I’m about ready to head to the BBQ Pit after having my browser hijacked today by Sitefinder/Verisign. It isn’t enough to have to fight third-party spyware every day of the week, and now, the domain name manager is victimizing us!! It might be a long, long time before this issue makes it through the courts and there is no software to remove from your system for this one. However, you can block the sitefinder engine from popping up.
Seems like folks are also bugging their isps to block the redirection also. Some are doing it. Telemarketers, spammers, spyware - what next?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1274644,00.asp
Verisign’s controversial new SiteFinder service replaces “Cannot find server or DNS error” for missing domain names with results that may point to Verisign partners and now it has spawned a lawsuit by a competitor who alleges that the results could give Verisign and its partners an unfair advantage.
So while the litigation gets going is there no way for you to return your system to its former self. Will every “domain not found” now result in a SiteFinder page? Maybe not. PC Magazine editors sat down this morning and hashed out an interim “fix”. All that’s required is a few simple adjustments to your system.
Start by locating the file named HOSTS (no extension). In Windows 98 and ME, it should be found in the Windows folder. In Windows 2000 and XP, you’ll find it in C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC. Open the file using Notepad – if it doesn’t exist, create it. Add this line to the file:
127.0.0.1 sitefinder.verisign.com
That blocks the loading of the sitefinder page, but it’s still possible for the site to place a cookie on your system. Launch the Internet Options dialog from Control Panel or from Internet Explorer’s Tools menu and click the Security tab. Click the Restricted Sites icon and click the Sites button. Add http://sitefinder.verisign.com and http://sitefinder-idn.verisign.com to the list and click OK. Make sure that the security level is set to High. If you’re using IE6, click the Privacy tab, click the Edit button, and add those same two URLs to the Block list; you can also block them using a third-party cookie manager.
With these changes, your browser should behave as it did before the Verisign redirection. Depending on your configuration, a non-existent URL will either get an error message or an offer to perform a search. Note that this search offer is local to your system; it is not equivalent to the Verisign redirection.