I wrote this article to help you remove Granena.ru. This Granena.ru removal guide works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Granena.ru is a Russian search engine and news portal. The website gives users the chance to look up information on the web and at the same time catch up on the latest events from across the globe. The search engine has standard functionality. It is not the main feature of Granena.ru. The news feed is the focal point of the platform. The additional features of Granena.ru include a calendar, a local weather report, a currency converter and a horoscope. You will notice a few embedded ad windows, scattered across the website. Granena.ru supports third party platforms. The sponsored content is not limited to the embedded ads. You will be shown different kinds of ads. Be advised that Granena.ru is associated to a browser hijacker. The rogue program exposes users to security threats.

What risks does the hijacker behind Granena.ru involve?

The Granena.ru hijacker brings down the system’s security. It resets the homepage and default search engine to granena.ru. This engine is not a reliable search provider. It manipulates the search results by inserting supported websites amid them. They are risky, like the platforms the advertisements lead to. Both the fake search results and the ads attract users by pretending to be useful. The difference is that the former are related to content the user has decided to look up, while the latter are undesired. Thus, they need to be enticing.

The strategy the creators of the Granena.ru hijacker use is to show bargain offers for shopping goods. The advertisements promote discounts, coupons, freebies, sales, package deals and other exclusives. They come in various formats, including pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, in-text links, floating, inline, contextual, interstitial, transitional, comparison and full-page ads. The offerings are chosen according to the user’s activity. The Granena.ru hijacker will track your activity and aim selected content at you. In time, you will notice that a lot of the suggestions are related to your recent searches and purchases. Keep in mind that the sources for the ads are unconfirmed. They could take you to infected domains.

Remove Granena.ru — The Granena.ru Virus

The Granena.ru hijacker monitors people’s activity for several reasons. Delivering targeted ads is just one of them. The main purpose of the tracking activity is to collect information on people. The shady program can record your browsing history, cookies, keystrokes, IP address, geographic location, area code, email, telephone number, demographic details, user names, passwords and other sensitive data. The gathered information can be sold on darknet markets without your knowledge or consent.

How did the hijacker behind Granena.ru penetrate my system?

If you have not visited the Granena.ru website, you may be surprised to discover the hijacker on your machine. There is nothing unusual, though. Granena.ru is not a source for the insidious program. The hijacker uses the domain as a gateway to the web browser’s internal settings. The propagation vectors are unrelated. A common way for the hijacker to gain entry is via a bundle. The shady tool merges its setup file with the executable of another utility which serves as a download client. The main software presents the hijacker as a bonus program. You need to locate where it is listed and change the setting. Take the time to read the terms and conditions.

The other distribution technique the Granena.ru hijacker makes use of is spam emails. The covert tool uses attachments to get installed to the targeted device. Opening the containing document would start the download and install of the hijacker on command prompt. You need to make sure an email is legit before accessing files from it. Composing a message is easy. The sender just has to copy the logo and contacts of a given entity and write in formal style. You can filter spam by proofing the email address.

Granena.ru Removal

Before starting the real removal process, you must reboot in Safe Mode. If you are familiar with this task, skip the instructions below and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, here is how to reboot in Safe mode:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7:
Reboot your computer. When the first screen of information appears, start repeatedly pressing F8 key. Then choose Safe Mode With Networking from the options.

For Windows 8/8.1
Click the Start button, next click Control Panel —> System and Security —> Administrative Tools —> System Configuration.‌

Check the Safe Boot option and click OK. Click Restart when asked.
For Windows 10
Open the Start menu and click or tap on the Power button.

While keeping the Shift key pressed, click or tap on Restart.

Here are the steps you must follow to permanently remove from the browser:

Remove From Mozilla Firefox:

Open Firefox, click on top-right corner , click Add-ons, hit Extensions next.

Look for suspicious or unknown extensions, remove them all.

Remove From Chrome:

Open Chrome, click chrome menu icon at the top-right corner —>More Tools —> Extensions. There, identify the malware and select chrome-trash-icon(Remove).

Remove From Internet Explorer:
Open IE, then click IE gear icon on the top-right corner —> Manage Add-ons.

Find the malicious add-on. Remove it by pressing Disable.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties. Remove everything after the .exe” in the Target box.

Open Control Panel by holding the Win Key and R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the field, then click OK.

Here, find any program you had no intention to install and uninstall it.

Run the Task Manager by right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Look carefully at the file names and descriptions of the running processes. If you find any suspicious one, search on Google for its name, or contact me directly to identify it. If you find a malware process, right-click on it and choose End task.