Do you know what Search.siviewer.com is?
Search.siviewer.com is a search engine that is placed on your browser by a browser hijacker. A browser hijacker is a type of computer infection that will modify your browser settings without your permission. This kind of behavior is obviously very intrusive and annoying, but that is not all. If you do not remove Search.siviewer.com immediately, there is a possibility that you will end up getting infected with malicious threats that will definitively turn your life into hell. Hence, it is your task to protect your system and your personal information from any potential threats that may target you.
The reason this browser appeared on your computer is that you must have downloaded a potentially unwanted program that comes bundled with it. Search.siviewer.com is directly associated with the SIViewer application, and the program has its own official website that you can visit via siviewer.com. Opening the site, we can see a rather user-friendly layout and the most basic information about the program it promotes. SIViewer is said to be “awesome software for reading and viewing all your images, especially powerful in viewing and splitting animated GIF.” Technically, the program is an image viewer that should help you view even different format images without any difficulty.
The question is, however, did you download the program directly? You probably did not even know that such application existed, and you have never visited that site, so how, on earth, did this browser hijacker manage to enter your PC? The answer is rather simple. Potentially unwanted programs are often distributed in software packages. It means that users download third-party installers that contain more than one application, and they tend to install them all without checking all the steps on the installation wizard. What’s more, if you install the full version of SIViewer, you will definitely have your default search engine modified.
Search.siviewer.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
According to our research, this browser hijacker is not bound to one specific region. Almost 18% of all infection cases have been recorded in Indonesia, but such countries as India, Algeria, Poland, and Germany have also been affected. Therefore, it would not be possible to claim that the creators of this application have one specific region as their target. It is a lot more likely that they target one specific browser because so far Search.siviewer.com appears only on Chrome. Once the infection takes place, Chrome’s homepage, search engine and the new tab settings, all change to start.siviewer.com.
What are the implications? You probably wonder why it is not such a good idea to have this application on-board. After all, if it provides you with relevant and reliable search results; it should not be so bad, right? Unfortunately, we regret to tell you that relying on this application may lead to specific computer security issues. Naturally, Search.siviewer.com does not try to infect you or anything, but it cannot say the same about other third parties that may use the program to promote their content. After all, this search engine requires dabbing into third-party sources to provide you with anything.
Thus, if cyber criminals decide to make use of Search.siviewer.com, some of the links or the pop-ups you see on your screen could lead you to dangerous websites. Some of them could be involved in online marketing schemes, some may collect your personally non-identifiable information for commercial purposes, and some could be full of malware installers. One stray click could result in a dangerous infection that could lock your computer, encrypt your files, and steal your money. Therefore, you have to do everything in your power to avoid that from happening.
Fortunately, it is not complicated to remove this browser hijacker from your computer. Our research team says it is enough to remove Search.siviewer.com from your Extensions menu, and there are no remaining leftovers. However, it would also be a good choice to reset your browser settings to default. This way you will surely know that any potential modifications have been taken care of.
Also, you should scan your computer with a reliable antispyware tool as you could have more unwanted programs running on your system. Not to mention that a powerful security program would help you protect your computer from similar threats in the future.
How to Remove Search.siviewer.com
- Open the Chrome browser.
- Press Alt+F and click More tools.
- Open Extensions and remove SIViewer.
- Click Settings on the left pane.
- Scroll down and click Show advanced settings.
- Scroll down and click Reset settings.
- Press Reset.
In non-techie terms:
Browser hijackers are annoying programs that mess up your browser settings and then hope to make money by redirecting you to their partner websites. You will do yourself a favor if you remove Search.siviewer.com today without further ado. While are you at it, you should also scan your PC for other potential threats, as such programs seldom travel on your own. For any further questions, you can always leave us a comment below this description.