Ads by Serpens

What is Serpens?

Serpens is a deceptive plug-in that supposedly provides various Internet browsing experience-enhancing features. On initial inspection, this add-on might appear legitimate, however, it is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.

After stealthily infiltrating systems without users’ permission, Serpens tracks Internet browsing activity and displays intrusive online advertisements.

Serpens employs a 'virtual layer' to generate pop-up, banner, and other similar intrusive online advertisements. The virtual layer enables placement of third party graphical content on any visited website. Advertisements generated by this adware appear identical to regular software/apps and, thus, many user are unaware that they do not originate from their visited websites.

By concealing underlying web content, advertisements delivered by Serpens significantly diminish the Internet browsing experience. In addition, some lead to bogus sites containing infectious content - clicking them may cause further adware or malware infections.

In addition, user's Internet browsing activity is continually monitored, since Serpens gathers various browsing-related information. Some of the recorded details might be personally identifiable. The developers of Serpens share this information with third parties.

Therefore, having Serpens installed on your system can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. You are strongly advised to uninstall this PUP immediately.

There are hundreds of adware-type programs with virtually identically behavior to Serpens. For example, apps such as eDealMan, Shopping Optimizer, PriceFountain, and Sharp Angle also claim to enhance the Internet browsing experience. Their purpose, however, is to generate revenue for the developers.

Rather than providing any significant value for users, these apps generate intrusive online advertisements and continually gather personally identifiable information.

How did Serpens install on my computer?

This PUP is proliferated using a deceptive software marketing method called 'bundling' - stealth installation of potentially unwanted programs with regular software/apps. Many users do not express enough caution during the download and installation processes.

For this reason, developers intentionally conceal installation of bogus programs within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings.

Users who skip this section install potentially unwanted programs inadvertently. The developers are concerned only with the amount of revenue generated (which is dependent on the number of apps distributed) and, therefore, do not properly disclose installation of rogue applications such as Serpens.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Installation of adware-type programs can be prevented by closely analyzing the download and installation processes. Select the 'Custom' or 'Advanced' settings and follow each step. There is a high probability that additionally-included programs will be bogus, and for this reason, you should opt-out of all bundled apps.

Serpens adware generating intrusive online ads (marked as 'Ads by Serpens'):

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Quick menu:

• What is Serpens?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Serpens application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove Serpens adware from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Serpens ads from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove 'Ads by Serpens' from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove Serpens ads from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Serpens adware removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window, look for "Content Defender", select this entry and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes Serpens ads, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Remove Serpens adware from Internet browsers:

At time of research, Serpens did not install its browser plug-ins on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox, however, it was bundled with other adware. Therefore, you are advised to remove all potentially unwanted browser add-ons from your Internet browsers.

Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the serpens adware, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, select these entries and click the trash can icon.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the serpens adware, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with serpens adware removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....

In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the serpens adware, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.

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