ChumSearch Virus

 

ChumSearch

With new waves of unwanted applications coming out every week it is important to understand it and know how to prevent it from reaching your PC. Most people seem to be confused when talking about malware. It is a collective term used to describe any kind of software that is used for malicious purposes, hence the name. While the name Virus also belongs to the malware “family”, it is not the only one. Within this article, we shall educate you on the topic of Browser Redirects, why it is often described as malware and why ChumSearch isn’t actually a virus. Before you jump into the removal instructions, please read over the following paragraphs. It’s always a good idea to learn anything you can about the troubles you could be facing when dealing with these dangerous pieces of software. While Browser Redirects are inherently a lot less dangerous than a Virus can be, it also isn’t something to be treated as a pushover, because it certainly isn’t.

What is ChumSearch? What is a Browser Redirect?

Everything first started when software developers started adding freeware (free programs) in popular installers in an attempt to promote themselves. Unfortunately, some people took that advantage and began using these same channels to spread a different kind of software. One which upon entry into a system, spreads uninvited ads to the browsers currently installed such as Chrome or Firefox. It then uses various ways to display them on the browser window. One of them are banners aligned at the sides of the page. While not as restrictive as some of the rest, they are usually rather large and unappealing. The next one is the much more obstructive pop-up ad. It can hide everything you’ve been currently viewing and instead show you a big window front and center which is really annoying to the average user. Last, but certainly not least, are the in-text ads. They are integrated into the text itself that you are reading and are linked to other locations on the web that are dangerous to visit. They can even display pop-up ads if you hover over them. How annoying!

In addition to that, we have yet to talk about the dangerous part of ChumSearch. While the ads may not seem like something to worry about, what happens after you click on them is another matter on its own. Firstly, they are all linked to web pages that can introduce similar programs that can further bloat your Mac, but they can even mislead you into installing dangerous programs or maybe even viruses. Not only that, but clicking on the ads themselves benefits the creators of ChumSearch. A thing called pay-per-click advertising model is one of the most major ways for companies to promote their services and products and also pay the places where they are allowed to position their ads. You’ve probably already guessed at this point that this has something to do with the ads displayed by ChumSearch, and you’d be right. Software developers like the ones that made this same Browser Redirects benefit from the same advertising model. Every time you click on one of the ads you are not only lead to somewhere where you don’t belong, but you also earn money for the attackers of your PC.

Probably the worst part of this whole ordeal is the fact that this software can also steal browsing information and use it against you. When they are in your machine, they collect information such as browsing history (which includes every place you’ve ever visited) as well as search queries (everything you’ve ever searched for). They use these to figure out your interests and use them against you by customizing the ads to your liking. Do not be deceived! You have no benefit from them and they are only used to fool you. It’s nothing but empty promises.

This concludes our short summary on the subject. Do remember that uninstalling or removing ChumSearch can not only seem daunting at first, but it’s really not. If you want to take the easy route download the recommended removal tool, otherwise the manual removal instructions await you!

SUMMARY:

Name	ChumSearch
Type	Browser Redirect
Detection Tool

Remove ChumSearch 

You are dealing with a malware infection that can restore itself unless you remove its core files. We are sending you to another page with a removal guide that gets regularly updated. It covers in-depth instructions on how to:
1. Locate and scan malicious processes in your task manager.
2. Identify in your Control panel any programs installed with the malware, and how to remove them. Search Marquis is a high-profile hijacker that gets installed with a lot of malware.
3. How to clean up and reset your browser to its original settings without the malware returning. You can find the removal guide here.

For mobile devices refer to these guides instead: Android, iPhone