (not url/search field) and click “Manage Search Engines…”. Remove any suspicious search engines from the list by highlighting the selection and clicking remove.

In Microsoft Internet Explorer navigate to Tools > Manage Add Ons and remove the malicious search engine from the list.