Do you know what Isearchnow.com is?
Do you consider your browser’s homepage to be your gateway to the web? If you do, you definitely do not want Isearchnow.com set as your homepage because this seemingly normal search engine is a browser hijacker that cannot find reliable search results. Although the easy-access links that are displayed on the home page might be useful, and, according to our research, they are legitimate, there are other things you need to think about. For example, the search results can be modified to include sponsored content, which, of course, can be misleading. Furthermore, the tracking tools used by the hijacker can record personal information. On top of all that, undisclosed parties can access personal information, and the intentions behind that are unknown. If you still do not understand why you should delete Isearchnow.com from your operating system, you need to read this report right now.
Isearchnow.com was created by Hopebest Inc., which, at the moment, is not a well-known company, and we cannot say much about it. That being said, a few things have been made clear while researching the Privacy Policy prepared by this company to support the hijacker. First and foremost, the company is not interested in providing services to aid users. Instead, it focuses on serving third parties, which, unfortunately, are completely unpredictable and might turn out to be malicious. Hopebest Inc. uses data trackers to record all kinds of information about users, and personally identifiable information can be collected as well. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the company takes good care of the data that is collected, and there is information suggesting that anyone who pays money can retrieve it. Third-party advertisers and ad networks might use information about your browsing history and preferences to create better promotional strategies, but it is unclear who can benefit from your private data.
It is very unnerving that Isearchnow.com uses the name of Google to make users trust it. Of course, that is likely to help; especially if the hijacker was installed with your permission. Even if your browser was hijacked by this threat, you could be convinced that it is harmless because of its connection to Google Search. In reality, the infection is using the search engine to show some search results that are corresponding to your search queries. The rest of the search results are advertisements and search-related content that is of promotional nature. There are tons of hijackers who use Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other well-known search engines in that manner, and so if you face a search tool that is exploiting these engines, you have to be cautious.
Isearchnow.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
How did Isearchnow.com take over your browser? Did you install it yourself? If that is the case, all you need to take care of is the hijacker. If you acquired it bundled with other suspicious pieces of software, you should analyze them as well. And if you have no clue where the hijacker came from, you must employ a malware scanner to inspect your operating system because other threats might have invaded it without your notice as well. Note that if you can remove Isearchnow.com manually, it does not mean that you can get rid of all other threats yourself, and so you need to do your research beforehand. If you realize that you cannot clean your operating system yourself, install a trustworthy anti-malware tool to have all infections eliminated automatically.
Delete Isearchnow.com from browsers
Google Chrome
- Open the browser and tap keys Alt+F.
- Select Settings to access the chrome://settings/ menu.
- Scroll to the On Startup menu at the bottom.
- Select Open a specific page or set of pages.
- Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.
Internet Explorer
- Open the browser and tap keys Alt+T.
- Select Internet options and then move to the General tab.
- Navigate to the Home Page section.
- Overwrite the hijacker’s URL and click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open the browser and tap keys Alt+T to access the Tools menu.
- Select Options to access the about:preferences menu.
- In the menu on the left click General and then move to Home Page.
- Overwrite the hijacker’s URL with the preferred URL.
In non-techie terms:
You have to be careful about the software that is active on your operating system and the search tools that are occupying your browsers because you might unknowingly let in malware. Isearchnow.com does not look like a threat, but it can be dangerous because it is good at spying on users and recording private information about them. Unfortunately, the company that is controlling this hijacker is partnered up with unknown parties, who also have access to the data that is recorded about users, which makes it very unpredictable. The search results it shows are unpredictable as well because they include sponsored third-party content. Overall, you should remove Isearchnow.com because it is unreliable and useless. Follow the guide above to delete the hijacker, or, better yet, install a legitimate, automated anti-malware tool.