CSearch Hijacker is a Browser Hijacker disguised as a Toolbar add on for Internet Explorer.  It was first discovered in February of 2003.  Some time later, it was purchased by Integrated Search Technologies.  It has been shown to have spyware abilities.

CSearch Hijacker’s spyware capabilities include taking screenshots of the web pages you’re visiting and keystroke logging.  This information gets uploaded to a remote server to get processed.  Vendors will often claim that this is purely for the purpose of delivering targeted advertisements.  However, this particular activity can easily be used to capture credit card information and login data.

As a Browser Hijacker,  CSearch Hijacker can redirect your browsing activity to IST’s affiliate pages.  It also resets your home page to searchmain.com.  Aside from loss of productivity from the computer running slower and the Internet Explorer browser crashing, redirected browsing can also decrease productivity.

CSearch Hijacker is a serious threat to your computer and to your privacy.  We highly recommend removing it from your computer.  Unless you are a licensed professional, you should not attempt to manually remove this program, since this practice poses a high risk of damaging important files on your computer.  Instead, you should use a spyware removal tool like SpyZooka to remove it.  SpyZooka is our most recommended removal tool, as it is proven to be highly effective against all spyware and adware threats.

Also Known As:
ISTbar.CSearch,
Hijacker/ISTbar.CSearch,
IsearchTech.CSearch,
Adware.CSearch,
Search Hijacker

Associated Files:
csearch.dll, DEB0BC8B-7405-4B97-9489-89D72C27678A,
F250A919-FB4B-4120-9F2E-E5FE03FB8202,
09C33C5E-2B76-47FE-B97B-9788235A3876,
064CB07A-9ECD-46FD-8E10-1D3C5FF218CA,
D8FA0364-7866-40A7-B340-A6069265AD9F,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternetExplorerSearchCustomizeSearch=[siteaddress],
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternetExplorerMainSearchPage=[siteaddress],
HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftInternetExplorerSearchUrl(default)=[siteaddress],
HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftSearchAssistantDefaultSearchURL=[siteaddress],
HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftInternetExplorerMainSearchPage=[siteaddress],
HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareISTechnologies, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Redirect.1,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Redirect, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Band.1,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects {D8FA0364-7866-40A7-B340-A6069265AD9F},
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Band,
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTTypeLib {DEB0BC8B-7405-4B97-9489-89D72C27678A},
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInterface {F250A919-FB4B-4120-9F2E-E5FE03FB8202},
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTInterface {09C33C5E-2B76-47FE-B97B-9788235A3876},
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID {D8FA0364-7866-40A7-B340-A6069265AD9F},
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID {064CB07A-9ECD-46FD-8E10-1D3C5FF218CA},
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbar {D8FA0364-7866-40A7-B340-A6069265AD9F},
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchCustomizeSearch=[site address],
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMainSearch Page=[site address], HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchUrl(default)=[site address], HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftSearch AssistantDefaultSearchURL=[site address], HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMainSearch Page=[site address], HKEY_USERS[User]SoftwareISTechnologies, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Redirect.1, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Redirect, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Band.1, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCsearch.Band