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

Discretesearch.com is an alternative search engine. The website has a classic user interface and basic functionality. You may not find suspicious signs and read flags around the domain just by visiting it. This is where we come in. Our objective is to alert PC users about dangerous websites and software. The Discretesearch.com website is exploited by a browser hijacker. The domain assists the insidious program to conduct its malicious tasks. You should not use Discretesearch.com as a search provider.

What security risks does the hijacker behind Discretesearch.com expose me to?

Although the clandestine program does not aim to cause you security trouble, its activity can lead to issues. The hijacker appends changes to the browser’s internal settings. Your selected homepage and default search engine will be replaced by Discretesearch.com. This website allows the furtive tool to manipulate the search results. Supported websites will be inserted amid the pages which legitimately match your queries. The sponsored content is not guaranteed to be reliable. You can be forwarded to corrupted domains. Your web browser will become untrustworthy for its designated function.

Altering the search results is one of two ways for the Discretesearch.com hijacker to run promotional campaigns. It is by far the less effective. The more efficient method is to display advertisements. The rogue program generates a lot of ads which cover the screen in a virtual influx. They are brought in a variety of formats, including pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, in-text links, freebies, coupons, floating, interstitial, transitional, contextual, inline, comparison and full-page ads. The suggested deals may be good, but they are not confirmed to be genuine. Any given window could redirect you to a dangerous domain and get you infected with malware.

The Discretesearch.com hijacker can also pose a risk to your personal security. The shady program is set to monitor your browsing sessions and collect information on you. It can record your web history, tracking cookies, keystrokes, IP address, geographic location, demographic profile, email, telephone number, user names, passwords and other personal and financial details. The gathered data is packed into catalogs and sold on the darknet.

The terms of service (TOS) and privacy policy on Discretesearch.com are formulated in favor of the website’s proprietors. The end user is not entitled to seek liabilities or warranties for security-related problems. A couple of entities are involved with the website. The owner is a company from Limassol, Cyprus called Polarity Technologies Ltd. The distributor is named Eightpoint Technologies Ltd. This firm is based in the Cayman Islands.

How did I get infected with the hijacker behind Discretesearch.com?

The Discretesearch.com hijacker can gain entry to your system in a couple of ways. The first method makes use of an unlicensed program, turning it into a download client. The rogue program can travel with another piece of software in a bundle. Freeware, shareware and pirated tools are common hosts. The hijacker gets added to the terms and conditions of the main program as a bonus. Conducting the installation with the default settings will allow the extra tool into the system. You have to find where the option for it is listed and deselect it. Be attentive when installing software to your computer.

The Discretesearch.com hijacker can get transferred through a spam email. In this case, the secluded program will be hidden behind an attachment. Opening the file is enough to unleash the infection into your machine. Before following instructions from an email or downloading files from it, you need to confirm that it is reliable. Check the listed contacts. Note that spammers often misrepresent reputable companies and institutions, like the national post, courier firms, social networks, shopping platforms, government branches, banks and the local police department. They can copy the logo and contacts of the entity in question. The best sign about the reliability of an electronic letter is the email address.

Discretesearch.com 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.

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 Discretesearch.com from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.