This page is here to help you remove esurf.biz homepage hijacker. This removal guide is suitable for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, as well as all Windows versions.
If launching any of your browsers has begun to result in you automatically landing on a website you were previously unfamiliar with, esurf.biz, it is a clear indication that you have unwittingly allowed the installation of a malicious program. Named after the Internet domain it is associated with, Esurf.biz belongs to a malware subtype which is designed to modify affected browsers’ settings and redirect users to Web locations they have no intention of visiting. Descriptively called browser hijackers, these applications are a nowadays popular method of illicitly increasing traffic to specific websites, thus raising their advertising value.
At first glance, esurf.biz might look like a legitimate search engine. Matter-of-factly, its owners have additionally placed outgoing links to respected popular online portals such as Facebook. Pinterest, Twitter, E-Bay, LinkIn, Amazon and Yahoo in an obvious attempt to conjure the misleading impression esurf.biz were a trustworthy website. Upon inputting a search term, however, it redirects the user to search.smartshopping.com – another browser hijacker which has been recently plaguing the Internet. It is unclear yet how exactly esurf.biz and search.smartshopping.com are related. It is possible that both are 1&1 Internet AG’s creation (search.smartshopping.com’s developers) or that the latter are paying the former to promote their products. No matter how this turns out, both websites are known to produce unreliable search results often linking to possibly dangerous Internet locations or harmful software downloads.
Spread via deceptive black hat methods, the esurf.biz browser hijacker surreptitiously enters computers, and simultaneously attacks Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. In order to make sure victims are sent to its website again and again, the malicious program replaces all browsers’ original start-up page, homepage and search engine provider settings with its own. Furthermore, as a means of additionally ensuring users won’t be able to reverse these unwanted changes, it adds a command into the target line of all browsers’ desktop shortcuts. Unfortunately, esurf.biz is among the browser hijackers which are also programmed to extract diverse browsing- and system-related information as well as sensitive banking data, therefore it represents a huge privacy threat which should be promptly eliminated.
How Is Esurf.biz Distributed?
Freeware Bundles
While some other browser hijackers are disguised as allegedly useful tools (such as navigation enhancements,etc.), thus attempting to trick users into voluntarily downloading them, esurf.biz doesn’t go such great social engineering lengths. Most typically, the pesky software is spread across the Internet bundled together with other free programs (freeware creators are paid “per-install” price for introducing esurf.biz into their installation packages). Since this practice is very common nowadays, each time you download and install a free program from the Internet you should be very watchful. First, it is imperative to always select the advanced installation option (auto or default installs should be avoided) because it will allow you to follow each stage of the setup process. Second, you should look out for “bonus offers”, usually appearing as preselected checkboxes, and discharge them. Since more and more users are becoming aware of this trick to “smuggle” malware alongside legitimate free software, cybercriminals often re-design installation wizards, making it harder to identify additional installation entries.
Spam E-mail Campaigns, Drive-by Downloads
Since spam e-mail campaigns are one of the most significant malware distribution vectors, although there are no reports so far that esurf.biz’s operators have launched one, it won’t harm to remind you that messages from unknown senders should be handled with increased caution. It is important to note that ill-intended e-mails don’t necessarily have to contain dangerous file attachments. As most e-mail service providers have implemented mechanisms to detect and block malware, cybercriminals tend to implement hyperlinks instead. If a user falls for the trick and follows such a link, they usually find themselves on a corrupted website which hosts an exploit kit, and that’s how a drive-by download occurs.
Why Is It Crucial To Remove Esurf.biz At Once?
For a disturbing mix of some more evident and some less conspicuous reasons, it is gravely recommendable to remove Esurf.biz as soon as you realize it has managed to infiltrate your computer.
Replaced Default Pages
Esurf.biz severely violates your right to use your PC and the software installed on it according to your own preferences, needs and goals. By changing your default start-up page and homepage, the browser hijacker continuously forces you onto a useless and potentially dangerous website you have never planned or wanted to visit, thus causing waste of precious time and unneeded frustration.
Corrupted Searches
Replacing your default search engine provider with its own (which processes queries through the pages of two other browser hijackers: search.smartshopping.com and find.rockettab.com) has a twofold negative effect. For one, you are bound to be less effective conducting online researches and looking for purchases on the Internet. More worryingly, however, some of these unreliable search results may lure you onto compromised websites that are used for spreading malware (via drive-by downloads) or running phishing scams.
Data Theft
Esurf.biz and the other malicious programs it is related to are also in the data collection business. This means, before you successfully remove esurf.biz from your system, the malware actors behind it will be collecting (and possibly selling on Darknet markets) marketing-relevant information as well as sensitive financial data such as credit card numbers, bank accounts details, PayPal credentials.
Decreased Computer And Internet Connection Performance
Since the program modifies the original settings of affected browsers, thus deviating from their default functionality, it inevitably makes them less stable. Additionally, since the browser hijacker launches at system start-up and constantly runs in the background, it eats up important system resources. As a result, victims suffer decreased PC and Internet connection performance.
Esurf.biz Homepage Hijacker Removal Instructions
Navigation:
1: Enter Safe Mode.
2: Remove Esurf.biz from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge.
3: Remove malicious attachments to browser shortcuts.
4: Uninstall the malware from your Add/Remove Programs.
5: Permanently delete the virus from Task Manager’s processes.
6: Uninstall the threat from Regedit and Msconfig.
In order to get rid of esurf.biz, please refer to the following step-by-step removal instructions for each of your browsers. Please note that you also have to manually restore their desktop shortcuts to their original state.
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.
Esurf.biz hijacks the homepage of Chrome, Firefox and IE. Please, follow the guide precisely. If you miss some of the steps below, there is a chance that esurf.biz will come back at a later moment. Here are the steps you must follow to remove the hijacker from the browser:
Remove Esurf.biz 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 Esurf.biz 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 the Hijacker 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 esurf.biz from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.
