Toptonews.net

Toptonews.net is a unique Russian-made browser hijacker that can obstruct your browsing experience by redirecting you to its URL constantly. Unlike most hijackers that hijack the homepage and/or new tab page, this particular hijacker hijacks the browser in a different way that we will discuss in this article. From the outset, we recommend that you remove it from your PC because its only objective is to subject you to promoted websites on unverified legitimacy. Indeed, this hijacker can jeopardize your PC’s security by redirecting you to malicious websites, so we do not recommend that you allow it to remain on it.

We have received unconfirmed information that Toptonews.net is bundled with malicious software installers that inject it into your computer without your knowledge or approval. We do not know where you can encounter such installer, but we would not be surprised if they were featured on small-time free software hosting websites or sites dedicated to hosting the download of one particular shady application. The point is that the malicious bundled installers are set to install Toptonews.net automatically, and we have heard that they do not provide you with the ability to deselect its installation. This method of distribution is nothing short of malicious, so you should avoid getting software from unreliable websites.

Toptonews.net does not hijack the homepage or new tab page. Our research has revealed that the hijacking occurs when the malicious installers inject a command to create a new scheduled task in Task Scheduler. As a result, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome will redirect you to Toptonews.net every hour. Thus, it will intrude when you expect it the least and obstruct your browsing experience. Toptonews.net features a search box that redirects all entered search queries to Google.ua. The search results can feature promotional links that can redirect you to rather shady websites. However, our biggest concern is with the promoted links featured on Toptonews.net’s main page. They promote Russian language news articles that might feature links to other websites of unknown origin. Therefore, we do not recommend that you use its search engine.

Furthermore, this hijacker might collect some information about you to present you with customized promotional links. According to the information, we have received, this hijacker can use web beacons and browser cookies to obtain non-personally identifiable information. This information can include but in not limited to your search queries, browsing history, and IP address. Since this website is malicious you should not use its search engine for reasons regarding personal privacy.

While Toptonews.net in a unique browser hijacker, you can still remove it relatively easily. We have composed a guide that will help you reset your browser’s settings to default and delete the task that is set to redirect you to this hijacker’s URL. Again, this hijacker is a potential security threat because you cannot be user whether its promoted content is safe to interact with.

Browser reset guide

Google Chrome

1. Open your browser and press Alt+F.
2. Open Settings and select Show advanced settings.
3. Click Reset settings.
4. Reset.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open your browser and press Alt+H.
2. Click Troubleshooting Information.
3. Select Refresh Firefox.
4. In the input window, click Refresh Firefox again.
5. Click Finish.

Delete the malicious scheduled task

1. Press Windows+E keys.
2. Enter C:\Windows\System32\Tasks in the address box and hit Enter.
3. Identify the malicious task, right-click it and click Delete.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.