Hijackware

What Does Hijackware Mean?

Hijackware is a type of malicious software that infects an Internet browser in order to display advertising and/or redirect the user to malicious or spammy websites. Hijackware takes control of a browser’s settings to redirect the user to websites that are written by default into the hijackware’s code.

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Hijackware is also known as browser hijacking.

Techopedia Explains Hijackware

Hijackware is a type of malware that only affects the Internet browser and its settings. This malware typically changes a user’s preferred browser configurations, which may include changing the user’s default homepage, adding a different default search engine, modifying bookmarks to add a malicious or undesired website and inserting browser tool bars. In most scenarios, hijackware comes as a bundled application that’s hidden within a freeware browser application or add-on. Once the user installs the primary application, the hijackware is activated along with it.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…