Hijacker.StartPage.KS

Posted: August 3, 2012

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.

Ranking:	14,642
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	1,757

First Seen:	August 3, 2012
Last Seen:	September 24, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Hijacker.StartPage.KS is a browser hijacker recently identified as one of the top most thoroughly-distributed types of PC threats for casual PC users as of the last three months. Indicative of its name, Hijacker.StartPage.KS's main symptom is to change your web browser's homepage to an undesirable one, such as a spam-based search engine or a malicious website. However, Hijacker.StartPage.KS may also include other functions related to hindering your web browser. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers are still attempting to confirm Hijacker.StartPage.KS's primary distribution strategies, although probable infection vectors for Hijacker.StartPage.KS include various types of free applications that bundle Hijacker.StartPage.KS as an add-on for your browser. Like all browser hijackers, Hijacker.StartPage.KS should be deleted by an anti-malware program with a trustworthy background, since normal deletion methods are likely to be resisted.

The Reasoning Behind Hijacker.StartPage.KS's Rise to Malware Stardom

Hijacker.StartPage.KS's prominent placement in a recent ranking of home PC-distributed PC threats lends strong evidence to Hijacker.StartPage.KS using the same propagation techniques as malicious browser add-ons, toolbars, browser hijackers, adware and other types of PUPs. These types of hostile software masquerade as useful browser enhancements, often in the form of search engine or advertising benefits, although their payloads are uniformly undesirable for most PC users. In most cases, they can be installed separately, although some, like Hijacker.StartPage.KS, may only be available when installing an unrelated freeware application, such as a P2P downloading client or a streaming movie player.

Thankfully, while Hijacker.StartPage.KS's installation may be easy to fall into by accident, a Hijacker.StartPage.KS infection is easy to detect by its main symptom and attack. Homepages, new tab pages and other forms of browser start pages are changed to irrelevant websites, regardless of your browser's personal settings. Since SpywareRemove.com malware research team has found that changes to your browser settings, or even attempts to remove your browser (or any related add-ons) can fail at deleting PC threats like Hijacker.StartPage.KS, you should remove Hijacker.StartPage.KS with anti-malware applications that are designed for such tasks. Minimizing interaction with websites that are promoted by Hijacker.StartPage.KS may also be considered a wise course of action.

Other Side Effects of a Hijacker.StartPage.KS Infection to Sidestep

The above remains Hijacker.StartPage.KS's sole confirmed function. However, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers often have found that attacks like Hijacker.StartPage.KS's are often interlinked with other browser-based issues, such as:

Redirects to other websites, either randomly or due to triggers (such as attempts to use popular search engines).
Unwanted pop-up advertisements.
Passive attempts to monitor your web-browsing behavior – such as which websites you visit or what searches you enter.

Hijacker.StartPage.KS is rated as a midlevel threat and may expose you to malicious web content, although, by itself, Hijacker.StartPage.KS hasn't been noted to be responsible for high-level attacks against the infected computer.

Hijacker.StartPage.KS

Threat Metric

The Reasoning Behind Hijacker.StartPage.KS's Rise to Malware Stardom

Other Side Effects of a Hijacker.StartPage.KS Infection to Sidestep

Leave a Reply