Bcool Ads

Posted: March 3, 2015

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:	2/10
Infected PCs:	1,122

First Seen:	February 23, 2015
Last Seen:	March 9, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

BCool is a browser add-on that may present you with viable features, but also may interfere with your browsing experience with additional, in-browser advertisements. Like with most adware, malware experts have seen BCool's distribution models using methods that could install BCool automatically, and BCool advertisements may be considered potential security risks. While any unwanted adware should be considered on its individual merits, as a general rule, removing BCool with appropriate tools should be your first recourse.

The Application that's Too Cool to Leave Your Browser Alone

BCool is adware marketed through bcoolapp.com, which promotes its software as a general site accessibility tool. A small minority of PC security organizations have rated this site as threatening. However, belying that classification, malware researchers have found no evidence of BCool's site hosting exploits or other, scripted attacks that could damage your PC with automatic installations. Nonetheless, occasional reports of BCool's being installed automatically have been in circulation, in which case BCool may be formatted as a Firefox extension. Other browsers, such as Chrome or IE, also may be affected in some, but not all, cases.

Regardless of the features its developer team claims BCool to possess, BCool's predominant symptom is the presentation of extra advertising content. These advertisements may be injected into your browser's Web pages as the latter are loaded, linking to topical keyword text (such as a football advertisement for the 'sports' keyword). There aren't any significant advantages to these advertisements and no controls available from BCool for disabling them. As a consequence, malware experts have classified BCool as a Potentially Unwanted Program that, ordinarily, should be deleted on sight.

Thawing Your Browser from an Avalanche of BCool Advertisements

While BCool isn't threatening software, removing BCool may entail taking additional steps to prevent its advertising symptoms from reoccurring. Non-professionals in PC security should consider using dedicated anti-adware products or security products including removal services for PUPs, to delete BCool. Malware experts also warn that most users of BCool reported needing to remove some or all browser cookies (temporary browser files that store website-specific data) before all adware-related symptoms subsided.

BCool has, historically, restricted itself to Windows browsers, showing how the most popular operating systems may be at risk for being subjected to unwanted, third-party software offers. However, while using a notable browser like Firefox may put you at more risk than the average user, typical adware installations are traceable back to poor downloading habits. Scanning files that you don't trust implicitly and avoiding unsafe links are the two steps malware experts would recommend the most for preventing BCool's advertisements from being a permanent element of your browser. Of course, you also may wish to consider avoiding bcoolapp.com.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}{20E7BC40-33F6-4A81-9D52-B58349326206}

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\BCool%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\BCool%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Bcool%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Bcool%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Bcool%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Bcool

The following URL's were detected:

ext=bcool