Search Private by Searchprivate.org

The Search Private is an extension for Chrome, which can be classified as a Potentially Unwanted Program PUP). The Search Private can get your computer through free software bundles, or you can install it from the Chrome Web Store. When the Search Private for Chrome comes in a bundle, it can potentially be installed without the user's knowledge, automatically. In the Chrome Web Store, the Search Private for Chrome is presented as a "...Search extension that sets the default search for users to Yahoo and provide [sic] search via new tab page." This is a fairly accurate description of what it does. However, it isn't complete. Once installed, Search Private for Chrome may take over management of the search engine used in the address bar of Chrome and change the new tab options. If you try to install the Search Private from the Web Store you get a warning that it can read and change all your data on the websites that you visit, as well as your search setting to srchnet.com.

Both warnings above should be setting off alarms. The new tab functionality is fairly innocuous. It provides a search bar with a toggle button for making your search 'private.' This button toggles whether your searches go through Yahoo or eShield. The search results are the same, except for some ads when going through eShield. The issue may come when you try to use the address bar to search instead of going to a particular address. When you try to search using the address bar you get redirected to srchnet.com. This website is unsafe, and you can potentially get infected by all kinds of threats. Historically, there have been multiple similar extensions that do the same thing, just having a different name like Search for Chrome by AdShield.

You can disable the Search Private for Chrome in the Chrome settings or remove it using the Extension Manager. Alternatively, you can use a legitimate security suite to get rid of the extension and any additional threats that may have infiltrated your device.