Having Firefox hijacked itself is usually no more than an annoyance

But in some cases the hijacking can completely take over your browsing habits directing you to more illicit websites where more severe types of Malware can be downloaded.

Sadly browser hijacking Malware has become more and more common and its methods of infecting a computer have become more devious in the process.

Luckily though many software providers have kept up to date offering products to remove just about all of this type of stuff.

Firefox Hijacked – Symptoms

1. Firefox redirected to another website either when launched going to your chosen home page, or when searching via Google, Yahoo etc. This occurs when you perform a search, see the results as per normal, but when clicking on a search result then it directs Firefox to another site.

   More intelligent browser hijackers will actually redirect Firefox to sites in line with what you are searching for.

2. Firefox frequently crashing, this normally occurs when the hijacker Malware has only managed to partially install causing problems with Firefox
3. Speed, one of the main symptoms of Firefox hijacked issues is the speed.

   Firefox is generally a very quick browser, if slowdown occurs when launching or browsing this could point towards it being infected with some type of Malware.

4. Offline, If some ones credit card gets cloned how many people double check to ensure that their computer is not infected with any type of browser hijacking Malware?

Fixing Firefox Hijacker Problems

Firstly ensure that you delete all Firefox’s Cookies, Temp File and History
Tools > Clear Recent History > Tick everything, ensure Time range to clear: is set to Everything > Hit Clear

Now download and run some good Anti-Malware software, for this I would recommend, in order of preference.

• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Malwarebytes
• ESET Security Scanner
• Spybot search and destroy

Once you are happy that Firefox is now working ok it’s worth deleting any old restore points as they may still contain the Malware which will cause Firefox to be re-infected if ever used.
Control Panel > System > System Restore tab > put a tick in Turn off System Restore on all drives > hit Apply > Hit Yes to delete all system restore points > Untick to turn back on > hit Apply again.

Now System Restore will be running, and you can be sure that any restore points are not infected.

Firefox Hijacker Prevention

To help prevent any future Firefox hijacker problems ensure that your computer is running an Antivirus and Anti-malware products or an all in one such as AVG, but even then weekly scans using another product is recommended as a backup.

Why do People Create Browser Hijackers?

There was a time when Viruses and Malware were created to just cause damage as a way for some individuals to show what they could do, and the amount of mayhem that they could cause.

But as times have changed, so has Malware, browser hijackers are aimed at one thing; Making money, generally this is done via advertising, be it pop-ups or redirected links.

Other more severe browser hijackers are aimed at getting personal information from you such as credit cards, or banking information, either by key logging or sending you to bogus sites.

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