I wrote this article to help you remove Alientab.net. This Alientab.net removal guide works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Alientab.net is a search provider with an interesting name and a lot of functions. True to its title, the website features an animation which was devised to resemble the cosmic realm. The background is black to illustrate the darkness of outer space. There are dark blue and bright green shapes floating around. The former stand for shooting stars, while the latter symbolize people’s perception of alien lifeforms. The search functions of Alientab.net include filters for images and videos. The additional features encompass a link to Gmail, quick access buttons to a selection of popular websites, and a weather report.
The platform lists the temperature, sun and cloud conditions, wind speed, humidity, and pressure for the corresponding region. It provides a weather forecast for the upcoming week and gives the exact time of the sunrise and sunset for the current day. The links bar includes quick access buttons to the following websites: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Amazon, and Ebay. There are extended settings for the convenience of the end user. You can choose the theme, decide whether to have the quick access bar shown, and change the format of the weather report. Alientab.net has been developed to look like a convenient and reliable platform, but there is more than meets the eye. The domain is associated to a browser hijacker. The sinister program poses threats to both your machine and your personal security.
Upon penetrating your system, the hijacker will target the web browsers you have installed to it. The covert program will reset your homepage and default search engine to Alientab.net. This will have an effect on your search results. The hijacker inserts sponsored websites amid the genuine results to the entered queries. Supported content is also brought in the form of advertisements. The shady program displays ads in a variety of formats, including pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, freebies, coupon boxes, in-text links, transitional, floating, interstitial, contextual, inline, and full-screen windows. They will show you bargain offers for miscellaneous consumer goods, like clothes, accessories, technological devices, furniture, sports gear, games, toys, gardening equipment, and many others.
It should be noted that the content brought by the hijacker is unsolicited. Furthermore, the owners of the Alientab.net website have disclaimed responsibility for third party websites and security-related issues. The registrant behind the domain is a company named Victory Commerce Ltd. It is based in Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. Apart from the risk of contacting malware when following redirect links, the hijacker poses a threat to users’ personal security. The insidious program is set to gather input on people. It will record your browsing history, tracking cookies, keystrokes, IP address, email account, telephone number, geographic location, area code, user names, passwords, financial credentials, and other information. The proprietors of the hijacker will sell the gathered data on darknet markets.
If you have never visited the Alientab.net website, you may be surprised to find this parasite in your computer. The hijacker is in fact not spread by the domain it works through. Rather, it relies on dark patterns for its distribution. The usual culprits in this scheme are unlicensed programs. Pirated tools, freeware, and shareware can carry the payload of the hijacker. The secluded program will be merged with the executable of the download client. When you launch the setup wizard of the application you have decided to add to your system, you will be offered to install an extra tool together with it. This option will be listed in the terms and conditions. If you skip reading them, you will allow the furtive program to get installed to your computer.
Spam emails are another common propagation vector. The Alientab.net hijacker can hide behind an attachment and wait for the recipient to open it. When you do, it will be downloaded and installed to your machine via background processes. The sender behind the message will state that the file is an important notification on an urgent matter. He can misrepresent an existing company or a reputable organization, like the national post, an institution, a courier firm, a bank, a social media network, an online shop, a government branch, or the local police department. To confirm the sender’s identity, proof his email address and other listed contacts. The easiest way to spread rogue programs like the Alientab.net hijacker is via drive-by installations. This occurs when visiting a corrupted website or clicking on a compromised link. You should be cautious about the sources you trust on the web.
Alientab.net Uninstall
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 Alientab.net 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 Alientab.net from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.