search.protectedio.com is an address corresponding to a website placed by a Browser Hijacker.
search.protectedio.com will change without your permission several parameteres of your browser, including the homepage, 404 error page, and the default search engine. With these modifications they will force you to use different websites from the ones you had previously configured.
Even though they include a “Secure Search” text on their homepage, this is not to be trusted, their searches are not secure at all. In fact they can manipulate the searches and include their own results in the firsts positions so you end up visiting malicious websites. It’s then not in your best interest to ever use this search engine.
Several software and download platforms like download.com get a commission every time search.protectedio.com is successfully installed into a user’s browser. This explains the fact that its installation is made so quietly.
search.protectedio.com is installed with an adware that can be present either as a web browser extension or as a Windows process, so they can easily make sure their program stays installed as long as possible, while also making it really complicated to even try to uninstall it manually. To achieve a successful removal, you must follow the steps in the following free guide:
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