Searchforfree.info

Posted: March 7, 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:	14,931
Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	824

First Seen:	March 7, 2016
Last Seen:	August 1, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Searchforfree.info is a fraudulent site that may use fake search results to redirect its traffic towards other attacks, such as Web hoaxes or threat installers. In the past, malware experts have seen multiple PC threats promoting Searchforfree.info through various exploits, including locking the computer user's homepage to the site. Visiting this site without significant browser security should be avoided. As usual, use your anti-malware tools to delete Searchforfree.info hijackers and other threats subverting your control over your software.

The Cost of Taking Free Searches for Granted

The necessity of search engines for surfing the Web hasn't escaped the notice of hackers and online con artists. Although sites such as Google have various security measures for sorting potentially threatening links out of their results, one of the greatest dangers to casual Web surfers is a search engine site that pretends to provide similar features, but has entirely different motivations. Fake search sites like Searchforfree.info are viable means of redirecting traffic to both Trojan-installing exploits and tactics that don't require installing software to take advantage of the PC's owner.

Malware experts can trace clear evidence of threatening campaigns associated with Searchforfree.info since 2005. Standard scenarios involved threats like MediaTickets (an advertising add-on) and Troj/Chorus-A (an ad-clicker Trojan) hijacking the computer user's browser homepage. These hijackings overrode any default homepage settings, forcing the browser to launch Searchforfree.info. As an immediate result, the PC may be endangered by further exposure to toxic content every time the browser opens.

Searchforfree.info pages may be distributors of both threat installers and pay-per-click affiliate tactics. Searchforfree.info hijackers may include other symptoms not directly related to promoting this site, such as:

Your PC may experience performance slowdowns or crashes.
Threats also may block specific websites from being loaded, such as domains related to popular PC security companies. These attacks may be meant to prevent the computer user from acquiring anti-malware tools for removing the threat.

Freeing Your Browser from Dangerous Hijackings

Searchforfree.info hijackers may have had their heyday over a decade ago, but the threats prone to causing Searchforfree.info redirects still are in active circulation. Likewise, Searchforfree.info, as a site, remains unsafe, and PC users should not visit this domain without having significant protection from browser-based threats (such as a sandbox utility or a script blocker). Any symptom described earlier in this article is an adequate warning that your PC is under attack by threatening software, or, at a minimum, unwanted products like adware.

Currently, malware researchers find a high correlation between Searchforfree.info hijackings and threats that disguise their files within the main Windows directory. If you have any doubts about suspicious files in your Windows folders, use your anti-malware software to determine whether or not the files are inherent parts of the OS.

Once you've stopped a Searchforfree.info hijacker, based on the threats detected, you also may need to change potentially compromised passwords or reset your Web-browsing settings according to the developer's recommendations.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\LowRegistry\DOMStorage\june26.com