Search.anysearchresults.com Redirect (Mac)

What is search.anysearchresults.com?

Identical to search.macsafefinder.com and many others, search.anysearchresults.com is a fake Internet search engine that falsely claims to enhance the browsing experience by generating improved results.

On initial inspection, search.anysearchresults.com may seem legitimate and useful, since its appearance barely differs from Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other similar legitimate search engines.

In fact, the site is promoted using rogue download/installation set-ups that modify browser options without permission. In addition, search.anysearchresults.com records user-system information.

Browser-hijacking set-ups target Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Following infiltration, they assign the new tab URL, default search engine, and homepage options to search.anysearchresults.com. These changes may seem insignificant, however, users are unable to return browsers to their previous states.

Set-ups also install a number of "helper objects" (potentially unwanted programs [PUPs] and/or browser plug-ins) that reassign the aforementioned settings when attempts are made to change them.

Therefore, users are unable to revert changes by rogue set-ups and are forced to visit search.anysearchresults.com when they search via the URL bar or simply open a new browser tab. This significantly diminishes the web browsing experience. Another downside is information tracking.

As mentioned above, search.anysearchresults.com (and helper objects) continually record various information (mostly, relating to users' Internet browsing activity) that might contain personal details. Developers sell this data to third parties, thus putting your privacy at risk.

Furthermore, some rogue PUPs and browser plug-ins run various background processes without users' consent. This misuse of computer resources (such as mining cryptocurrency) significantly diminishes overall system performance. For these reasons, PUPs/browser plug-ins should be uninstalled immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	anysearchresults.com browser hijacker
Threat Type	Mac malware, Mac virus
Symptoms	Your Mac became slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you get redirected to shady websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

search.anysearchresults.com has very similar characteristics to dozens of other fake Internet search engines such as, for example, search.romandos.com, g-search.pro, and aqualious.com. 

All claim to provide "useful features" (such as improved search results, weather forecasts, quick access to popular websites, currency exchange rates, etc.), however, only a small percentage of fake search engines give any value for regular users - most are useless and are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.

In most cases, they record user-system information and cause unwanted redirects. Some are also known to generate false results and deliver malicious ads. These results and ads can lead to malicious websites. In addition, the malicious ads might execute scripts that download and install malware. Therefore, using a fake Internet search engine is very risky.

How did search.anysearchresults.com install on my computer?

As mentioned above, developers promote search.anysearchresults.com using browser-hijacking download/installation set-ups. This deceptive marketing method is called "bundling".

Many users rush these processes and skip steps. Aware of this, developers conceal all details of browser modifications within various sections (usually the "Custom/Advanced" options) of the download/installation processes.

By skipping steps, users inadvertently grant set-ups permission to modify various browser options, expose their systems to risk of various infections, and compromise their privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Be aware that potentially unwanted programs (such as helper objects) are distributed using the "bundling" method, and via 'malvertising' ads. Therefore, be cautious when browsing the Internet and especially when downloading/installing software. Cyber criminals invest a great deal of time and money into designing malicious ads.

Therefore, it is difficult to determine if they originate from the visited (legitimate) website. They are often distinguishable for their redirects - most lead to suspicious websites (such as surveys, gambling, adult dating, pornography, etc.) If you encounter such ads, uninstall all suspicious applications and browser plug-ins.

In addition, carefully analyze each window of the download/installation dialogs and opt-out of additionally-included programs. Note that criminals monetize third party downloaders/installers by promoting third party software (the "bundling" method). Therefore, we strongly advise you to avoid using these tools. The key to computer safety is caution.

Website promoting search.anysearchresults.com:

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Quick menu:

• What is search.anysearchresults.com?
• STEP 1. Remove search.anysearchresults.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove search.anysearchresults.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove search.anysearchresults.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.anysearchresults.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

search.anysearchresults.com redirect removal:

Remove search.anysearchresults.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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