SurfPlus

SurfPlus, also known as Surf+, is a web browser add-on and adware that purports to offer popup-blocking and privacy-enabling features. In addition to its useful features, SurfPlus alters online content to add extra links to text and monitors your online activities to present relevant advertisements. SurfPlus has no normal application removal methods; the best way to delete SurfPlus is to use a fully-updated anti-malware scanner.

SurfPlus: A Big Minus to Your Web-Surfing

SurfPlus is similar to other types of adware that are often bundled with downloading programs, like eZula, Gator and TopText. Due to a flood of complaints about SurfPlus's behavior, official distribution of SurfPlus has ceased. However, you may still get infected by SurfPlus if you download an older version of an application that still has SurfPlus bundled with it.

The official functions SurfPlus offers include popup-blocking and general privacy protection for web-browsing. However, SurfPlus's real functions are much more sinister:

• SurfPlus monitors your online activities, including which websites you visit and your searches in search engines, and sends this information back to remote parties without your permission.
• The fruits of SurfPlus's spying behavior are advertisements which are inserted into your online content. So far the alterations have been limited to links added to text-based content. These links may direct you to unsafe websites and have been noted to include pornography even if the original website's content is suitable for all audiences.
• SurfPlus may also update itself without your permission, allowing it to enable other features that can cause greater harm to your PC. There are no official methods provided for removing or disabling SurfPlus or any of SurfPlus's malicious functions.
• SurfPlus will remain active and use system resources without your consent. This may result in poorer system performance or cause system settings to be altered for the worse.

Surfing the Web without SurfPlus's Unwanted Help

Detecting SurfPlus is the easiest part of dealing with it, since SurfPlus will add on a very obvious Surf+ logo to your browser. If you think you have SurfPlus on your computer, don't try to uninstall SurfPlus by deleting its files, since this may cause other errors for your PC.

Instead, use an appropriate anti-malware program to delete SurfPlus and undo all the changes to your system that SurfPlus made without your permission. Make sure your scanner of choice is updated before you launch a scan, since a scanner without the latest threat definitions may be unable to notice SurfPlus.

You should also run your scanner in Safe Mode if at all possible, and make sure that no web browser windows have been opened since you rebooted. Doing these things will maximize your chances of removing SurfPlus without any components lingering behind to cause other issues.