Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com browser hijacker - How to remove

Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com – computer virus, categorised as browser hijacker. I. e. it will directly attack the web browser you are using and “hijack” it by customising some settings. While browser hijackers are not the most dangerous viruses, they are still unpleasant and can lead to other consequences, thus it is important to make sure that you remove it from your computer and secure it from similar infections in the future.

If you have noticed that this virus is operating on your system and your browsing experience ins definitely changed, please continue reading this article where we will analyse traits of Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com and provide you with removal instructions for this particular malware infection.

Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com as a growing threat

It is not difficult to tell that Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com is on the rise – since the start of this malware in September, numbers of monthly visitors have been consistently rising. Just take a quick look at the report on search.hwatchingnesonlince.com visitors from SimilarWeb:

That is the main reason why we feel the urge to inform our readers about this rising threat. As you might have already noticed, Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com is only a subdomain and the main domains is hwatchingnewsonline.com. In short, this website is serving as a distribution point of the virus, where users can simply install malicious add-on to their internet browsers and it looks like this:

It promises to allow you to watch live news on a new tab on your Google Chrome web browser. It is clear that this infection is only targeted to Google Chrome web browser, so if you are using Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or any other web browser, this virus should be not relevant to you.

On the other hand, Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com website is the one that will be set as your homepage, new tab and default search engine once the add-on is installed on your computer. So technically, this website itself is not a virus – it is a consequence caused by malicious add-on.

This malware was developed by Polarity Technologies LTD and we have already seen infections like Search.hthereadinghub.com and Myphotoeditor.co distributed by this company, so it’s definitely no surprise. Even though the website looks like a regular search engine and users just tend to ignore the fact that it replaced their usual homepage, we highly recommend not to use it. There are several reasons why:

• Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com uses Yahoo search engine to deliver results, but it might customise it and insert unreliable links into search results page;
• It might advertise their affiliated website on search results and waste your time this way;
• It is going to track your searches and use this information for marketing purposes – it is even mentioned in their privacy policy.

There are several other websites that are most probably associated with this infection. Even though the add-on can be downloaded from their official website, usually that is not the case as this type of malware travels as a bundle to other freeware or gets advertised on excessive advertisements. Websites promoting this malware are offlinebrowsergames.appspot.com, calvinistcorner.com, coasterbuzz.com, find-bride.com so you should look out for them. However, the list is not complete and there might be other websites/applications promoting Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com browser hijacker.

Removal tools for Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com virus

Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com can be easily removed if you employ powerful anti-malware application, such as SpyHunter If you scan your computer with iether one of those apps, it will automatically detect and remove all files associated to Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com. After that you will only have to restore settings on your Google Chrome web browser and you can do that by following instructions below.

TopHow To remove Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.hwatchingnewsonline.com browser hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

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