Home Malware Programs Browser Hijackers Shield Safe Search Hijack

Shield Safe Search Hijack

Posted: May 25, 2015

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 8/10
Infected PCs: 15
First Seen: May 26, 2015
Last Seen: June 26, 2020
OS(es) Affected: Windows

Shield Safe Search is a browser add-on developed by Tightrope Interactive. This browser plugin is advertised as a search engine alternative with an emphasis on security. Like many of its kind, Shield Safe Search is distributed by employing the controversial practice of bundling. Often, users will not even notice that additional programs crept into their computer. Shield Safe Search is compatible with the most popular Windows browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Once installed, the Shield Safe Search browser add-on will immediately change both the homepage and default search engine of the browser(s). The alternatives provided by Shield Safe Search, more specifically the search engine at search.eshield.com, delivers somewhat skewed query data, favoring sponsored links and ads. However, the main selling point of Shield Safe Search is that its search engine analyzes every link and based on the level of risk, assigns them a color; green for safe, yellow for some risk and red for total avoidance. The validity of these ratings is still under question. Overall, Shield Safe Search is considered a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) with browser hijacking capabilities. If you have Shield Safe Search on your computer, you should consider removing it.

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