Hohosearch looks like an ordinary search provider. The platform supports basic search functions, including filters for images, videos and news. Hohosearch.com is available in 20 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Hebrew, Turkish, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai. The website has a classic design scheme. While it may seem reliable, there are some hidden risks around it.

Why is Hohosearch dangerous?

Hohosearch is associated to a browser hijacker. The rogue program makes unauthorized changes to the web browser’s settings, leaving it vulnerable to malware attacks. Your search results will be altered to include supported websites, belonging to third parties. A lot of online advertisers pay to have their content promoted. The changes the Hohosearch hijacker does to your search results will be seamless. The shady tool inserts sponsored websites in the search result pages. The unconfirmed content is not distinguishable in any way.

Tampering with your search results is not the only way for the hijacker to lead you to risky websites. The furtive program also has the ability to generate advertisements. Hohosearch will flood your screen with pop-ups, in-text links, interstitial, floating, transitional, contextual, inline and other kinds of ads. To lure people in, the program shows them exclusive offers, comparison deals, coupons, rebates and other bargain options. It may seem that the shopping offers are brought by Hohosearch, but this is not the case. The platform just forwards to the content of third parties. The developers of the hijacker receive links from advertisers and embed them into advertisements. They agree to sponsor the web pages of all paying parties without running them through a security scan.

Following the content, brought by the Hohosearch “virus”, can get your system infected with all kinds of malware. You should take measures to remove the insidious program as soon as you become aware of its presence. The best sign for the presence of a hijacker on your machine is having your homepage and default search engine reset to an unfamiliar web page. Hohosearch will be set to your browser permanently. The hijacker will change your settings back every time you try to revert back to your custom preferences.

Perhaps the most harmful activity of the Hohosearch hijacker is monitoring. The malevolent program records data from the web browser. This includes your browsing history, tracking cookies, IP address, e-mail, geographic location, user names and passwords. The gathered input can be sold on darknet markets without your knowledge or consent.

The hijacker behind Hohosearch can affect the most common web browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge. The rogue program will access both your web browser and your operating system’s internal settings. By applying changes to them, the hijacker will bring down your security level. Making malicious registry entries is another harmful task the Hohosearch “virus” can perform. These entries will open the door to your system for all kinds of malware. Their actual purpose is to allow the hijacker back into your system.

Distribution vectors of the Hohosearch hijacker

To protect your computer from the Hohosearch “virus”, you need to be aware of the penetration techniques the program uses. We will explain how to avoid contacting the hijacker through these methods.

Software bundles are the most common source for the Hohosearch. The rogue program can get merged with another application which will support its install. Freeware and shareware are the usual suspects. You should check if a program has a good reputation before adding it to your system. Make sure to acquire programs from their official websites or licensed software distributors. When conducting the install, review the terms and conditions. If there are any extra tools offered, you should deselect them. They could be harmful.

The other way for Hohosearch to enter your system is through a spam e-mail. The clandestine program can be transferred through a compromised attachment to the message. The sender will try to make you believe the attached file is an important document, like a recommended letter, an invoice, a bill or a fine. Spammers often make the e-mail seem important. They tend to misrepresent reputable companies and institutions. To proof the reliability of an electronic message, look up the sender’s e-mail address. It should match the contacts of the entity he claims to be representing.

Hohosearch 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.

Hohosearch 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 Hohosearch will come back at a later moment. These are the steps you must follow precisely to remove Hohosearch 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 Hohosearch from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.