What is Safe Search?
Safe Search is a browser extension compatible with the Google Chrome browser. The description for the Safe Search extension says “Extension checks sites for your protection.”
The Safe Search extension might seem safe and legitimate to use. It will query Google’s safebrowsing to determine if a site is considered harmful or not and will display a warning if the website is indeed a bad one according to Google. However, this is no different than what is already built into Google Chrome. Google Chrome will display a warning by default if a website is bad – so there’s really no point to use a third-party extension to do the same.
A security concern with the Safe Search extension is that it will connect to a web site in Russia and download a file called config.json every time you start your browser.
How was Safe Search installed?
The Safe Search extension might force victims to install it by utilizing a full-page advertisement that locks the screen until the extension is installed. There is essentially no option to close the browser window until the internet user agrees to install the extension. The browser window may still remain after the extension is installed.
The Safe Search extension is also advertised by questionable advertising networks on websites that also promote malware, adware, spyware, and other malicious threats. This means that if you found the Safe Search extension attached to your internet browser without your consent or have been attacked by Safe Search advertisements it is likely that your computer is infected with other malicious programs that should be removed immediately.
Safe Search removal steps
These Safe Search removal steps will help you remove Safe Search extension, viruses, malware, and other threats from your browser or PC.
- Step 1: Remove Safe Search extension from Google Chrome
- Step 2: Remove malware with Malwarebytes Anti-malware
- Step 3: Check your computer for malicious trace files with HitmanPro
- Step 4: Clean up and fix system issues with CCleaner
- Step 5: Manually repair browser settings (Optional)
1. Remove Safe Search extension
Chrome
1. Click the Customize and control Google Chrome icon and go to More tools > Extensions.
2. Click the trashcan icon next to the Safe Search extension to remove it.
2. Remove malware with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
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- Open your browser window and download Malwarebytes 3.0 Premium or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free.
- Open the executable file (mb3-setup.exe) to begin installing Malwarebytes.
- Select your language, click Next, then select “I accept the agreement,” click the Next button several times, and then click the Install button to install Malwarebytes. Click Finish once the install process is complete.
- Open Malwarebytes and click the Scan Now button on the Dashboard to begin scanning your computer.
- Click the Quarantine Selected button once the scan is finished.
- If Malwarebytes says “All selected items have been removed successfully. A log file has been saved to the logs folder. Your computer needs to be restarted to complete the removal process. Would you like to restart now?” click the Yes button to restart your computer.
3. Check your computer for malicious trace files with HitmanPro
- Open your browser window and download HitmanPro.
- Open the executable file (hitmanpro_x64.exe or hitmanpro_x32.exe) to begin installing HitmanPro.
- Click the Next button, check “I accept the terms of the license agreement,” and click the Next button again.
- On the Setup page select “Yes, create a copy of HitmanPro so I can regularly scan this computer (recommended)” and add your email address to the registration fields to begin the free trial.
- Click Next to begin scanning your computer.
- Once the Scan results are displayed click the Next button and click the Next button again on the Removal results page.
4. Clean up and fix system issues with CCleaner
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- Open your browser window and download CCleaner Professional or CCleaner Free.
- Open the executable file (ccsetup.exe or other) to begin installing CCleaner.
- Click the Install button to begin stalling the program.
- Click Run CCleaner to open the program when installation is complete.
- Select the Cleaner tab and click the Analyze button.
- When the Analyze process is complete click the Run Cleaner button to clean all files.
- Next, select the Registry tab and click the Scan for Issues button to scan for issues in your registry.
- When the scan is complete click the Fix selected Issues button and Fix All Selected Issues button to fix the issues.
- Next, select the Tools tab and click Startup. Examine each area, search for suspicious entries, and delete any suspicious startup entries by selecting the entry and clicking the Delete button.
- Next, click Browser Plugins and search each internet browser for unwanted browser add-ons and extensions. Click the extension you want to delete and click the Delete button to remove it.
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