Logging in and out of multiple email service provider websites can be cumbersome. That’s why browser extensions like Your Email Simplified are appealing to internet users. With this browser extension, there’s no need to repeatedly log in to access your emails, offering a convenient solution.
The Your Email Simplified browser extension lets users access their emails using the extension itself, making the process a lot simpler, more efficient, and less time-consuming. For example, you no longer need to visit Gmail or Yahoo just to check your inbox. You can do that using the Your Email Simplified extension.
Unfortunately, there’s a catch to using Your Email Simplified. A lot of security experts and anti-malware software have flagged this extension. It might seem like a useful add-on for managing your email, but it is actually serving another purpose — a malicious purpose, in the background.
Mac and Windows users who have installed this browser add-on reported encountering aggressive ads, annoying pop-ups, unreliable search results, website redirects, and other weird phenomena when browsing the internet. Aside from the frustrations caused by this browser extension, users also have to deal with other risks brought by PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).
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This article will discuss in detail what the Your Email Simplified extension is, how it gets into your computer, what type of malware it is, what its effects are, and how to completely remove it from your system.
What is Your Email Simplified?
Your Email Simplified is a browser extension available for Chrome and Firefox browsers. However, when you check the Chrome and Firefox web store and search for it, you won’t be able to find any Your Email Simplified browser in the search results. This means that the browser extension was installed from a third-party source.
The Your Email Simplified extension may seem like a useful piece of software, but it is, however, categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP), as well as a browser hijacker. This is because, in most cases, the add-on gets installed without the user’s permission. Your Email Simplified also promotes the use of a fake search engine and it tracks the user’s browsing activity. Your Email Simplified is also usually bundled with another browser hijacker called Hide My Searches.
The developers of the Your Email Simplified malware are known for other identical PUAs designed to generate revenue for their advertisers. These PUAs include Universal Converter, Transit Schedules, Track Your Transit Info, and others.
What Does Your Email Simplified Do?
When the Your Email Simplified extension gets installed on your browser, you should see a new toolbar installed below the address bar. This toolbar makes it easier for the malware to take control of your browsing activity and to modify your browser settings.
The very first action that this malicious software does is to make changes to your browser. Here are some of the changes you should notice immediately:
- The default browser is changed to https://hyouremailsimplified.com or search.hyouremailsimplified.com, which are both fake search engines. These search engines get their search results from the Yahoo search engine.
- The homepage and new tab page are set to a different URL as well, mostly affiliates by the Your Email Simplified
- You see a lot of deceptive ads and advertising buttons appear on your browser.
- You get redirected to dubious websites or those that display unwanted ads.
This little extension might seem harmless, but don’t underestimate the risks it can bring to the affected computer. Once the unwanted app gets installed on your browser, it immediately carries out the changes to your web browser. The new tabURL, the homepage, and the default search engine is set to search.hyouremailsimplified.com, and you won’t be able to revert them using normal processes.
Even if you want to restore the browsers to their original settings, the changes keep coming back and users are forced to use the search.hyouremailsimplified.com for their search queries. The problem with this is that search.hyouremailsimplified.com is a useless search engine because it just redirects you to the Yahoo search results.
Aside from limiting the user’s browsing experience, this also gives the malware the opportunity to track the user’s search and browsing history. Browser-hijacking apps, such as Your Email Simplified, usually collect IP addresses, search queries, websites visited, pages viewed, and other data relating to the user’s browsing activity. This information is then sent to third parties, like advertisers and cybercriminals, whose goal is to generate revenue by gathering private information. In turn, data tracking by Your Email Simplified can lead to serious privacy concerns or even identity theft.
How Did the Your Email Simplified Browser Extension Get Into my Computer?
The Your Email Simplified browser extension is no longer available on Firefox and Chrome’s web store, even if you search for it there. There is also no official website or download site where you can download the extension from. This means that the extension was installed either by bundling or by clicking an intrusive website. Bundling means the stealth installation of third-party apps packaged with a legitimate software. Users who are in a rush during the installation or those who don’t care to read the fine print are the usual victims of bundling.
Intrusive advertisements, on the other hand, redirects users to websites where the malware is hosted. The website could either display aggressive ads for the user to click or it could automatically run a script that downloads the malicious app into the user’s computer. No matter what the installation method is, the important thing is to find out the best way to remove this malware from your device.
How to Uninstall Your Email Simplified
Getting rid of this malware can be tricky. For one, the malware is so persistent that no matter how many times you change the default settings of your browser, the homepage, search engine, and new tab page will still change back to search.hyouremailsimplified.com. Frustrating, right? You need to remove all components to make sure that the malware is completely gone and that it will no longer come back.
So how do you remove the Your Email Simplified browser extension? The best way is to follow our malware removal guide below (insert malware template) to ensure that it is gone completely from your browser and your entire system. If you encounter any difficulties executing any of the methods outlined in the guide, here are some troubleshooting tips to help you out:
- Boot into Safe Mode. Click Windows > Power icon > Shut Down to turn off your computer. Hold down the Shift button, then click Restart. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Start-up Settings > Restart. Press 5 to boot into Safe Mode with networking. Booting into Safe Mode should make it easier for you to uninstall unwanted apps and delete problematic files.
- Clean up all infected files by using a PC cleaning app to ensure that the system is completely clean. Don’t forget to empty your Recycle Bin.
- Run a sweep of your system using a robust anti-malware software. This will reveal if there are any other malware on your computer that is preventing your troubleshooting efforts from pushing through. Delete any detected malware using the anti-malware app and restart your computer.
You should now be able to perform our malware removal guide without a hitch. Once your computer is free of the Your Email Simplified, make sure to practice safe internet habits to ensure that your computer won’t get reinfected by this malicious extension, or any other malware for that matter.