How to Erase Secure Chrome PRO (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is Secure Chrome PRO? And how does it function?

Secure Chrome PRO is also known as Defend Search since it changes the default search provider of a browser to “http://defendsearch.com/?q=”. It is a browser extension created for Google Chrome browser but it also works on other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, to name a few. Secure Chrome PRO is promoted as a program that supposedly protects users’ computers from online threats in just one click. However, it turns out to be a browser hijacker and a PUP.
This browser hijacker alters the default settings of the browser. As a result, you will see a new homepage, search engine, and new tab page when you open your browser. This is not the only change that you’ll see as you will also take notice of numerous advertisements as you browse the internet. Some of them can get quite annoying as they pop up out of nowhere and can disrupt your browsing while others can redirect you to suspicious websites that may contain harmful content. This is why you can’t trust Secure Chrome PRO no matter how legitimate it may look like. In fact it is also found to be monitoring its users’ browsing in order to collect browsing data. The harvested data may be used to generate more ads and could be shared with third parties which pose a risk to your privacy. So before it’s too late, you have to erase Secure Chrome PRO from your browser and computer as soon as possible.
How is Secure Chrome PRO disseminated online?
Secure Chrome PRO is disseminated in the Chrome Web Store and is also found on free sharing sites distributed among software bundles. This means that this browser hijacker is added as one of the extra programs in freeware and shareware. To avoid installing such unwanted program, you must select the Custom or Advanced setup when installing any freeware or shareware packages instead of the quick installation setup.
Erase delete Secure Chrome PRO from your browser and computer by following the instructions provided below.
Step 1: The first thing you have to do is to close the browser infected with Secure Chrome PRO. And if you can’t close it manually, you can close it using the Task Manager instead. Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys and open the Task Manager.
Step 2: Next, look for the process of your browser, right click on it and select End task or End process to close it.
Step 3: Afterwards, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and press Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step 4: From the list of programs installed, look for any programs that could be related to Secure Chrome PRO or any suspicious program you don’t remember installing under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.

Step 5: Edit your Hosts File.

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the hosts file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries that contain Secure Chrome PRO.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Now you have to flush the DNS cache of your computer. To do so, right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step 7: After that, restart your computer and then open your browsers and reset them back to their default state.
Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
After that, click on Settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
Now restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
Then click Internet Options.
After that, go to the Advanced tab.
From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
Now click OK to save the changes made.
Restart your computer.

Step 8: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 9: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to the browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 10: Close the File Explorer and empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
Make sure that you use the follow-up guide given below to completely erase any trace of Secure Chrome PRO from your system.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.
1. To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
2. Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
3. Press and hold both R key and Windows key.
1. If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
2. Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
3. After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
4. Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.
1. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now” button.