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Hao123 is an online listings portal by Baidu. By using browser hijacking virus, as of July 2014, it becoms the 14th most popular website in the world, and the 5th in China. It has a Portuguese and a Thai version.
Hao123 has been accused of internet hijacking by installing a virus that inserts Hao123 onto the Desktop. It is a malicious browser hijacker and often installs itself without user's consent, and once installed it is difficult to remove. Hao123 uses windows service, registry and browser parameters to modify the browser's default setting and prevent being removed or uninstalled by adding itself back through windows service. It also sniffs user's internet traffic illegally and forces users to visit its website to improve its website traffic ranking. For this reason Hao123 is considered as malicious virus by many anti-virus software.