Search.smacklek.com Redirect (Mac)

What is search.smacklek.com?

Search.smacklek.com is a deceptive website that claims to be an Internet search engine. It is identical to a number of other bogus sites such as search.epolife.com, search.jakecares.com, and search.texiday.com.

Initially, search.smacklek.com may seem legitimate, however, this site is promoted using dubious installation set-ups developed to modify Internet browser (Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome) settings without users' direct permission. In addition, search.smacklek.com continually gathers various information relating to Internet browsing activity.

Deceptive application installers hijack Internet browsers and assign the new tab URL, homepage, and default search engine browser settings to search.smacklek.com. Furthermore, installed 'helper objects' (third party add-ons/apps) prevent users from returning browsers to their previous states.

Users are unable to modify settings, since helper objects simply reassign them to search.smacklek.com. This significantly diminishes the Internet browsing experience, since users continually encounter unwanted browser redirects to this website.

Furthermore, search.smacklek.com gathers various information relating to Internet browsing activity including IP addresses, website URLs visited, pages viewed, and other similar browsing-related data. This data may seem insignificant, however, it can clearly include personally identifiable information that is is shared with third parties.

It is highly probable that this type of private data will be misused to generate revenue. Therefore, data tracking can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. For these reasons, users who continually encounter unwanted browser redirects to search.smacklek.com, should uninstall all suspicious apps and never visit this site again.

search.smacklek.com is identical to the above websites and also similar to hundreds of other fake Internet search engines including searchhub.info and search.mysafetabssearch.com. All claims to be legitimate software, claims to generate the most relevant search results are merely attempts to trick users to install.

In fact, these websites are designed only to generate revenue for the developers. Rather than providing any real value for users, they diminish the web browsing experience by causing unwanted browser redirects. Furthermore, they continually gather private data, thereby putting users' privacy at risk.

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

search.smacklek.com is promoted via dubious 'installer set-ups' designed to stealthily modify web browser settings. This deceptive marketing method is called 'bundling'. To achieve this, developers hide all details within the 'Custom/Advanced' download or installation section. Therefore, by skipping this section, users inadvertently allow set-ups to modify their settings.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two main steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software - choose the 'Custom/Advanced' settings and analyze each step. Secondly, opt-out of all additionally-included programs and never allow set-ups to make modifications to your settings that seem irrelevant to the installation.

Website promoting search.smacklek.com:

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Quick menu:

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

Video showing how to remove browser redirects to search.smacklek.com using Combo Cleaner:

search.smacklek.com redirect removal:

Remove search.smacklek.com-related potentially unwanted applications from the "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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