Mo08 Virus

Mo08

Mo08 is a Browser Hijacker, most famous for the endless stream of ads it can display all over your screen. During each browsing session, Mo08 will show pop-ups, banners, and ads of all kinds and redirect you to some promotional web pages.

Mo08

If Mo08 has integrated with Chrome, Firefox or another web browser of yours,  this article is just for you. You are most probably here because you are looking for a way to remove this strange software from your computer and get rid of all the intrusive ads, pop-up messages, and banners it keeps throwing at you whenever you try to surf the web, or because you have failed to uninstall the homepage or the search engine changes that this program has most likely imposed on your browser without your approval. If that is the case, here, we’ve created a removal guide to help you fix those things. You will find it at the bottom of this page, along with a professional removal tool that can help you remove Mo08 without any trouble.

What you are dealing with is a program commonly known as a browser hijacker. A browser hijacker is not a virus or malware that can damage your computer but it is still software categorized as potentially unwanted. For the most part, this type of software is legal, but there are some actions that it performs that fall into a “grey-area” and may be considered quite unpleasant.

The Mo08 Virus

Browser hijackers like the Mo08 virus are known for their ability to track your web browsing activity and analyze it closely. The Mo08 virus do that with the idea to produce more ads that would match your preferences.

Ideally, this will make you click on them more, which is important to the software developers of these apps as they get financially rewarded every time someone clicks on one of the many advertisements the browser hijacker generates. Of course, many people may be uncomfortable with the idea that someone is keeping tabs on their online behavior and may prefer to uninstall Mo08 just because of that. Moreover, the questionable reputation of programs like Mo08 and Vip Captcha Live among users is also due to the fact that the developers may often sell the collected “traffic data” to third parties.

Another good reason to remove such software is the ability of the browser hijacker to initiate redirects to random web pages. For example, when you type the URL address of a particular website, the hijacker may first redirect you to a sponsored site of its own instead of directly land you on the page you desire. That may be a bit frustrating, but it also could hide security risks since you can never know whether the website you get redirected to is safe or if it has been compromised by a Trojan, a Ransomware, or by some other malware. Fake ads may also expose you to danger, therefore, clicking on anything that Mo08 displays may not be a good idea. Moreover, malicious advertisements (malvertisements) can often blend with the regular advertisements on display and hackers can easily attach harmful payload to any of them. Sadly, it is difficult to distinguish the malicious ads from the regular ones and if you happen to click on one of the harmful ones by accident, you may easily download a virus, a real Trojan, or a stealthy Ransomware infection.

SUMMARY:

NameMo08
Type Adware/Browser Hijacker
Danger LevelMedium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms Changes in the browser’s homepage and replacements of the default search engine are typical symptoms of a Browser Hijacker infection.
Distribution MethodBrowser Hijackers can often be distributed via software bundles, torrents, spam messages or freeware and shareware sites.
Detection Tool

Remove Mo08 Virus

If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.

If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.

If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.

If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide


Step1

Some of the steps will likely require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.

Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).

Step2

WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Try to determine which processes are dangerous. 

malware-start-taskbar

Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:

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    After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders. 

    Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections. 

    Step3

    Hold together the Start Key and R. Type appwiz.cpl –> OK.

    appwiz

    You are now in the Control Panel. Look for suspicious entries. Uninstall it/them.

    Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter. A window will pop-up:

    msconfig_opt

    Startup —> Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer or otherwise look suspicious.

    Step4

    Hold the Start Key and R –  copy + paste the following and click OK:

    notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts

    A new file will open. If you are hacked, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. Look at the image below:

    hosts_opt (1)

    If there are suspicious IPs below “Localhost” – write to us in the comments.

    Open the start menu and search for Network Connections (On Windows 10 you just write it after clicking the Windows button), press enter.

    1. Right-click on the Network Adapter you are using —> Properties —> Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), click  Properties.
    2. The DNS line should be set to Obtain DNS server automatically. If it is not, set it yourself.
    3. Click on Advanced —> the DNS tab. Remove everything here (if there is something) —> OK.
    DNS

    Step5
    • After you complete this step, the threat will be gone from your browsers. Finish the next step as well or it may reappear on a system reboot.

    Right click on the browser’s shortcut —> Properties.

    NOTE: We are showing Google Chrome, but you can do this for Firefox and IE (or Edge).

    browser-hijacker-taskbar-properties

    Properties —–> Shortcut. In Target, remove everything after .exe.

    Browser Hijacker Removal Instructions

    ie9-10_512x512  Remove Mo08 from Internet Explorer:

    Open IE, click  IE GEAR —–> Manage Add-ons.

    pic 3

    Find the threat —> Disable. Go to IE GEAR —–> Internet Options —> change the URL to whatever you use (if hijacked) —> Apply.

    firefox-512 Remove Mo08 from Firefox:

    Open Firefoxclick  mozilla menu  ——-> Add-ons —-> Extensions.

    pic 6


    chrome-logo-transparent-backgroundRemove Mo08 from Chrome:

    Close Chrome. Navigate to:

     C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. There is a Folder called “Default” inside:

    Rename the Folder to Backup Default

    Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.

    Step6

    Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.

    Inside, press CTRL and F together and type the threat’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If they don’t show up this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:

    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory. It could be any one of them – ask us if you can’t discern which ones are malicious.
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random

    If the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!


    About the author

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    Lidia Howler

    Lidia is a web content creator with years of experience in the cyber-security sector. She helps readers with articles on malware removal and online security. Her strive for simplicity and well-researched information provides users with easy-to-follow It-related tips and step-by-step tutorials.

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