Is Weknow.ac really a virus?
Browser hijackers are some of the most commonly encountered and also some of the most annoying and irritating types of undesirable software and the reason why they are seen as unwanted by both software security researchers and normal users stems from the fact that they can invade any browser on mac and make changes to it without being given a direct permission to do so by the computer’s administrator. Weknow.ac in particular only infects mac users, that means that it doesn’t matter if you use Chrome, Safari, Firefox or another browser and it doesn’t matter if you haven’t agreed to the changes that a hijacker might try to imposed on it. If you have such an app on your Mac, then prepare for modifications to your search engine, to the homepage, to the toolbar as well as frequent page redirects and ads generation activities occurring on your screen whenever you are trying to surf the Internet. All of this, of course, should come as no surprise to anyone who has any idea what the main purpose of hijacker software components is. In one word Weknow.ac is a rouge search engine.
There is pretty much one primary reason why some software developers create such search engines and that reason isn’t to help the users have a safer or more optimized web experience (although some hijackers might get promoted that way). No, the real reason behind the creation of most such search engines has to do with the online advertising industry. Millions of dollars are earned by from web ads on a daily basis and, understandably, everybody wants a piece of the cake. This is why pretty much every site you go to has some sort of ad-generation code embedded within most of its pages and why it’s nearly impossible to go on the Internet without getting subjected to some kind of web-advertising activity.
However, when it comes to hijackers, the advertising is taken a step further as the ads start coming directly from your browser and not from some site that you might be visiting at the moment. That is why it is essential to find and remove the ad-generating element from your system if you want to make the different page-redirects, pop-ups and banners go away and also if you want to be able to restore your browser back to normal. The next guide will help you remove the recently released WeKnow.ac:
There is a reason why WeKnow.ac is the main focus of the current write-up – this particular hijacker app seems to be everywhere nowadays and there are thousands of users struggling with its ads. One problem with hijackers like this one is that they aren’t all that easy to remove and some special steps are typically required in order to uninstall an app like WeKnow.ac. The good news is that, as you can see, all of those steps have been listed in our removal guide from this page. Also, if any of you face difficulties with completing the manual instructions, you can always request our assistance from within the comments’ section or maybe use the professional removal tool that’s been put on this page.
How danerous is WeKnow.ac?
Now, WeKnow.ac isn’t anything like a Ransomware infection or a Trojan Horse virus – it is a mere advertising tool and though it might be intrusive and irritating, it shouldn’t be regarded as some highly-dangerous threat. Still, you must be cautious around it – the ads and the page redirects are something that we’d advise you to keep away from as there’s always the chance that some of them might not be what they seem. It is perfectly possible that some sneaky and misleading ads finds its way inside the stream of regular adverts displayed by WeKnow.ac and then land you on some shady Trojan or Ransomware-infested site if you click on it.
You must take precautions!
It is, of course, much easier and preferable if you simply never allow a hijacker to come to your Mac. The way you could achieve that is by not visiting shady sites and obscure download platforms that might be used for distribution of software like WeKnow.ac. Spam messages and sketchy web offers are also potential distribution methods for browser hijackers. In addition, some hijackers are also put inside installation bundles where their presence is only vaguely disclosed (if disclosed at all). That’s why, you must always remember to check all settings, options and terms of use when about to launch the installation of some new program. Always look for added software and uncheck anything that looks like some kind of unwanted hijacker or something similar. You can use this free manual removal guide to eliminate all traces of WeKnow.ac
