Search Protection by Spigot

Posted: December 4, 2013

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:	6,144
Threat Level:	1/10
Infected PCs:	5,656

First Seen:	December 4, 2013
Last Seen:	October 16, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Search Protection by Spigot is a Potentially Unwanted Program intended to protect the integrity of your Web-browsing settings by preventing any unwanted changes from occurring to your default search engine. Ironically, Search Protection by Spigot also may cause the very browser modifications Search Protection by Spigot claims to thwart, with careless installers of bundled programs for Search Protection by Spigot unintentionally subjecting their browser to its changes. If you've no interest in having your searches locked to Yahoo indefinitely, malware analysts would recommend removing Search Protection by Spigot by any means required to make sure that all of its browser changes are deleted in full.

The Search Engine Protection that Takes a Heavy-Handed Approach

Although some PUPs have no useful features worth mentioning, Search Protection by Spigot does provide some legitimate but minor features that you might find helpful – or not. By blocking attempts to change your search engine, Search Protection by Spigot may theoretically block the attacks of search engine hijackers. On the other hand, the actual browser hijacker still may be installed, and without symptoms of its presence, malware researchers warn that you may have some trouble in detecting a compromise of your PC that could cause other security issues.

Search Protection by Spigot usually is installed through a µTorrent bundle that installs this add-on along with the torrent client. Although you're free to opt out of installing Search Protection by Spigot, the fact that Search Protection by Spigot is installed by default easily may result in a browser being hijacked by Search Protection by Spigot completely by accident. Malware analysts also emphasize that Search Protection by Spigot, like any other browser hijacker, may continue to ignore your normal search engine settings, necessitating that you delete the add-on before you can regain control of your Web searches.

Closing the Spigot to Get Your Search Engine Back

From the same company that spawned such unmemorable PUPs as the Widgi Toolbar and the Vtools Toolbar, Search Protection by Spigot does nothing to redeem Spigot in the eyes of malware researchers, which always recommends avoiding bundled installers that attach unwanted add-ons to your browser. Since the Search Protection by Spigot partners with a file-distribution client that also is a common source for threats (via mislabeled file downloads), Search Protection by Spigot's emergence puts extra credibility on the reports of the dangers of torrent-based downloading habits.

Whether you find it necessary to remove a torrent client or not, deleting Search Protection by Spigot usually should be an obvious and immediate reaction, unless you have your own reasons for preferring its unique form of search hijack instead of the protection of a more legitimate security product. The uninstallation of any browser hijacker usually should use appropriate anti-malware tools whenever the assistance of a dedicated PC security expert is unavailable – since casual means of removing Search Protection by Spigot may flounder at deleting all of its browser modifications.

Search Protection by Spigot

Threat Metric

The Search Engine Protection that Takes a Heavy-Handed Approach

Closing the Spigot to Get Your Search Engine Back

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