Do you know what Search.sosodesktop.com is?
According to Search.sosodesktop.com creators, they gather your personal information to personalize your use of their site, but you should be aware that possibly this search engine is a browser hijacker. It means that it can change your browser settings without any permission or do other unwanted activities, e.g. collect sensitive information. Also, it seems like the hijacker is spread with other suspicious applications. Under these circumstances, we would advise you not to trust the software and remove it from your computer as fast as possible. Naturally, you could read more about this browser hijacker and if you decide to delete it, take a look at the instructions available below this article.
This browser hijacker could enter your system if an application called SOSODESK was installed on your computer. SOSODESK is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that advertises itself as “A Free & Small Device Manager.” Apparently, Search.sosodesktop.com could be traveling bundled with this PUP or other questionable software. Bundled software could appear on your computer if you download programs from unreliable websites, e.g. torrent or other file-sharing sites. While user believes to be installing one program, a few others might appear on the same installation wizard. Although often bundled applications come only as a suggestion, users either do not seem to notice them, or they think that they have to accept bundled applications if they want to get the main program. Our researchers believe that this is a possible scenario for this browser hijacker.
Search.sosodesktop.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Furthermore, we have a reason to think that the application will gather not only anonymous user data but also your private information. In fact, Search.sosodesktop.com developers state it themselves in the Privacy Policy document: “We get information about you in a range of ways. Information You Give Us. We collect information you directly give us on the web pages designated, which may include information such as your first and last name, company, company mailing address, telephone number and email address, etc.” You can easily provide such information if you log in to your email, social media accounts, buy items online, etc. Since the browser hijacker changes your homepage or search engine to Search.sosodesktop.com, it can collect sensitive user’s data with various cookies and other technologies that can gather such information. Plus, the search engine could show you modified search results, meaning it might place suspicious ads that could lead you to its third-party partners’ web pages, where your private information could be gathered as well. It is hard to decide how such data would be used or shared exactly because the software’s End User License Agreement is very short and do not specify it enough. In the document, it is barely mentioned that your data could be used “To operate, maintain, and improve our Site, products, and services of our partners, customers, and clients.”
Another important fact is that as for now this hijacker can affect only Google Chrome, so if you have other browsers installed, you should be able to search the Internet safely with them. However, the application’s developers might update the hijacker, and it could become compatible with other browsers. That is why you should spend no more time with Search.sosodesktop.com and remove it from your computer completely. If you have SOSODESK installed, you can erase it together with the browser hijacker via Control Panel. Otherwise, Search.sosodesktop.com should be removed from the Google Chrome extensions settings. If you slide a little below you will find more instructions for the manual removal option. For users who want to remove it automatically, we could suggest you downloading a security tool that will not only locate the browser hijacker, but also will delete it together with other possible threats that may be in your system.
Delete SOSODESK and Search.sosodesktop.com via Control Panel
Windows 8 & Windows 10
- Press Windows Key+R, type Control Panel and click OK.
- Press Uninstall a program.
- Mark the unwanted application and press Uninstall.
Windows Vista & Windows 7
- Open the Start menu and choose Control Panel.
- Pick Uninstall a program.
- Select the program and click Uninstall.
Windows XP
- Click on Start and pick Control Panel.
- Select Add or Remove Programs.
- Find the application and select Uninstall.
Remove Search.sosodesktop.com from Google Chrome
- Press ALT+F and click Settings.
- Pick More tools and press Extensions.
- Find the unwanted extension.
- Click the recycle bin button near it.
- Select Remove.
In non-techie terms:
Search.sosodesktop.com is a search engine that you should not trust because it may gather your sensitive information and share it with third-party partners. Information like this should be shared with care, because if it falls into cyber criminals hands, it could be used to scam you. We would advise you to delete the application and then go back to your usual browser preferences. You can get rid of the Search.sosodesktop.com with our provided instructions, or you could also erase it with a legitimate antimalware tool.