Home Malware Programs Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) Qword Browser

Qword Browser

Posted: November 5, 2015

Threat Metric

Ranking: 5,546
Threat Level: 1/10
Infected PCs: 5,766
First Seen: October 20, 2015
Last Seen: October 15, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

Qword Browser is a stand-alone Web client that is based on the Chromium platform. Its developers have made efforts to advertise their product as a more reliable browser than the popular Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Allegedly, this program should increase your downloading speed, shield you from unsafe pages and offer free cloud storage. In reality, Qword Browser is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) that may not meet the expectations of its clients. The primary reason the users may not enjoy this application is that it may show too many commercial materials. What is more, this PUP may not achieve the majority of promised features. For example, it doesn't possess a database about harmful webpages, so it cannot offer you adequate protection. When it comes to the cloud storage or the promised built-in torrent engine, Qword Browser relies on third-party software that you can use with any of the legitimate browsers. The may insert large quantities of pop-ups, banners, interstitial ads and videos. The questionable Web client may store data about the sites you have visited and the searches you have conducted recently. It may use this information to adjust the ads, which explains why the coupons and discounts may seem appealing. Caution is highly advised if you want to check them because some of the partner sites may not be safe. The presence of too many ads, some of which may contain heavy multimedia elements, may make the operating speed of the browser too slow. Qword Browser has its own and untrustworthy search engine that may display manipulated results to trick you into visiting affiliate platforms. If you face any errors when trying to delete Qword Browser manually, which would be quite likely, you should remove it with a special security application.

Technical Details

File System Modifications

Tutorials: If you wish to learn how to remove malware components manually, you can read the tutorials on how to find malware, kill unwanted processes, remove malicious DLLs and delete other harmful files. Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.

The following files were created in the system:



%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\<username>\Downloads\QwordSetup.exe File name: QwordSetup.exe
Size: 668.38 KB (668384 bytes)
MD5: fd849b7581a78a10294e2ad800f641e3
Detection count: 21
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\<username>\Downloads\QwordSetup.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 2, 2022

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

CLSID{77BCDA7A-C1A0-4A99-8CAE-CBAA445A793D}{86E6BFA4-99B9-4159-8754-AB3CD7404DAE}File name without pathQword Browser.lnkRegexp file mask%WinDir%\System32\Tasks\QwordUpdateTaskMachine[RANDOM CHARACTERS]%WINDIR%\Tasks\QwordUpdateTaskMachineCore.job%WINDIR%\Tasks\QwordUpdateTaskMachineUA.jobHKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}SOFTWARE\Classes\AppID\QwordUpdate.exeSOFTWARE\Classes\Qword.VideoSOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\QwordSoftware\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\qword.comSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\QwordUpdate.exeSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\QwordUpdateTaskMachineCoreSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\QwordUpdateTaskMachineUASoftware\QwordSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\AppID\QwordUpdate.exeSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Clients\StartMenuInternet\QwordSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\@upgrade.Qword.com/Qword Update;version=3SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MozillaPlugins\@upgrade.Qword.com/Qword Update;version=9SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\QwordSYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\QUpdateSvrSYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\QUpdateSvrMSYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\QUpdateSvrSYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\QUpdateSvrMSYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\QUpdateSvrSYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\QUpdateSvrMHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}Qword{BF7F96E4-8ABF-4E10-9292-D23FA2CDEC58}

Additional Information

The following directories were created:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Qword Browser%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Qword Browser%LOCALAPPDATA%\Qword%PROGRAMFILES%\Qword%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Qword
The following URL's were detected:
qword.com
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