Windows Defender Security Notification Scam

Windows Defender Security Notification

Windows Defender Security Notification is an undesirable app known for showing ads in the browser, page-redirecting the user’s searches, and changing the settings of the homepage and search engine. Windows Defender Security Notification can be potentially hazardous to the system and so it must not be kept installed in the browser.

The Windows Defender Security Notification Pop up

Apps such as Web navigator browser, Vip Captcha Live that behave like the Windows Defender Security Notification Pop up fraud are commonly referred to as browser-redirects or browser-hijackers. As soon as their installation on the computer is completed, they take over the main browser on the computer and introduce various changes to it.

They may also modify some Registry keys and some of the computer’s Internet settings in order to allow themselves to bypass some security restrictions that would otherwise stop them from completing their end-goal, which is to keep aggressively advertising different products, sites, and services from within the browser. The targeted browser could be Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, or even Safari if the specific hijacker app is Mac-compatible. In the case of Windows Defender Security Notification, so far it seems that this particular hijacker only targets Windows PCs and not Macs.

Regardless of the affected OS or browser, however, the symptoms are usually almost identical – changes in important browser components such as the homepage and the new-tab page addresses, the search engine, and the toolbar, sudden and unexpected redirects to sites and pages that Windows Defender Security Notification is supposed to promote, generation of aggressive ads and banners that pop-up in the center of the screen or right over page-elements such as links or buttons that the user might want to interact with.

Obviously, the idea is that the user would be forced to interact with the promotional content that Windows Defender Security Notification puts on their screen as this generates advertising revenue through the infamous Pay-Per-View and Pay-Per-Click models. It is, however, highly inadvisable to click on anything that Windows Defender Security Notification may try to show in your browser even if you’d be doing it simply to remove the obstructive ad or banner.

The main problem here is that the apps of the browser hijacker family aren’t exactly known for promoting the most reliable forms of content. Many developers of such apps are paid commissions by the owners of obscure, questionable, or even borderline illegal sites in order to boost the ratings of those sites by drawing in more traffic. Needless to say, if you end up on such a site or page, your computer’s safety may be compromised and you may get exposed to all kinds of dangerous viruses, phishing elements, Ransomware infections, Trojan Horses, and more. This is the exact reason we highly recommend that you don’t allow Windows Defender Security Notification to stay added to your browser even if you think that you can ignore its constant attempts to advertise something. Oftentimes, all that it takes for a computer to get infected is a single misguided click on the wrong link, banner, or advert.

Of course, we will help you to the best of our abilities with the uninstallation of Windows Defender Security Notification. The next guide and the tested removal-tool added to it will assist you with the removal process and help you secure your computer by making any encounters with Viruses, Ransomware, Trojans, or Spyware much less likely.

SUMMARY:

Remove Windows Defender Security Notification Pop up

To try and remove Windows Defender Security Notification quickly you can try this:

1. Go to your browser’s settings and select More Tools (or Add-ons, depending on your browser).
2. Then click on the Extensions tab.
3. Look for the Windows Defender Security Notification extension (as well as any other unfamiliar ones).
4. Remove Windows Defender Security Notification by clicking on the Trash Bin icon next to its name.
5. Confirm and get rid of Windows Defender Security Notification and any other suspicious items.

If this does not work as described please follow our more detailed Windows Defender Security Notification removal guide below.

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

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).

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. 

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. 

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

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:

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

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:

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.

• 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).

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

  Remove Windows Defender Security Notification from Internet Explorer:

Open IE, click   —–> Manage Add-ons.

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

 Remove Windows Defender Security Notification from Firefox:

Open Firefox, click    ——-> Add-ons —-> Extensions.

Remove Windows Defender Security Notification from Chrome:

Close Chrome. Navigate to:

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

Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.

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!