Remove Secure-surf.net Redirects

Can’t Remove Secure-surf.net hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Secure-surf.net Removal instructions!

A browser hijacker lurks on your computer. The display of the Secure-surf.net page is your initial sign of its stay. The sooner you acknowledge it as the announcement it is, the better. When dealing with a hijacker, haste is of the utmost importance. The sooner you accept the threat’s presence on your PC, the sooner you can act against it. Otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for quite the unpleasant ordeal. Hijacker meddle, and make a mess of your system. They begin to wreak havoc, from the moment they enter. And, their influences grow with time. So, the longer you allow them to remain, the bigger the mess they make. Issues start out as minor inconveniences. But, unless you act against the hijacker, they evolve and worsen. Do yourself a favor, and avoid the escalation. Don’t let the infection run rampant on your PC. Protect it from its hazardous influences. Heed experts’ advice, and take immediate action against the infection. Once you spot Secure-surf.net, accept the sign, and act. Do your best to locate the hijacker’s exact hiding place. And, delete it on discovery. Urgency is imperative. Don’t delay the tool’s deletion. Delays lead to regret. Act ASAP.

How did I get infected with?

Secure-surf.net show up, because a hijacker forces it your way. But how do you suppose the hijacker ends up on your PC? These tools can’t enter on their own accord. They require user’s permission on their admission. An exchange has to happen. The program has to inquire whether you, the user, agree to install it. Only if you do, can it proceed with entry. No approval, no access. With that in mind, do you recall the inquiry? Odds are, you don’t. And, that’s not a surprise, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Yes, the hijacker does seek your permission. But it does it in the sneakiest way it can. It resorts to slyness and subtlety, and preys on your carelessness. The old but gold invasive methods come in quite handy. The hijacker has its pick. It can lurk behind spam emails, freeware, corrupted links, sites, torrents. It can pose as a bogus update, like Java or Adobe Flash Player. It does have a lot of method to choose from, when it comes to attempting infiltration. The thing is, neither can succeed without your carelessness. After all, if you’re thorough, you can catch the tool in the act. You can spot it, trying to slip by you, and prevent its success. Vigilance helps you keep an infection-free PC. The lack thereof does not. So, make the right choice, and always choose caution over carelessness. It’s for the best.

Why is this dangerous?

The hijacker replaces your default homepage and search engine with Secure-surf.net. No, you didn’t ask for it. No, you didn’t approve it. Yet, it’s fact nonetheless. Secure-surf.net turns into your online shadow. The hijacker forces it on you, at every turn. You get redirected to it, when you browse. Every time, you type a search, the page is among the results. Open a new tab, and it’s there, too. Do anything at all, and you see ‘Connecting to Secure-surf.net,’ or ‘Looking for Secure-surf.net.’ Or, any variation. Each ad, that comes your way, is ‘Brought to you by Secure-surf.net.’ And, you do get stuck with a lot of them. Banner, video, sound, in-text, pop-up. And, the continuous stream of ads, and the redirects don’t go unnoticed. They take their toll on your system. It starts to suffer frequent crashes. Your computer slows down to a crawl. The hijacker’s stay brings about quite the unpleasant experience. But don’t think, all you face is frustration and interference. You also face a privacy risk. The infection spies on your online habits, from day one. It tracks your every move, and records it. Let that sink in. The hijacker has access to your passwords, logins, credit card and bank account data. The links and ads you click, and the sites you visit. And, what do you imagine it does with that information? After it deems it has stolen enough, it exposes it to the people behind it. Don’t allow that! Keep your private details from falling into the hands of cyber criminals. Locate and remove the hazardous hijacker ASAP.

How to Remove Secure-surf.net virus

The Secure-surf.net infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Secure-surf.net infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Secure-surf.net related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Secure-surf.net startup location

STEP 3: Delete Secure-surf.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Secure-surf.net related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Secure-surf.net startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Secure-surf.net virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

STEP 3 : Clean Secure-surf.net traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Secure-surf.net by clicking on the little recycle bin
• Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

• Open Mozilla Firefox

• Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
• Disable the unwanted Extension
• Go to Help
• Then Troubleshoot information
• Click on Reset Firefox

• Open Internet Explorer

• On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
• Click on Internet options
• go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
• Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Secure-surf.net

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Secure-surf.net, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

• Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

• in the target field remove Secure-surf.net argument and then apply the changes.
• Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Secure-surf.net Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.