How to remove search.optimum.icu

What is search.optimum.icu

search.optimum.icu, or OptimumSearch, is a browser hijacker that may install on your computer without explicit permission. If you find search.optimum.icu suddenly set as your homepage and you don’t remember making this change, you definitely have a browser hijacker installed on your computer. These kinds of infections are very widespread because of their distribution method. They come attached to free programs as extra offers, and unless users manually deselect them, they are able to install alongside the program. This sneaky installation method is why certain extensions are classified as browser hijackers, adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). We will explain how you can avoid installing these unwanted offers in the following section of the report.

The hijacker is not a malicious infection, meaning it will not directly harm your computer. However, it’s not entirely harmless either. It makes unwanted changes to your browser, and collects information about your browsing activities. Hijackers generally change browser’s settings so they could set their promoted sites as homepages and then redirect users to sponsored sites. By promoting questionable search engines and altering search results to include sponsored content, hijackers are able to redirect users to those sponsored sites. Those redirects are not only annoying but could also lead users to dangerous websites. We strongly recommend you uninstall search.optimum.icu as soon as possible.

Browser hijacker distribution methods

Because users would not install browser hijackers otherwise, they are added to free software as extra offers and can install alongside without requiring explicit permission. The offers are optional but to prevent their installation, they need to be deselected. But because they are hidden, most users end up missing them. And once they’re installed, they can be difficult to get rid of. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to prevent these unwanted installations, and all you need to do is pay attention.

Next time you’re installing a free program, make sure you pay attention to the process. Most importantly, opt for Advanced (Custom) settings when given the option. Those settings will display all added offers and you will be able to deselect all of them. All you really need to do is uncheck the boxes. After you have done that, you can continue installing the program.

Most free programs come with these offers, and they’re generally useless. And if they’re using software bundling to install, they should not be permitted to install.

Are browser hijackers dangerous

Browser hijackers aren’t particularly dangerous infections. They’re more pests than actually dangerous. They’re also very annoying because the first thing they do once installed is change browser’s settings. Your browser, whether you’re using Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, will have search.optimum.icu set as the homepage and new tabs. Once these settings have been changed, you will be unable to change them back while the hijacker is still installed, so do not waste your time.

The search.optimum.icu website is a very basic one, it only has a search box. It looks rather similar to Google so it may be purposely trying to imitate it. If you were to use the search engine, you would be redirected to Google, making OptimumSearch a completely useless extension. If you wanted to use Google, you could go there directly instead of going via some questionable website. Hijackers usually aim to redirect users to sponsored sites, and they do that by altering search results to include links to those sites. However, this hijacker appears to simply redirect to Google.

If you were to read the site’s Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, you’d see that it collects information about how you browse the Internet. It would track what you search for, what sites you visit, and your IP address.

search.optimum.icu removal

If you have very little experience with uninstalling programs, we suggest you use anti-spyware software to delete search.optimum.icu. The program would take care of everything without you needing to do anything. However, you can also remove search.optimum.icu manually. You will need to locate and remove the extension yourself, which may take some effort. You will also need to make sure all related files are gone so that the hijacker cannot recover.