Search.coldorhottoday.com Redirect (Mac)

What is search.coldorhottoday.com?

Cold or Hot Today is a deceptive application that supposedly allows users to check weather forecasts directly from the desktop. This application may seem legitimate, however, Cold or Hot Today causes unwanted browser redirects and records various of data types.

Furthermore, it often infiltrates systems without users’ permission. For these reasons, Cold or Hot Today is classed as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program (PUP).

Following infiltration, Cold or Hot Today hijacks Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome, assigning the new tab URL, homepage, and default search engine options to search.coldorhottoday.com (a fake Internet search engine). Cold or Hot Today reassigns these settings when attempts are made to change them.

Thus, users are unable to return browsers to their previous states and are forced to continually visit search.coldorhottoday.com without their consent.

This diminishes the web browsing experience. In addition, Cold or Hot Today tracks various data relating to browsing activity including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, search queries entered into search engines, websites visited, pages viewed, and other similar data that might be personally identifiable.

Developers of Cold or Hot Today share this data with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who often misuse personal data to generate revenue. This behavior can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. Therefore, you are strongly advised to eliminate Cold or Hot Today from your system immediately.

There are hundreds of browser-hijacking applications such as Cold or Hot Today. By offering a number of 'useful functions', potentially unwanted programs often trick users into believing that they are legitimate. These claims are false, since all browser hijackers are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.

Rather than providing any value for regular users, browser hijackers collect personally identifiable data, cause unwanted browser redirects, and occasionally deliver intrusive online advertisements.

Note that these apps often promote fake search engines that generate results leading to malicious website. Using this website to search might lead to high-risk adware or malware infections.

How did search.coldorhottoday.com install on my computer?

Cold or Hot Today has an official download website, however, it is also promoted using a deceptive software marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of third party applications with regular (mostly free) software.

Therefore, most users install this application inadvertently without their consent, since they do not express enough caution when downloading and installing software. For developers, hiding PUPs within the "Custom/Advanced" settings of these procedures is an effective method. Unsuspecting users often skip this section, resulting in inadvertent installation of rogue applications.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Potentially unwanted programs are often distributed using the bundling method. Therefore, never rush the download or installation processes. Analyze each step within the "Custom/Advanced" settings and cancel all additional apps. The key to computer safety is caution.

Screenshot of Cold or Hot Today application:

Deceptive application installer promoting search.coldorhottoday.com browser hijacker:

Website promoting search.coldorhottoday.com:

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Quick menu:

• What is search.coldorhottoday.com?
• STEP 1. Remove search.coldorhottoday.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove search.coldorhottoday.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove Cold or Hot Today browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.coldorhottoday.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

search.coldorhottoday.com redirect removal:

Remove search.coldorhottoday.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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