Sandgerl
Sandgerl is an iOS software component that randomly generates dozens of advertisements and redirects users’ searches to a new location within .To your relief, Sandgerl does not pose a direct danger to iPhones and iPads, but may be used as a weak point for potentially more harmful software to infiltrate the device.
Apps like Sandgerl are often referred to as browser hijackers. The most common aim of a browser hijacker is to show advertisements on users’ screens and earn money via pay-per-click and pay-per-visit remuneration models. This is why, as soon as Sandgerl gets installed on your iPhone or iPad, you will start seeing different advertisements, full-screen pop-ups, and redirect links on your main browser. The objective of the entire ad-displaying and page-redirecting activity is to promote targeted sites and goods, while at the same time financially benefiting the authors of the hijacker.
The major problem with these kinds of programs is that the advertising materials they display on the screen may sometimes be harmful. You may become a victim of a phishing scam or malware threat, such as a Trojan Horse, Spyware, or Ransomware infection, if you engage with anything the hijacker promotes. Therefore, you should remove such software as soon as possible, to minimize the risk of clicking on something dangerous by chance.
To deal with Sandgerl successfully, it is advisable to use the removal guide below. As far a future protection is concerned, we always recommend that you download new programs exclusively through the official Apple App Store. iOS hijackers are often introduced to victim devices as extra components. Because of this, we recommend you think twice before downloading any new applications, and carefully research the websites and the developers from which you get them.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Sandgerl |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Detection Tool |
Remove Sandgerl virus from iPhone
If you have an iPhone virus, continue with the guide below.
If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.
If you have a Windows virus, please use our Windows Virus Removal guide.
First you need to close all pop-ups that are currently open.
- If the pop-up has a checkbox named “Don’t show more alerts from this webpage” click on the checkbox before closing the Ad.
- If a Block Alerts button happens to appear after you shut down a pop-up on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch tab that button to stop receiving alerts from the same page.
In case that a pop-up fails to close after performing the above operations:
- On your Mac you should make your Safari browser close forcibly by pressing Command-Option-Esc. Select Safari from the list of Apps and force close it. After you force close it you need to restart Safari, but please hold the shift button while it starts. This will prevent any pesky Ads from opening automatically.
- On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you can do the same by pressing the home button twice in a quick succession. You’ll then see a preview of all apps that have been recently used. Swipe left to find Safari and then swipe up on the app’s preview to close it forcibly In order to prevent Safari from opening unwanted windows on startup go to Settings->Safari and Clear History, as well as Website Data. This will also clear your browser history and cookies so keep that in mind and export them if you want to keep them.
Choose Preferences from the Safari menu. Then do the following:
- Select the Security icon and then click on “Block pop-up windows“. This should stop many types of pop-ups from appearing.
- Next check on your homepage and the settings for the search engines. Adware likes messing with those. We can not provide more specific instructions for this, as you may be using many different browsers.
- Select the General icon and look at the Homepage field. It should either be empty or filled with the address of the Homepage you want.
- Follow up on the Search icon. Again it should be either the default search engine or any that you have set for yourself. Note that in some versions of Safari these settings are found in the General panel/
Open Safari and click on the Extensions button. Note that Adware use extensions almost exclusively to inject the pop-up Ads into your browser. Any extension on this list that you do not remember installing yourself is likely planted there by the Adware. Remove ALL extensions you are unfamiliar with.
Leave a Comment