MTA On Line Self Help Page
What is a HiJacker?
A program that takes over your Browser, email or even your computer.
A Hijacker is (by design) is very easy to detect but extremely difficult to remove.
Browser hijackers are malicious programs that basically take over your Internet Connection. They change your default home page and some Hijackers such as CWS, also produce pop-up ads for pornography, add dozens of bookmarks (some extremely hard-core pornography websites) to Internet Explorer's Favorites folder, and can redirect users to porn websites when they mistype URLs.
The author of this article has dealt with two specific HiJackers in the past - www.gohip.com and www.xupiter.com
Gohip's browser hijacker was one of the first encountered here at the Help Desk. Tale Tail signs a user was the victim of GoHip HiJack were their home page always went to GoHip's search site and ALL outgoing emails from the user advertised GoHip at the bottom.
Xupiter's browser hijacker is an Internet Explorer toolbar and once active in a PC, periodically changed users designated homepages to xupiter.com or redirected all searches to Xupiter's site. It also blocks any attempts to restore the original browser settings and even went so far as to block downloads of any programs designed to remove Xupiters program. The program also downloaded updates each time the PC connected to the internet and downloaded other programs such as gambling games or popup windows. Xupiter has also been blamed for causing system crashes.
The best way to avoid HiJackers is to have a good Firewall Program and use the same precautions as AdAware...
Nothing is free. Nobody is out there writing great programs to just give away. There's always some cost involved whether it be money or information.
The best way to avoid HiJakcers is to be careful about what you download and install on your computer.
The Team