Substand.info browser hijacker may be responsible for the alterations made to your browser, and it could have infiltrated via free software bundles. The infection was most likely added to a freeware as an extra offer, and since you did not unmark it, it installed. These types of infections are why you should are attentive during software installation. This is a low level infection but because of its unwanted behavior, you will want it gone as soon as possible. Your browser's home web page and new tabs will be altered, and a different site will load instead of your normal website. Your search engine will also be modified, and it might be able to manipulate search results and inject advertisement links into them. The browser hijacker is doing that because it aims to generate traffic for certain sites, and in turn, earn profit for owners. Some hijacker are able to reroute to malicious web pages so unless you wish to get your OS infected with malicious program, you need to be careful. And would bring about much more damage compared to this infection. Hijackers like to pretend they have helpful features but you could easily replace them with reliable add-ons, which will not bring about weird redirects. More customized content will also start appearing, and in case you're wondering why, the redirect virus is following your browsing and gathering data about you. It is possible that the information would be sold to third-parties as well. All of this is why you should remove Substand.info.
Read more...