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Posted: February 1, 2016

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:	17,270
Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	3,928

First Seen:	February 1, 2016
Last Seen:	September 15, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Not Set is an adware program that may deliver new sponsored content through your browser. Since Not Set provides no settings for controlling its advertising displays, Not Set also may constitute an unintentional security risk, potentially exposing you to hoaxes or threat-related attacks. No matter what browser is being modified by this program, malware experts recommend dedicated anti-adware products for uninstalling Not Set.

When Advertisements Don't Need a Brand Name to Deliver Themselves to You

Overall innovation in security ideas doesn't necessarily make an application immune to modifications by unwanted software, which is a theme malware experts often see surfacing with Chrome. Not Set is a new case of adware that, to date, only has made modifications to the Chrome Web browser, utilizing techniques similar to those shown by Mgid Ads, FastoPlayer Ads, and PlayPopGames Ads. The earliest samples of Not Set advertisements circulated themselves in January, without any ties to promoting websites, services, brand names, or companies that would make its installation process easily identifiable.

Just as malware experts have seen in past adware for Chrome, Not Set uses HTML injection as its strategy of choice. By inserting new HTML code into the browser's Web pages during loading time, Not Set launches advertisements for unrelated domains, such as eBay or other shopping sites. Since Not Set specializes in delivering online retail advertisements and product price comparisons, this choice of websites is unlikely of being unintentional. Injected advertisements may cause a variety of problems for unaffiliated sites and your PC, such as:

Not Set may increase loading times by bloating the amount of content per page.
Poorly-monitored advertising services also may be common sources of in-browser, scripted attacks, which may use vulnerabilities in products like JavaScript to deliver threats to your computer automatically.
More frequently than the above, advertisements from sources like Not Set advertisements may include misleading content, such as fraudulent software updates or prize offers that may request you to download misidentified software or give away your information.

Prying out the Adware Set into Your Browser

In spite of often installing itself automatically and showing no controls for its removal, Not Set is not a threat and lacks most of the features typical of a Trojan or virus. Based on current information, Not Set may be installing itself through a bundling process that includes its installation routine along with that of a third-party program. Paying close attention to what you download and where it comes from can be the simplest way of keeping Not Set, and most similar adware, away from all of your Web browsers.

The advertisements already being shown in Chrome by Not Set shouldn't be resolved by removing Chrome. Instead, close your browser and reboot your PC into Safe Mode. Use any previously installed anti-adware programs to scan your PC, including, if necessary, the Registry and Hosts file (common targets of modification by adware). Until then, you should be cautious with strange security updates, system scanners, or other services loading themselves in your Web browser, which may be hoaxes unintentionally transferred through Not Set's network. PC users without Chrome are unaffected by current samples of Not Set, though the same is, unfortunately, not applicable to all types of adware.

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Threat Metric

When Advertisements Don't Need a Brand Name to Deliver Themselves to You

Prying out the Adware Set into Your Browser

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