How to stop redirects caused by hijacked Bulk Uploader
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Bulk Uploader?
Bulk Uploader is an add-on created by Webcraftic and Ash Durham. Cyber criminals often hijack this WordPress plugin to generate traffic for malicious websites such as jackielovesdogs[.]com, tomorrowwillbehotmaybe[.]com, activeandbanflip[.]com, beforwardreallygo[.]com, and others.
Website owners who use the Bulk Uploader add-on, or people who visit their websites, are forced to visit these rogue sites when cyber criminals hijack the Bulk Uploader add-on.
Bulk Uploader is not a malicious application, however, cyber criminals misuse it to hijack legitimate websites and force their owners/administrators and visitors to visit addresses of websites that might be malicious (i.e., used to distribute malware, unwanted applications, and so on).
These websites might be used to distribute apps such as adware, browser hijackers, and other software (potentially unwanted applications or 'PUAs'). Browser hijackers are often designed to change browser settings (promote fake search engines) and gather data.
Developers use them to collect information such as users' IP addresses, geolocations, URLs of a visited websites, entered search queries and other, possibly sensitive details. They share these details with other parties who misuse private data to generate revenue.
If installed, adware displays intrusive ads that conceal underlying content of opened web pages and leads to dubious, potentially malicious sites. Additionally, some of these ads might run scripts that download and install unwanted applications.
To avoid problems caused by jackielovesdogs[.]com, tomorrowwillbehotmaybe[.]com, activeandbanflip[.]com, and/or beforwardreallygo[.]com, disable the hijacked Bulk Uploader WordPress add-on. Another way to deal with this problem is to update the Bulk Uploader add-on and Simple 301 Redirects plugin.
Name | Redirects by Bulk Uploader |
Threat Type | Redirects to malicious websites such as jackielovesdogs[.]com, tomorrowwillbehotmaybe[.]com, activeandbanflip[.]com, and beforwardreallygo[.]com |
Detection Names (tomorrowwillbehotmaybe[.]com) | ESET (Malware), Sucuri SiteCheck (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
Serving IP Address (tomorrowwillbehotmaybe[.]com) | 162.241.201.207 |
Symptoms | Website owners/administrators and visitors are redirected by a hijacker from a legitimate web page to one of a number of malicious pages. |
Distribution Methods | Hijacked WordPress plug-ins and/or add-ons. |
Damage | Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional malware infections. |
Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
There are many dubious, potentially malicious websites that are promoted by hijacking various software (like Bulk Uploader) or using some other deceptive ways. Quite often dubious addresses are promoted through potentially unwanted apps (PUAs) such as browser hijackers.
Typically, these apps are advertised as legitimate and useful, however, very often they generate revenue for developers by promoting dubious sites, collecting data and so on. Besides, they put unsuspecting people at risk of various problems with privacy, browsing safety and other issues.
How did adware install on my computer?
Most people install PUAs through intrusive advertisements that they click or when developers use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". This method is used to trick people into downloading and/or installing potentially unwanted applications together with other software.
To achieve this, they include PUAs into setups of other software and hide related information in "Advanced", "Custom, and other similar settings. People often download and install these programs by default when they fail to change settings available in the setups - in this way, they inadvertently allow PUAs to be downloaded and/or installed.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
Avoid downloading software from untrustworthy sources such as third party downloaders, torrent clients, eMule (other Peer-to-Peer networks), or other, similar channels. Use only official (and trustworthy) websites and direct download links. Check "Advanced", "Custom", "Manual", and other similar options or settings of software setups.
Deselect unwanted applications and only then finish the download or installation. Do not trust dubious, intrusive ads, especially when visiting unofficial web pages. These ads open other, potentially malicious pages or even lead to unwanted downloads/installations.
If you encounter intrusive ads that lead to dubious sites or the browser opens them, check for installed unwanted extensions, add-ons, and plug-ins and remove them immediately. The same applies to programs of this type installed on the operating system.
If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.
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Quick menu:
- What is Bulk Uploader?
- STEP 1. Uninstall adware applications using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove rogue plug-ins from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove adware-type extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove malicious extensions from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Adware removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for any potentially unwanted applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application that causes Bulk Uploader redirects, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove adware from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the redirects by bulk uploader, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the redirects by bulk uploader, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with redirects by bulk uploader removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....
In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the redirects by bulk uploader, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.
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