What is MovieSearches?
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that MovieSearches 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.
How do I know if my computer is affected by MovieSearches?
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 MovieSearches 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 MovieSearches?
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 MovieSearches 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 MovieSearches 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.movie-searches.com/?q={searchTerms}&publisher=moviesearches&barcodeid=577120000000000 CHR DefaultSearchKeyword: Default -> MovieSearches CHR DefaultSuggestURL: Default -> hxxps://api.movie-searches.com/suggest/get?q={searchTerms} CHR Extension: (MovieSearches) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl [2020-09-18]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\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\1.1.0_0 Adds the file manifest.json"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 2102 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\1.1.0_0\_metadata Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 6255 bytes, A Adds the file verified_contents.json"="7/14/2020 1:52 PM, 2049 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\1.1.0_0\images Adds the file logo-white-text.png"="7/14/2020 1:52 PM, 0 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\1.1.0_0\images\icons Adds the file 128x128.png"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 9419 bytes, A Adds the file 16x16.png"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 646 bytes, A Adds the file 64x64.png"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 3872 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\1.1.0_0\scripts Adds the file background.js"="7/14/2020 1:52 PM, 514595 bytes, A Adds the file sitecontent.js"="7/14/2020 1:52 PM, 77 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl Adds the file 000003.log"="9/18/2020 9:03 AM, 488 bytes, A Adds the file CURRENT"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 16 bytes, A Adds the file LOCK"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 0 bytes, A Adds the file LOG"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 183 bytes, A Adds the file MANIFEST-000001"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 41 bytes, A Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Web Applications\_crx_cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl Adds the file MovieSearches.ico"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 191491 bytes, A Adds the file MovieSearches.ico.md5"="9/18/2020 9:00 AM, 16 bytes, A Registry details [View: All details] (Selection) ------------------------------------------------ [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings] "cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl"="REG_SZ", "FC9BDC613FFF80C6A659F68CC159C5D999BA1E5DC2D2B9B67066E70190AA25C0"Malwarebytes log:
Malwarebytes www.malwarebytes.com -Log Details- Scan Date: 9/18/20 Scan Time: 9:10 AM Log File: 17964486-f97e-11ea-8c7c-00ffdcc6fdfc.json -Software Information- Version: 4.2.0.82 Components Version: 1.0.1036 Update Package Version: 1.0.30017 License: Premium -System Information- OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x64 File System: NTFS User: {computername}\{username} -Scan Summary- Scan Type: Threat Scan Scan Initiated By: Manual Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 231541 Threats Detected: 11 Threats Quarantined: 11 Time Elapsed: 5 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|cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl, Quarantined, 15332, 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\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , , Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\CGGCBGMIBDHIEGCCPHBDLBGHFMAHEMKL, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, 1.0.30017, , ame, , , File: 8 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 15332, 799722, , , , , A3170733D2C48C0044B2956545F3BF98, B8C3CD1FBD0264D03A272EF611A085C7016D6592BFB7658FC1D89BCB7ADA8B39 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 15332, 799722, , , , , BCD96D234E300FFE0DB28AB15D759DE7, F72219E15A5492BFA7CB8EB389BF1EB46560B88C5E98ACC8DAD203AE793CE700 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\000003.log, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , 46E9A978EA7952BC1992376D0F8011CA, C316563C9C98AB08BD9599EEE041B7BD9BD083111105010EA9CD566096D1744E Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\CURRENT, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , 46295CAC801E5D4857D09837238A6394, 0F1BAD70C7BD1E0A69562853EC529355462FCD0423263A3D39D6D0D70B780443 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\LOCK, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , , Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\LOG, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , 5EE6670E4FFDB45F567E862219207685, 356543BE2DD8567C6DB32D3DD8CD86CBD9EC11FA798CD8D85A114201FC536E16 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Sync Extension Settings\cggcbgmibdhiegccphbdlbghfmahemkl\MANIFEST-000001, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, , , , , 5AF87DFD673BA2115E2FCF5CFDB727AB, F9D31B278E215EB0D0E9CD709EDFA037E828F36214AB7906F612160FEAD4B2B4 Adware.SearchEngineHijack.Generic, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\CGGCBGMIBDHIEGCCPHBDLBGHFMAHEMKL\1.1.0_0\MANIFEST.JSON, Quarantined, 15332, 799722, 1.0.30017, , ame, , 1CF8F6A26687D72197D16A2034C29D41, B41575CADACACFD8D58DADF95FA3AA5D014D83015EEDC4FB6B9537C1D0A44FDF 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