How to remove Uzzf.com browser hijacker from the computer?
What is Uzzf.com?
Uzzf.com is a harmful domain. This domain offers the user with latest android and apple apps and games to download for free. It shows the user links to other categories such as manga, music, games and top charts. Uzzf.com is in fact, a dangerous browser hijacker that installs itself silently in the system and makes changes to the security settings of the web browser.
Uzzf.com is known to display unwanted and intrusive Pop-up and banner ads that spoil the user experience during web browsing. This threat also displays links that may be malicious and download other harmful viruses on the user’s system.
Uzzf.com – Threat Behavior
Uzzf.com creeps inside the system silently and changes the web browser settings without user permission. It then goes on to change the default home page and the new tab to uzzf.com. This browser hijacker adds its search engine in the web browser and redirects all the user queries to unknown links.
This browser hijacker prompts user to download various android and apple mobile phone apps. It also entices the user to play games and download the latest mobile games available in the market for free.
Uzzf.com is dangerous because it collects user data which it uses to customize the pop-up ads to make them more interesting for the user to click. The information that it collects is gathered in the servers of the developers of this harmful entity. The hackers can sell this information to third parties who can use it to blackmail the user for money or harm the public image of the user.
Uzzf.com causes the web browser to take longer time when loading web pages. The installed components of this browser hijacker use up most of the system resources and cause the machine to not respond as quickly as it used to before this malware. The other programs in the system do not get enough system resources to function properly and this cause the PC to freeze and sometimes crash.
How Did Uzzf.com get installed on your system?
Uzzf.com is installed in the system through freeware that the user downloads from third party sites and not from the official websites. This allows the hackers or the promoters of these freeware to add software that the user doesn’t need. Once the user installs the software without caring to check the custom settings, they end up installing this bundled software.
During installation of any software on the system, the user should always keep in mind to go through all the steps carefully and uncheck any service or unwanted software that they do not need.
The cybercriminals use various strategies for malware distribution which include –
- Software Bundling: Software bundling is the process in which a malicious program is distributed with other free software, to get an unnoticed entry into your computer system. When a user installs a free application, the malicious programs gains a front door entry with the free application, the user has downloaded. Thus, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the installation screens while installing these free applications.
- Infected Storage Devices: Your system can also get infected by using removable media such as USB hard drives and jump drives without scanning them with an anti-virus.
- Spam Emails – Spamming is the most economic and common method used for the distribution of such malware. The targeted users get genuine looking emails which contain .doc, .txt, and other similar attachments. These attachments can be named as anything which can grab the user’s attention and triggers him/her to open the attachment. As soon as the user opens this attachment, the malware infects the user’s computer system.
- Malicious Websites or Malevolent Advertisements: The malicious websites are the ones which are created just for promoting the malware infections. Such websites include but are not limited to porn sites, torrent sites and other free downloading platforms. By visiting such websites, the adware infects the user’s computer without permission. Fake advertisements and updates like Flash player and windows updates which ask the user to update to the latest version are a few examples. When the users click on such links, their computer system gets infected. That is why, it is highly recommended to resist clicking on such links. Also avoid clicking on advertisements offering free stuff such as Win an iPhones, cars or free overseas trips etc.
Threat Summary
Name – Uzzf.com
Category – Malware, Potentially unwanted Program (PuP), Browser Hijacker
Browsers Affected – Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge
Targeted Operating Systems – Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.0/8.1, Windows 10
Symptoms – Unwanted and intrusive Banner and Pop-up ads during web browsing, default home page and new page changed to uzzf.com, hogs system resources making the PC sluggish.
How to remove Uzzf.com from the system?
Uzzf.com will keep tracking your data and become a major threat if not taken care at the initial stage of its infiltration. The user should immediately take steps to delete Uzzf.com from their system. You should not try to remove it based on your knowledge about software removal. The user should always confirm and check the World Wide Web first for the virus removal instructions of the particular infection.
It is advised that the user follow our steps to remove Uzzf.com to get rid of this browser hijacker. The process is complex and the user should follow each step carefully otherwise this virus will leave traces in the system and become harder to remove.
STEP A – Remove Uzzf.com From Control Panel.
Note: Before we begin, try to remember how the extension got downloaded on your computer system. Generally, these programs come bundled with free applications that we download off the internet. It is a good practice to locate and uninstall such programs while removing the Browser Hijacker/ Extensions.
Windows XP
- Click on the “Start” button on the bottom left corner of your screen. A Start menu will be displayed as shown below. From this menu select the option that reads “Control Panel”.
- In the window that will be displayed, click the option “Switch to classic view”.
- This will display all the options/icons available to you. From the displayed icons, click on the icon that reads “Add or Remove Programs”.
