Search.searchvuzeau.com virus - How to remove

Search.searchvuzeau.com is the most recent computer virus from the well known browser hijacker creator Polarity Technologies Ltd. This Cyprus based company has been very active these past few months of 2018, releasing several brand new hijackers per month. This April Polarity alone came up with more than 7 browser hijackers, such as Search.searchpcst2.com, Search.searchjsmts.com, Search.searchgbv.com, Search.searchidt.com, Search.heasytofindforms2.com, and others.

The latest iteration is Search.searchvuzeau.com or ‘Search Swapper’. It has a colourful, Google-doodle-like design above the search field. Apart from this minor aesthetic difference from the earlier analogues, Search.searchvuzeau.com operates on the same principles: search hijacking, redirecting to unexpected websites, and tracking user data.

About Search Swapper:

Classification	Adware, browser hijacker.
Problems and issues	It tracks user data, it interferes with internet searches, it fails to encrypt traffic, it might get installed without permission, it doesn’t provide any useful features.
How Search Swapper gets installed	It arrives embedded in the installers of other programs, it is advertised online in misleading ways.
How to stop Search.searchvuzeau.com redirects	Remove Search Swapper and other unwanted programs manually or with an antivirus tool, such as Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, and others, review your browser settings.

What does Search Swapper do?

The typical Polarity’s browser hijacker infection process starts with a malicious add-on installing together with a fake update bundle, game, utility tool, torrents and etc. You generally don’t install Search Swapper purposely but are tricked into doing it.

After the successful installation, which you might not even notice, Search Swapper takes over your browser and changes its default homepage, new tab page and search engine to Search.searchvuzeau.com. Search Swapper works as an add-on/extension to your browser, so to get back to your previous settings, you need to remove the add-on. While it is still installed, getting back control over your browser can be almost impossible. 

And there’s honestly no reason to keep Search Swapper installed. Search.searchvuzeau.com has no useful features, all it does is display Yahoo search results when you type something in its search bar.

In fact, Search Swapper can be harmful. As a browser hijacker, it collects personal data from the victim and shares it with third parties. With this, the Search.searchvuzeau.com virus is able to get data that is usually only between you and your search engine (Google, Bing, etc.).

Polarity’s Privacy Policy says that Search Swapper may collect various technical data about the user’s hardware and software, as well as their browsing and search history:

In addition, as part of the functionality provided by our Service, we may collect and store URLS that you visit and your browser’s home page which could contain personally identifiable information. We may also collect, use and store information about your search activity when you use web search services (such as search queries) (“Search Data”). This information may be shared with third-party applications that use Search Data to function, or to offer you more customized information, advertising and services. Your Search Data is collected and stored and may include personally identifiable information, depending on your search query. For instance, if you search your own name, personally identifiable information would be included in the search query. BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO GRANT POLARITY PERMISSION TO COLLECT YOUR URLS AND SEARCH DATA, INCLUDING SEARCH QUERIES THAT MAY CONTAIN PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION, SHARE THEM WITH THIRD PARTIES, AND USE SEARCH-RELATED COOKIES.

It’s not unusual for a website to use your data to show you relevant advertisements. But of all search engines out there, Polarity is not a very trustworthy one.

And finally, Search.searchvuzeau.com seems to not use encryption to protect the privacy of your searches. You can check for this by seeing if there’s a padlock displayed next to the site’s address. If there’s not, that means your queries are not encrypted and actors such as your ISP (internet service provider) can read them, in theory.

On the other hand, encrypted traffic would allow outsiders to see that you’re visiting a website, but not exactly what you’re doing there.

So, Search.searchvuzeau.com tracks your online activity, record URLs, location, redirects to unexpected websites, and might expose your data to outsiders.

How to delete Search.searchvuzeau.com

For the sake of your privacy and security, it’s best to remove Search.searchvuzeau.com as soon as you notice it. It’s not just Search Swapper – whenever your browser changes its behavior in an unhelpful way and starts opening unwanted webpages, you can suspect a browser hijacker infection.

Getting rid of the Search.searchvuzeau.com virus is pretty easy and can be done by manually deleting it from your browser’s Add-ons/Extensions page. You can follow our more detailed removal guide below. Once the Search Swapper hijacker is gone from your computer it is recommended to scan the system with a virus removal tool, like Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, and others, to delete all the other malware that might have been downloaded together with Search Swapper.

It might also be a good idea to remove all unnecessary browser extensions to avoid privacy problems (Browser Extensions Are a Privacy Nightmare: Stop Using So Many of Them). And be very careful when installing them in the future.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

How to remove searchvuzeau virus using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Search.searchvuzeau.com virus install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to searchvuzeau virus . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Search.searchvuzeau.com virus easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove searchvuzeau virus from macOS

Delete Search.searchvuzeau.com virus from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the searchvuzeau virus app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Search.searchvuzeau.com virus 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.searchvuzeau.com virus, 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.

How To remove Search.searchvuzeau.com virus from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Search.searchvuzeau.com virus related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to searchvuzeau virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove Search.searchvuzeau.com virus from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.searchvuzeau.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• 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.

How to remove Search.searchvuzeau.com virus from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall searchvuzeau virus and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search.searchvuzeau.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

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