How to Remove Shield Defense Redirect

Can’t Remove Shield Defense hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Shield Defense Removal instructions!

Despite its name, Shield Defense isn’t going to protect your safety. This program was developed by GreenSearchSecurity and is a classic browser hijacker. Does the thought you have a sneaky cyber infection on board make you feel safe? It certainly shouldn’t. Bear in mind that the sooner you remove the parasite, the better. You have no reason whatsoever to be tolerating a nasty browser hijacker that brings to you nothing but trouble. Take action ASAP and get rid of the intruder. You won’t regret it. On the other hand, you’d regret keeping the virus on board when it gets out of control. All types of infections get out of hand at some point. The question is, are you going to allow this program to unleash its entire malicious potential? Make no mistake when it comes to your safety. As soon as Shield Defense lands on board, it starts making unauthorized changes. This pest adds a brand new browser extension or a plugin. It also replaces your search engine as well as homepage with its own domain. Hence, you’re now stuck with Shield Defense every time you attempt to browse the Web. One thing you must remember about this parasite is that it generates specific search results. Shield Defense wasn’t created to provide accurate web links, let alone harmless ones. The infection only generates sponsored links which helps hackers gain profit. And, you should know clicking a sponsored web link is often a mistake. Having in mind that Shield Defense serves hackers’ purposes, your online activities remain out of the picture. All that matters for crooks is making money through the pay-per-click mechanism. Can you see the scheme already? Shield Defense promises to be a safe search engine and it does look rather legitimate. After it gets downloaded, though, the hijacker takes over your browsers and alters their settings. Your permission remains irrelevant. Shield Defense is now covering your PC screen with its endless pile of sponsored, questionable web links. That includes search results, various commercials and pop-ups, even dubious software updates. Unless you stay away from those, you could easily compromise your security further. One click on the wrong web link – that is all it takes for you to install more infections. Thanks to the hijacker, there are plenty of corrupted links on your PC screen. You also get constantly redirected to random pages and your browsers freeze and crash on a daily basis. As if that wasn’t enough, Shield Defense spies on your sensitive information. The virus simply doesn’t belong on your PC so take measures quickly.

How did I get infected with?

Cyber infections are masters in the art of deceit. They usually get attached to some freeware/shareware bundles that you download off of the Internet. The problem is, most PC users skip installation steps. That is how they end up downloading a lot more than what they originally wanted. In the future, keep an eye out for any additional programs you might spot hiding in a bundle. To be able to notice the infections, always opt for the Custom option in the Setup Wizard. Don’t be tempted into rushing the installation process. That may allow a whole bunch of viruses to get successfully downloaded. You’re the one who will have to face the consequences of your negligence. We’d recommend that you also check out the Terms and Conditions or EULA (End User License Agreement). Never underestimate hackers’ creativity and know the Internet is filled with devious infections. It is up to you whether some pesky parasite will manage to get installed or not. Do the right thing concerning your safety and be cautious online. Another popular virus distribution method involves spam email-attachments or messages. Delete anything you receive that you find unreliable and pay attention.

Why is this dangerous?

Shield Defense is immensely problematic and intrusive. It messes with all your favorite browsers without bothering to seek permission. Now that hackers are in charge, they aren’t going to waste time taking care of your opinions. On the other hand, crooks will take full advantage of your computer system to make money. Shield Defense is compatible with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. It causes your browsers to redirect you and slows down your PC speed. As a result, using your machine becomes neither enjoyable nor fun anymore. Shield Defense even jeopardizes your privacy by stealing sensitive data. This nuisance must be deleted before hackers sell your information to third parties with unknown intentions. To do so manually, please follow our detailed removal guide. You will find it down below.

How to Remove Shield Defense virus

The Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Shield Defense startup location

STEP 3: Delete Shield Defense traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense

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 Shield Defense, 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 Shield Defense 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 Shield Defense 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.