- Select the “Uninstall a program” option from the “Programs” category. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Select the programs related to Uzzf.com and click on the Uninstall button.
Windows 7/Vista
- Right click on the “Start” button located at the lower left corner of the screen. From the Start menu, click on “Control Panel”.
- The “Control Panel” Window will be displayed on the screen. Click on “Uninstall a Program” option from the “Programs” category.
- The “Programs and Features” window will be displayed on the screen. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Scroll though the list of programs and select the programs related to Uzzf.com and then click on the “Uninstall” button.
Windows 8/10
- Right click on the “Windows logo” on the lower left side of the computer screen. From the drop down menu, select and click on “Control Panel”.
- The “Control Panel” window will be displayed. From this window select “Uninstall a program” option form the “Programs” category.
- A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Select the programs related to Uzzf.com and click on the “Uninstall” button.
- In the confirmation box, click on the box that reads “OK” to save changes.
STEP B – Show Hidden Files and Folders.
Windows 7
- Left click on the Organize button on the Windows Explorer. A drop down menu will appear.
- On this menu left click on the option that reads “Folder and search options” as shown above. A folder options dialogue box will appear.
- On the View tab under the Advanced settings, Check the option that reads “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” and uncheck the option that reads “Hide protected operating system files“.
- Click on the “OK” button to save your changes. This will make all the hidden files and folders visible to you.
Windows 8 and 10
- On the file explorer toolbar, click on the View
- In the Show/hide section, Click on the “Hidden items” checkbox.
- Click on the options button.
- Under folder options, click on the “View” tab.
- Uncheck the “Hide protected operating system files” option.
- Click the “OK” button to save your changes.
STEP C – Remove the extensions Installed by Uzzf.com from your Browser.
Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome and click on the three vertical dots (
) i.e.Menu option which are located at the upper right corner of the Chrome Window.
- Find and click on More tools from the drop down menu that is displayed & select Extensions or you can open a Chrome window and type “chrome://extensions” in the address bar.
- Check the developer mode option which is located opposite to extensions heading on the top of the Chrome window. By enabling the developer mode, additional details and option related to all the installed extensions will be displayed. One of the details that will be displayed is the ID. ID is the folder name created by the extension at the location “C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions”.
- Locate the extension you want to uninstall or delete. Copy and paste the folder name opposite to the ID Tag of that extension into a notepad file. In this case the folder name is “Uzzf.com”
- Now, uncheck the enabled option next to the extension in question. Make sure you also click the trash icon to delete the extension from the browser. It is important to note that even after uninstalling and deleting the extensions from the browser, the extension might not uninstall properly. Thus, it is a good practice to make sure that we have deleted the folder as mentioned in step 3.
- Make sure that you have made the hidden files and folders visible.
- Open My Computer and go to “C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions”. Now, look for folder with the name as specified in Step 4 i.e. “Uzzf.com”. Delete the folder if present.
- Close and reopen the browser. It is also advisable to restart your computer once done.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox, click on three horizontal lines (
) at the top right corner of the Firefox Window and select the Add-ons option.
- On the Add-ons manger page, select and click on the Extensions tab as shown below.
- Find the extensions related to Uzzf.com and click on the remove button.
- In addition, try to remember how the extension got downloaded on your computer system. If this extension was bundled with some other software, then make sure to delete that as well.
Internet Explorer
Apple's Safari
- On your Mac Desktop, click on the option that reads “Safari”.
- A drop down menu will appear as shown below. From this menu chose the option that reads “Preferences”.
- The Preferences window will appear on the screen, where the list of all your safari extensions will be shown.
- On the list displayed at the left side of the screen, select the Extension you want to uninstall.
- Click on the Uninstall button to get rid of the extension.
Tips to prevent your computer system from getting infected
- Keeping the Operating System Updated- In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
- Resist clicking on spam emails – One of the major techniques used for malware distribution is forwarding spam emails to the user. The system gets infected as soon as the user clicks on the attachment. These mails appear to be genuine, so be aware and resist falling for these tricks.
- Keep an eye on third party installations- It is quite important that you take due care while installing any third party applications for they are major source of such infections. Such malware programs come bundled with the free applications thereby requiring the user to remain cautious.
- Regular periodical backup- In order to keep your data and files safe, it is recommended to take regular back up of all your data and files either on an external drive or cloud.
- Use Anti-Virus Protection- We strongly recommend the use of antivirus protection/internet security in your PC like Bull Guard Internet Security and Avira so that it remains safe.
- Enable the Ad Blocker/Popup Blocker in your browser- Enabling the popup blocker/ ad blocker in your chosen browser will help you to stay protected from annoying adware.
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) which is at the top right corner of the Internet Explorer Window.
