Slightsearch.ru
Slightsearch.ru is a search engine and entertainment media site for Russian Web surfers. Despite having no hostile content, Slightsearch.ru does have previous associations with browser hijackers that may direct you to this site automatically. Removing Slightsearch.ru hijackers and other parasites always should include following standard browser security steps, such as purging your cookie files, along with running anti-adware scans.
A Slight Nudge in the Wrong Web-Browsing Direction
The prominence of single advertising domains may include an interdependent Web of affiliates that you may see throughout diverse adware and browser-hijacking campaigns. Slightsearch.ru is a showcase scenario of a Web page that may see traffic alongside the promotional efforts for other sites, such as Mail.ru, a domain that, itself, has associations with everything from adware to threat-installing sites. When judging it by its personal merits, however, Slightsearch.ru has no threatening content or links towards such content, as of the latest scans (in March of 2016).
Besides providing free Web content and affiliate traffic of a non-toxic nature, Slightsearch.ru also is the centerpiece of at least one browser-hijacking campaign operating against Chrome browser users. The primary symptom of a Slightsearch.ru hijacker's installation is having your browser's default search locked to Slightsearch.ru, with admin privilege exploits barring any user-made changes. The program may not permit Web searches through other search sites without the user's navigating to the alternate website manually, by inputting the appropriate Web address.
Slightsearch.ru hijackers show no User Interface or any user-beneficial features. Other symptoms include, but may not limit themselves to locking the Chrome homepage to another site, such as the previously noted Mail.ru.
Calling Your Russian Web Searches to a Sudden Halt
Slightsearch.ru hijackers have yet to be identifiable in campaigns targeting other browsers besides Chrome, although similar implementation methods could deploy themselves in a browser-neutral fashion. Malware experts may find no meaningful hostile content at Slightsearch.ru, but programs promoting other sites automatically and, particularly, applications that use admin rights exploits for blocking other system changes, always should be taken for granted as being unsafe for your PC.
Slightsearch.ru hijackers may install themselves through illicit download resources, such as pirated torrents for popular 2016-published games. These bundles may not announce the presence of any other software that they include in their installations, and, frequently, may not include the intended download advertised in their file names. When given the opportunity to do so, many PC security programs can detect these unsafe bundle installers by scanning the files before you open them. Computer users affected by this campaign have reported that the settings hijackings may persist between separate Chrome installations.
Taking such simple prevention-oriented steps, along with tailoring your downloading behavior, may be less difficult than bypassing the admin exploits inherent in the Slightsearch.ru hijackers' campaign to date significantly.