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

Privacy Switch is a website which offers optimal browsing security. The domain aims to optimize online privacy. Privacy Switch takes a number of measures to enhance the level of protection. This includes making the search history private, preventing leaks, running top of the line encryption and stopping the tracking cookies. The official website of Privacy Switch is myprivacyswitch.com. It welcomes users to have it set as their default search engine. If you wish to improve your browsing security, you should use another platform for the purpose. Privacy Switch is not considered to be reliable. On the contrary. The website has been blacklisted due to its connection to a hijacker.

Privacy Switch is the exact opposite of what it is stated to be. The domain functions as a portal for a rogue program. The hijacker targets the web browser. Upon entering your machine, it will render its internal settings. Your default search engine will be changed to myprivacyswitch.com without your involvement. You will not have the option to revert back to your preferred settings. Every time you attempt to, the hijacker will change them back. This is done for a purpose. The website enables the clandestine program to alter the search results. You will have sponsored websites included amid the legitimate results to your queries. Some of them may be irrelevant to what you are looking for.

The inconvenience is the least of the issues around Privacy Switch. The hijacker will expose you to both system and personal security threats. The fake search results could lead to dangerous websites. The same risk is evident with another activity the covert program performs. Privacy Switch displays shopping advertisements, promoting different kinds of commodities. The ads appear in a variety of formats. This encompasses pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, in-text links, coupon boxes, transitional, interstitial, contextual, floating, inline and full-screen windows. To make them stand out, the furtive program decorates them with colorful patterns, cursive fonts and flash animations. Be advised that following the ads would lead you to websites with unconfirmed security. It would be for the best to discard them.

Privacy Switch also has the ability to track users’ browsing sessions. With this activity, the hijacker breaches their privacy and poses a threat to their personal security. The insidious program can track your online activity and gather sensitive data on you. The hijacker does not ask for authorization to monitor people’s browsing sessions and record input on them. The creators of the obscure program have opted out of responsibility for all issues pertaining to security. Privacy Switch is a product of Plasko Interactive Ltd., a company with headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel. The firm has exercised its right to disclaim liabilities and warranties for any security problems. By using Privacy Switch, you would be agreeing to assume full responsibility for your system and your privacy.

The hijacker is distributed through underhanded techniques. The myprivacyswitch.com website is simply a pawn of the nefarious program. The domain does not have the ability to do anything on its own. Its purpose is to help the hijacker perform its scheduled tasks. The propagation vectors for the secluded program include bundling and spam email campaigns. The former makes use of freeware, shareware and pirated programs because they do not have a protected license. The download client performs the installation of the hijacker in parallel with its own. Privacy Switch will be added as a bonus tool. The option to have it included will be listed in the terms and conditions of the host. You have to choose the advanced or custom installation mode to have all options shown.

The other way for Privacy Switch to gain access to your system is through a spam email. The shady tool will be hidden behind an attachment. The sender will describe the appended file as a document. When sending out spam, the person in charge of composing the letter often does some research. To make the email seem genuine, he can write on behalf of a legitimate organization, like the national post, a courier firm, a social network, an e-commerce platform, a bank, a government branch or the local police department. To check whether a given message is reliable, proof the address it was sent from. The letter would be reliable only if the account belongs to the entity in question.

Privacy Switch Virus Removal

Before starting the real removal process, you must reboot in Safe Mode. If you know how to do this, 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.

Please, follow the steps precisely to remove Privacy Switch Virus 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.

Open MS Config by holding the Win Key and R together. Type msconfig and hit Enter.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer.

Still can not remove Privacy Switch Virus from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.