QuericsSearch

The Querics Search is a Possibly Unwanted Program (PUP) designed to modify the browser settings so that the user is always redirected to the fake search.querics.net search engine. The idea behind pushing users through this bogus search engine is to expose them to specific marketing and advertising companies that might have unsafe intent, considering how the Querics Search works.

Firstly, the Querics Search is known to be distributed stealthily, through free software tools. Research has shown that one of the methods through which the Querics Search has done that was an unofficial Adobe Photoshop activation tool. Due to this technique of propagation, Querics Search, and other applications of this type, have been categorized as Potentially Unwanted Programs.

Furthermore, the Querics Search adds a Google Chrome feature called ''Managed by your organization,'' which can be used by evil actors to set a homepage address, block access to certain Web pages and install extensions.

The search.querics.net search engine doesn't show any unique search results, redirecting users to search.yahoo.com instead. Most programs from the PUP category, however, can be used to gather various user browsing data that passes through them, such as addresses of visited pages, IP addresses, geolocations and search queries.

Many such programs also can gather personal details, with the intent of selling them to third parties that can misuse them. Having your data collected through PUPs such as Querics Search, Elementary Data Search, and others can lead to problems related to the user's browsing safety, online privacy and even lead to identity theft.