Knowledgebase

What is a Chrome virus?

Chrome virus is a collective name for various potentially unwanted programs that mainly target classic Google Chrome browsers. They will deliver constant intrusive pop-up ads and fake alerts and redirect users to different suspicious sites. And they do so by hijacking your browser, making it sometimes practically unusable. Not only the malicious programs interfere with the work of the browser, but viruses affect the productivity of the computer on the whole.

Can chrome extensions have viruses?

Users can catch some of them when they download free software. It’s not solely particular to Chrome virus, but generally, most potentially unwanted programs travel in bundles with the freeware. That’s one of the most common ways. Other ones include file-sharing websites or networks. Cyber security experts say that the malicious methods of Chrome virus reminds of those like the Bing redirect virus, Yahoo redirect virus, Firefox redirect virus and similar.

In a case with a browser, the obvious freeware that can bring you this trouble may be a free browser extension. In 2020 media reported about Cisco security researchers who found nearly 500 rogue Google extensions at Chrome’s extension marketplace that had contained malicious code. And it can be several affected users considering that in October 2018, Google Chrome was the most popular web browser worldwide, with 61% of users. The second most popular, according to the same data, was Apple’s Safari had 15% of users.

Threat actors use such kinds of viruses for various purposes, including collecting personal information, social engineering attacks, tech-support scams, and trojans` installation. Although this set of viruses infects the Google Chrome browser, there exist its counterparts that target other popular browsers like Safari, Firefox, and Edge. Typical signs of this merry bunch of viruses` playing may be the next:

  • Sometimes, when you visit a particular website, suspicious Chrome update notifications will pop up;
  • Browser without your intent redirects you to domains containing adult content or gaming web pages;
  • You also started to receive a towering amount of different pop-up alerts;
  • In addition you noticed a somewhat changed Chrome search engine logo.
  • Although we recommend that you first scan your computer with a proper software solution, you can do it yourself, especially if you are pretty sure that the recently installed extension causes trouble. But if you are not that tech-savvy or unsure of the exact cause of the problem, run different types of scans to help. Though you can jump right into the guide on how to get rid of the virus, get yourself familiar with the most popular ways threat actors use to get what they want from you.

    The most popular variants of Chrome virus

    One such thing to infect your computer or collect the needed information is to create legitimate-looking things that, at first sight, allude to some user`s trust. We talk here about the Google Chrome “official” notifications. In most cases, that’s what catches the victims. If you know what to expect from the possible breach of your computer’s security, you can successfully avoid more serious consequences. So if you suspect malicious work going on your computer, you may receive the next threat actors “breadcrumbs”:

  • Google Chrome Fatal Error! A tech support scan displays an ad that notifies users of a browser’s alleged crash and who to contact with the help. Don’t dial any number provided there and delete the adware that is related to it;
  • Your Browser(Chrome 65) Is Missing A Privacy Extension. Fraudulent security alert that tries to convince users to install additional security extensions as currently, your browser is missing some. It would be enough to say that the Google Chrome browser has security measures like phishing protection, automatic updates, and security warnings. Being quite self-sufficient in this aspect, it won’t need any extra add-ons;
  • Chrome Security Warning. Another tech-supported scam mimics Google Chrome’s legitimate warning, “The site ahead contains harmful programs”. It tells the user that access to the computer will be disabled, and to prevent this call in five minutes, the provided “Microsoft support” number. For you to know, Microsoft would never prevent user access to their machine. Close the browser and look for the malicious program which displayed this fake notification;
  • You Are Using An Older Version Of Chrome. Another fake alert tries to convince users to install the needed update of the browser. But instead, in most cases, they will receive Browser Updater PUP or NetSupport Manager RAT;
  • Google Chrome Critical Error. Fake alert that looks like Google`s “You are about to visit a dangerous site”. It warns about trojan infection and possible threats to personal information. Of course, the alert provides the victim with a fake tech support number. This way, users can be tricked into buying useless software, giving remote access to threat actors, or providing personal details.
  • We only provided the most common variants of scam alerts, but they can go in various forms and have similar trap mechanisms. Below you can find advice on how to get rid of the Chrome virus easily and uncomplicatedly. But we repeat it one more time. It would be better to double-check everything with dedicated software.

    How to get rid of virus on google chrome?

    Even if you don’t have proper software you can check the computer on the presence of any malware in Chrome browser. You must confirm the action by clicking Remove if it finds any harmful software. The browser will delete the malicious software and change some settings to default. After that, you may be asked to reboot your computer. To do the procedure, go to the browser, find Settings, select Advanced, Reset, clean up, and then Clean up the computer. Select Find.

    You can prevent sites from showing you intrusive and deceptive ads by changing the specific settings dedicated to that. Go to Chrome browser, and find Settings. Select Privacy and security and then Site Settings. Select Additional content settings and then Ads. Set your preferred settings.

    To get rid of the problem, you can also try resetting the browser’s settings. Go to the Chrome browser. Find Settings and then Advanced. Select Reset and Cleanup and then Reset settings to their original defaults and then Reset settings. After doing this, you need to turn on the desired extensions. But enable only those that you know are safe. You can manage the setting by selecting More Tools and then Extensions in the top right corner.

    And one more thing, a clean file can get into quarantine after you do removal with the Chrome browser. But don’t worry, you can restore it. Find on your computer such folder %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome Cleanup Tool\Quarantine. You can open it and select “Continue”. Right-click the wanted file and select Extract all. Enter the password chrome_cleanup.

    Andrew Nail

    Cybersecurity journalist from Montreal, Canada. Studied communication sciences at Universite de Montreal. I was not sure if a journalist job is what I want to do in my life, but in conjunction with technical sciences, it is exactly what I like to do. My job is to catch the most current trends in the cybersecurity world and help people to deal with malware they have on their PCs.

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