Search.search-bee.com Browser Hijacker Removal

George Herman

IT Security Expert

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What is Search.search-bee.com

Search.search-bee.com is a malicious website related to browser hijacker activity on your Mac. The appearance of this page means trouble for your online experience. Somehow, a nasty browser hijacker managed to penetrate your computer system and infect your browsers. This parasite is responsible for the numerous annoying advertisements that keep popping up on your screen, no matter how many times you cancel them. As a consequence of the heavy ad attacks, your browser will fail to work properly, turning your browsing into a hellish experience due to constant lagging and website crashes. And on top of that, this malicious software is programmed to obtain your personal data, so it can share it with other third-parties for profit.

How it is distributed

Threats like browser hijackers are most commonly distributed through untrustworthy sources, freeware and bundled software. For this reason, we highly recommend you to get your downloads from the official Apple App Store. Often, users make the mistake of trusting unknown sites to install software, or download torrent files. But such unverified files can mask the fact that they carry infected software with them, that are hidden as additional software. And if you’re not careful enough, you may install such malicious apps without even realizing it. Don’t blindly click the ‘I Accept’ button, before thoroughly getting acquainted with the full Terms and Conditions of the installation process. If there are any bonus programs, it is best to opt out of them, since there’s a big chance that they are malware in disguise. Other means of browser hijacker distribution include spam emails, email attachments, fake update messages and dubious pop-up advertisements.

How it operates

Usually, the effects of a browser hijacker start with the replacement of your homepage and search engine. In their place, the parasite will put the Search.search-bee.com website. What’s more, from the moment you open your browser, you’ll be attacked with all types of advertisements that aim to catch your attention. Most often, such promotions are in the form of exclusive deals, personalized coupons, special offers, fake alert messages, ‘you’re’ the winner’ announcements, etc. Once you click on them, the hijacker will generate revenue via the pay-per-click scheme. In order to ensure the success of this mission, this malicious software is programmed to spy on your online activity. It will monitor the pages you visit and the things you tend to search for the most, so it can produce the type of advertisements you’ll be more interested into, and therefore more likely to click on. Unfortunately, this won’t be the only type of information a hijacker is able to steal from you. It can get its hands on data like passwords, bank accounts, credit card numbers, login credentials, IP addresses, your GPS location, etc. Such valuable data can easily be sold to other shady third-parties for profit.

Staying safe from Search.search-bee.com

Apart from having a reliable AV software installed on your Mac, there are other things you can do to ensure your device’s safety. We highly recommend you to:

• Pay close attention when you install third-party software, especially torrent files, so you don’t install shady additional applications that you don’t want. In most cases, that’s how malicious parasites are able to infect your computer;

• Read any Terms and Conditions you see, so you know exactly what you agree to. The last thing you want is to unknowingly give permission to a nasty virus to infiltrate your Mac;

• Follow links that lead to trustworthy sites only;

• It is best to visit only reliable and official websites. You never know what dangers might lurk behind an unfamiliar site;

• No matter how attractive an ad is, if you are not familiar with the website it redirects to, it might be best to steer clear of it and not click;

• Always check the sender’s email address before opening a message. If it states that it’s from an official company, compare the email with the one given in their official page. If there is no match, delete the message, since it most likely is fake and has malicious aims;

• Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders. More often than not, such files carry infections that can seriously damage your computer.

How to manually remove Search.search-bee.com Browser Hijacker

If you’ve had the misfortune of getting your Mac infected with the Search.search-bee.com Browser Hijacker, the instructions below can help you to remove it manually. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to Utilities. You can do that by using the ⇧+⌘+U key combination, or going to Finder and choosing Utilities from the Go main menu at the top.

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it.

3. A list will be displayed. Find any processes that seem suspicious to you and use the ‘Force Quit‘ option to quit them completely.

4. Open Finder. Click on the Go button from the main menu at the top, and choose Applications. An alternative way is to use the ⇧+⌘+A key combination.

5. Look for any suspicious applications, especially ones with a name similar to Search.search-bee.com. If any are found, right-click on them and select the ‘Move to Trash‘ option.

6. Remove any related left-over files by going to Finder‘s search bar and typing the name of the app you want to remove. Make sure to modify the two drop down menus above to ‘System Files‘ and ‘Are Included‘, so that any hidden files are visible for you to remove. Once you find the files you want to remove, simply drag them to Trash.

7. All that’s left for you to do is remove any related extensions to Search.search-bee.com from your Mac browsers.

• For Mozilla Firefox extensions:

  – Open the Firefox browser and from the ‘burger’ menu in the top right corner of the window select ‘Add-ons‘.

  – Select any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and click ‘Remove‘.

• For Google Chrome extensions:

  – Open the Chrome browser and select Tools > Extensions from the menu (the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window).

  – Locate any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and remove them.

• For Safari extensions:

  – Open the Safari browser. From the Safari menu choose Preferences. Select Extensions from the options at the top.

  – Find any extensions you think are related to the virus, select them and click ‘Uninstall‘. A new window will show up asking for confirmation. Click Uninstall again, for the extension to get deleted permanently from your browser.