24socialnews.net Removal Guide

Do you know what 24socialnews.net is?

24socialnews.net is a potential computer security threat that is classified as a browser hijacker. You must have installed this hijacker accidentally when you were setting up some other program. There is no need to panic when a browser hijacker enters your computer, but you should remove 24socialnews.net and everything associated with this threat as soon as possible. Browser hijackers can be easily exploited by cyber criminals to promote corrupted content. They happen to be a perfect medium for malicious content distribution, so you cannot allow this type of intruder to remain on your computer.

This browser hijacker comes from a big family of similar programs. Judging from our research, this program is very similar to inewsru.com, gogetnews.net, browser-net.net, and so on. Our researchers also say that the program has some similarities with time-to-read.ru and smartinf.ru. When browser hijackers come from a big group of similar programs, it usually means that they are not too sophisticated, and whoever develops them mostly rely on quantity rather than quality to reach their objectives. So if there was a removal method that we could apply to the previously released hijackers, it is very likely that we can apply to 24socialnews.net, too.

So, as you can probably tell, we can terminate this hijacker without much difficulty, but you should also know how to avoid such infections in the first place. To avoid a browser hijacker, you need to know how this program gets distributed across the web. Needless to say, it does not have a direct distribution source as no one would want to add it to their browser anyway. So the program clearly employs other methods to reach target systems. Judging from the way the previously released hijackers used to spread around, it is possible to assume that 24socialnews.net also gets distributed in the same manner.24socialnews.net Removal Guide24socialnews.net screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions

What we have in mind is obvious the bundled downloads. Judging from the data that we have, 24socialnews.net probably comes from software bundles that users download from Russian websites. After all, the hijacker’s page is entirely in Russian, so we can assume that it affects mostly computer users in Russia and Ukraine. What’s more, when a potentially unwanted program comes in a software package, there is a chance that it arrives together with other undesirable applications. Therefore, when you get down to removing this browser hijacker, you have to make sure that you terminate other unwanted programs too (if any).

Now, let us take a closer look at what happens when 24socialnews.net enters your system. This browser hijacker is quite generic, but it can easily affect Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. The browser hijacker changes your default homepage, and the next time you open your browser, you are greeted with a Russian news portal. Of course, if you speak and read Russian, this might not seem like a bad idea, but the main problem here is that the program changes your default homepage without your permission. Or, to be more precise, you allow this program to enter your system, but you are not aware of that.

Most of the time, browser hijackers are there to generate a financial profit for their developers. To do that, 24socialnews.net and other similar applications will promote commercial third-party content. At first, it might seem that the content is generated at random, but the longer this browser hijacker remains on your system, the more customized this content will become. That is because browser hijackers can collect information on the websites you visit, and later that information can be used to customize the commercial content you see.

This is not malicious per se, but sometimes this practice could be exploited by cyber criminals to promote their content, too. 24socialnews.net does not review whether the content it shares is reliable or not. So you are on your own when you encounter something unfamiliar through this hijacker.

To avoid any potential security threats, you should remove 24socialnews.net right now. The best way to deal with it is to reset your browser settings to default. This should delete all the modifications this browser hijacker made. After that, scan your system with a legitimate security tool that will help you determine whether you have more unwanted and dangerous programs on-board.

How to Reset Your Browser Settings

Chrome

  1. Press Alt+F and click Settings.
  2. Scroll down and press Advanced.
  3. Go to the bottom of the page and press Reset.
  4. Click Reset to confirm.

Internet Explorer

  1. Press Alt+T and click Internet options.
  2. Go to the Advanced tab and press Reset.
  3. Mark Delete personal settings and click Reset.
  4. Click Close.

Firefox

  1. Press Alt+H and go to Troubleshooting information.
  2. At the top right of the new tab, click Refresh Firefox.
  3. Press Refresh Firefox on the confirmation box.
  4. Click Finish.

In non-techie terms:

24socialnews.net may look like a regular news portal, but this domain belongs to a browser hijacker that will enter your system accidentally, and then the program will try to make interact with third-party content. Some of this content could be embedded there by cyber criminals, and it could lead to a severe malware infection. Thus, before any of that happens, remove 24socialnews.net from your computer and protect your system from similar intruders.