In summary, the presence of these unwanted apps on devices can result in system infections, financial loss, serious privacy issues and even identity theft. PUA developers monetize such data by sharing it with and/or selling it to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals). The gathered data usually contains personally identifiable information. They can monitor browsing activity (URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and collect sensitive information extracted from it (IP addresses, geolocations and other details). Therefore, recovering a hijacked browser is impossible without removing the software affecting it.įurthermore, most PUAs (adware and browser hijackers included) can track data.

Browser hijackers can undo any changes users attempt to make to their browsers and/or limit/deny access to the browser settings outright.

Therefore, with this software installed, each new browser tab/window opened and search made via the URL bar redirects to the promoted address.īogus search engines are seldom able to provide search results, and so they tend to redirect to Google, Bing, Yahoo and other genuine sites. PUAs).īrowser hijackers assign the addresses of fake search engines as the homepage, default search engine and new tab/window URLs. Furthermore, when clicked intrusive ads can redirect to untrusted, misleading, compromised and malicious websites. Some of the advertisements can even be triggered (when clicked) to stealthily download/install software (e.g. The delivered ads overlay web page content and reduce browsing speed, thereby significantly diminishing the browsing experience. In addition, this app has data tracking capabilities, which are used to collect browsing-related information.ĭue to the dubious techniques employed in FlexibleProtocol's distribution, it is also classified as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA).Īdware enables the placement of various banners, pop-ups, banners, coupons and other intrusive advertisements, typically on any visited website. It operates by delivering intrusive advertisement campaigns and making changes to browser settings to promote fake search engines. FlexibleProtocol is an adware-type application with browser hijacker characteristics.

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