Century Link WebHelper Mac

[SCooper]

Hi,

I had malwarebytes on my old mac and updated computers.  I noticed a different browser extension type thing displaying in google when I accidentally press enter too early upon searches like www.website or a mispelling. Without the dot com.  I installed Malware bytes updated free trial pro version on my new MacBook Air (M1, 2020) with Mac)S Big Sur 11.6.  

I read your forums but the most recent post from June, and others, only pertain to Windows. 

I cleared my browsing history, deleted web site settings, etc.

Can you help me remove this from my device/chrome?  Also, how can I avoid this in the future?  

Thanks!

 

http://webhelper.centurylink.com/search/?q=http://www.inteterweave.com/

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by AdvancedSetup
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[alvarnell]

Type into the address bar:

chrome://extensions

Locate the extension you want to remove.

Click Remove.

Click Remove again to confirm you want to remove the extension from Chrome.

[SCooper]

I don't have an extension called Century Link Web Helper.  Could it be in one of these extensions?

[alvarnell]

Possibly. Is there anything there that you don't recall having installed?

But at this point I'd suggest a different approach outlined in the pinned article in this forum, especially the "Nuc Chrome" section

 

 

 

[treed]

This is actually normal. I'm assuming that your internet service provider (ISP) is CenturyLink, and some ISPs will actually capture DNS queries and, in the event the lookup fails, will do a search for the requested server on their own branded search engine and show you the results, rather than sending back an error that your browser would understand to mean the DNS lookup failed and show you a proper message.

This practice has fallen out of favor, but some smaller or behind-the-times ISPs are still doing it.

You can solve this problem by changing your DNS server settings. You could use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 free public DNS server instead of your ISPs DNS server. For more information, see:

https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-1.1.1.1/

[SCooper]

@treed So this isn't malware?  Do you think it would be a huge benefit to update my dns?

[treed]

Nope, it's not malware based on your description. Whether you update your DNS really depends on how bothered you are by this, and how willing you are to have CenturyLink logging all your web browsing. Using Cloudflare has the advantage that you're just a droplet in the ocean, and they have no idea who's on the other end of the wire. CenturyLink, on the other hand, knows exactly who you are, plus what sites you're visiting, and if that data were ever breached in an attack on CenturyLink's servers, it could become public knowledge.