Affinity

Posted: January 8, 2014

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	166

First Seen:	January 8, 2014
Last Seen:	May 2, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Affinity is a multiple-platform browser add-on that provides an online program for shopping rewards. While Affinity's shopping program hasn't been found to be fraudulent, Affinity is categorized as an adware program due to the nature of its primary features. Since the advertisements loaded by Affinity automatically may hinder your Web-browsing experiences or even be security risks, deleting Affinity is the default recommendation for this add-on. However, as with all Potentially Unwanted Programs that aren't illegal in nature, you may feel free to come to different conclusions than those arrived at by malware analysts.

The Add-On with an Exceptional Affinity for Advertising Constantly

Affinity, which, in its browser add-on format, also is referred to as Shop Play Win, is an online shopping service and application that has been officially categorized as a Potentially Unwanted Program. Malware researchers needed very little time to identify Affinity as a new variant of adware, with functions as noted here:

Monitoring your online browsing habits and especially any purchases made on major retailer websites. However, no confidential information (such as a credit card number) is stolen.
Loading additional advertisements in your Web browser. These advertisements, which Affinity refers to as 'Quests,' will reward you with additional points for the Affinity program, if you follow their instructions. These instructions usually include making purchases at sites promoted by various celebrities.

The Affinity rewards program is well-designed, meaning that Affinity does an outstanding job of making its advertising campaign feel like entertainment rather than advertisements. However, malware experts find few differences between Affinity and other forms of adware. Like any other adware, Affinity's advertisements aren't directly associated with the best possible shopping prices or deals, and, like any other adware, Affinity may slow your browser's loading times and harm its performance.

Rewarding Yourself for Weaning Your Browser Off of Affinity Advertisements

Affinity is a PUP (as opposed to unsafe software) and its installation or deletion should be considered, to some extent, to be a matter of the PC user's personal preferences. However, malware researchers usually recommend deleting Affinity and all other adware programs whenever there aren't especially concrete reasons for letting them change your browsing experiences. Adware advertisements aren't always safe for your computer, even if the responsible adware program is meant to be a legitimate product, and often may result in phishing scams and other attacks.

Affinity may be distributed in separate variants for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer. The Affinity site does provide general instructions for removing its add-on, but malware experts often find these generalized uninstall procedures to be less than adequate. For a surefire way of removing Affinity and advertisements that are promoted through Affinity, a dependable anti-adware or anti-malware scanner should be trusted for your first option.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{acf195c7-f486-49fa-97d2-51d3dcf5eedb}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION\tb_Affinityff.exeSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\{acf195c7-f486-49fa-97d2-51d3dcf5eedb}SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks\{acf195c7-f486-49fa-97d2-51d3dcf5eedb}SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\{acf195c7-f486-49fa-97d2-51d3dcf5eedb}

Fur Affinity Toolbar