Deceiving domain - Iiiu.xyz

Iiiu.xyz browser hijacker is usually found by users after they download and install freeware or shareware applications from third-party sites, as a software bundling technique is used to distribute the unwanted program. This way, users may find their web browser settings changed without any warning or permission - some users may not notice the change due to visual similarities to any other legitimate search engine.

Iiiu.xyz was released by QxSearch Inc., a Chicago-based marketing company, which is known for the development and distribution of many similarly-looking browser hijackers. The goal of such applications is to monetize ad revenue while exposing users to sponsored links and commercial content during their web browsing sessions.

The benefits of Iiiu.xyz are highly questionable, and the PUP remains on many users' systems only because they do not recognize that their browsers were hijacked because of a lack of IT knowledge. Nevertheless, the destination websites that users intend to visit often are replaced with those of the hijackers' partners, and not always may be adequate or even safe.

Name	Iiiu.xyz
Type	Browser hijacker
Browser modifications	As soon as the potentially unwanted program is installed, the startup page, new tab and the search engine of the installed browsers are changed to hxxps://iiiu.xyz/; search results are filled with sponsored links
Purpose	Browser changes are initiated so that users would be directed to sponsored websites, generating revenue for the PUP developer

Iiiu.xyz violations

2CR-015: ESET marks Iiiu.xyz as a website that contains phishing links/redirects, as shown in Virus Total analysis