What is SportsSearchHD?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that SportsSearchHD is a search hijacker. These so-called "hijackers" manipulate your browser(s), for example to change your startpage or searchscopes, so that the affected browser visits their site or one of their choice.
This particular one changes your default search engine and adds Search Recommendations.
How do I know if my computer is affected by SportsSearchHD?
You may see this entry in your list of installed Chrome extensions:
and this changed setting:
You may have noticed these warnings during install:
How did SportsSearchHD get on my computer?
Browser hijackers use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was downloaded from the webstore:
after a redirect from their website:
How do I remove SportsSearchHD?
Our program Malwarebytes can detect and remove this search hijacker.
- Please download Malwarebytes for Windows to your desktop.
- Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
- When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
- Click on the Get started button.
- Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
- When the scan is finished click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
- Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.
- No, Malwarebytes removes SportsSearchHD completely.
We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this hijacker.
As you can see below Malwarebytes Browser Guard, and the full version of Malwarebytes would have protected you against the SportsSearchHD hijacker. It would have blocked their website, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.
Technical details for experts
Possible signs in FRST logs:
CHR DefaultSearchURL: Default -> hxxps://feed.sportssearchhd.com/?q={searchTerms}&publisher=sportssearchhd&barcodeid=584150000000000 CHR DefaultSearchKeyword: Default -> SportsSearchHD CHR DefaultSuggestURL: Default -> hxxps://api.sportssearchhd.com/suggest/get?q={searchTerms} CHR Extension: (SportsSearchHD) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg [2021-02-03]Alterations made by the installer:
File system details [View: All details] (Selection) --------------------------------------------------- Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\1.1.0_0 Adds the file manifest.json"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 2108 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\1.1.0_0\_metadata Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 6255 bytes, A Adds the file verified_contents.json"="10/6/2020 10:05 AM, 2049 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\1.1.0_0\images Adds the file logo-white-text.png"="10/6/2020 10:05 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\1.1.0_0\images\icons Adds the file 128x128.png"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 3676 bytes, A Adds the file 16x16.png"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 582 bytes, A Adds the file 64x64.png"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 2061 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\1.1.0_0\scripts Adds the file background.js"="10/6/2020 10:05 AM, 514511 bytes, A Adds the file sitecontent.js"="10/6/2020 10:05 AM, 77 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg Adds the file 000003.log"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the file CURRENT"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 16 bytes, A Adds the file LOCK"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the file LOG"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the file MANIFEST-000001"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 41 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web Applications\_crx_jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg Adds the file SportsSearchHD.ico"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 172542 bytes, A Adds the file SportsSearchHD.ico.md5"="2/3/2021 8:50 AM, 16 bytes, A Registry details [View: All details] (Selection) ------------------------------------------------ [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings] "jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg"="REG_SZ", "7C9E7E953A0C6AB6F7F20F5A7EA0967408F6889E4FFEF9DD071C45E5252714DC"Malwarebytes log:
Malwarebytes www.malwarebytes.com -Log Details- Scan Date: 2/3/21 Scan Time: 8:57 AM Log File: 7eaf0c1e-65f5-11eb-9b42-080027235d76.json -Software Information- Version: 4.3.0.98 Components Version: 1.0.1157 Update Package Version: 1.0.36651 License: Premium -System Information- OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x64 File System: NTFS User: {username}-PC\{username} -Scan Summary- Scan Type: Threat Scan Scan Initiated By: Manual Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 233067 Threats Detected: 11 Threats Quarantined: 11 Time Elapsed: 3 min, 19 sec -Scan Options- Memory: Enabled Startup: Enabled Filesystem: Enabled Archives: Enabled Rootkits: Disabled Heuristics: Enabled PUP: Detect PUM: Detect -Scan Details- Process: 0 (No malicious items detected) Module: 0 (No malicious items detected) Registry Key: 0 (No malicious items detected) Registry Value: 1 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, HKCU\SOFTWARE\GOOGLE\CHROME\PREFERENCEMACS\Default\extensions.settings|jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , , Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected) Data Stream: 0 (No malicious items detected) Folder: 2 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , , Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\JMDKPFOGCJBOLGOFPLIKHINPEMNBCDMG, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, 1.0.36651, , ame, , , File: 8 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 15230, 799722, , , , , 94D0F1BB352A5EF46B8F1F9120932D7A, 3E1ED2B64A3B482B00E779BDF06A34D43ACC8DBD26DDD1325B3EBEA5AA1752D5 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 15230, 799722, , , , , 60BFDDF912A1F455953536D985A4DF03, 1044A6C91C11CB96CC7BFA88C30298E224CA3B134F091DA81C4F4CE9A534AB18 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\000003.log, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , 1C6D94973B6230D83FDF4EEAC7302B71, 745AA0C4F3AFF6C29A253F782DA0BD19ED3EF5ECCB347C1FEFBEE50DFE8D455C Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\CURRENT, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , 46295CAC801E5D4857D09837238A6394, 0F1BAD70C7BD1E0A69562853EC529355462FCD0423263A3D39D6D0D70B780443 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\LOCK, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , , Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\LOG, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , F2ED61624D44E1918DACB42E59EB7692, 3F34BD3E46F831D47A5855A36D779FBA8F75F1590CB573BF6DC940A2492BB60B Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\jmdkpfogcjbolgofplikhinpemnbcdmg\MANIFEST-000001, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, , , , , 5AF87DFD673BA2115E2FCF5CFDB727AB, F9D31B278E215EB0D0E9CD709EDFA037E828F36214AB7906F612160FEAD4B2B4 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\JMDKPFOGCJBOLGOFPLIKHINPEMNBCDMG\1.1.0_0\MANIFEST.JSON, Quarantined, 15230, 799722, 1.0.36651, , ame, , 2D738124F9DBF72E9CBB49F9BB6594FF, 1DA47D6BE5FE5C50EE947F0BFD0164D166A3C5D34F5697B194992296E376B488 Physical Sector: 0 (No malicious items detected) WMI: 0 (No malicious items detected) (end)As mentioned before the full version of Malwarebytes could have protected your computer against this threat.
We use different ways of protecting your computer(s):
- Dynamically Blocks Malware Sites & Servers
- Malware Execution Prevention