Watch Out for the Search-Zone Rogue Browser Extension

Search-Zone is a rogue extension for Chrome. Rogue extensions are commonly browser hijackers and together with those are classified as potentially unwanted software.

Browser hijackers usually make changes to your browser's settings, including home page, new tab content and default search engine. In the case of Search-Zone, the extension will swap your default search engine for searchzone.xyz - a fake search engine that cannot produce its own results. In this specific case, Search-Zone will simply produce Google search result pages, which renders the extension completely useless and parasitic in nature.

Your search queries don't need to be bounced through a fake search engine to get the same results, as you are just adding a middle man and your queries might be recorded and stored by the fake search engine.

The Search-Zone extension is not listed on the official Chrome web store. As with every other browser hijacking extension that modifies your search settings, you should remove Search-Zone from your Chrome if you find it in the list of the installed extensions.