See Similar

Posted: June 18, 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:	14,736
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	50,786

First Seen:	June 18, 2013
Last Seen:	September 3, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

See Similar is a pop-up advertising feature that usually is associated with Potentially Unwanted Programs and adware-based browser plugins such as Genius Box, Deal Vault, the DealCabby Virus, WebCake, Superfish, Value Apps and SpecialSavings. Although not known for displaying malicious content, See Similar usually interferes with your Web-browsing experience by displaying unwanted advertisements for products 'similar' to those you're already browsing, and rarely can be disabled or removed by all normal plugin-disabling methods. Because browser plugins known for using See Similar have a tendency to be malicious or, at best, questionable in terms of benefits, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers usually encourage removing See Similar and its browser plugin via anti-malware software regularly.

See Similar is a general symptom of many different types of PUPs and adware PC threats, and browser add-ons that display See Similar may either be installed to a specific browser or make changes that generally affect all of your browsers indiscriminately. In the past, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts have found these low-level PC threats to be installed primarily through normal downloads that are compromised with extra bundled applications, which also may include the stereotypical symptoms of browser hijackers (changes to your homepage and default search engine, as well as redirects to other sites).

See Similar's own symptom is a highly visible pop-up window that accompanies your visits to various shopping sites and, in some cases, search engines. This pop-up may display without your permission, when you try to access a specific product's page or when you hover your cursor around a Web link, and usually displays 'similar' items by major brands of alternative shopping companies. Since most websites include similar functions without requiring you to install a separate browser add-on, See Similar's features usually are questionably beneficial, and often are accompanied by the substantial drawbacks that SpywareRemove.com malware experts find to be typical of adware infections.

Seeing Only the Browser Add-Ons that You Want to See

While See Similar's pop-up content is not generally harmful to your computer, SpywareRemove.com malware experts tend to recommend the removal of any add-on that displays See Similar – since such browser plugins usually include undesirable functions and will not allow you to disable or otherwise control See Similar's advertising content. Typically, deleting See Similar add-ons will require the use of some form of anti-malware application, since add-ons that display See Similar are noted for their histories of avoiding uninstallation by any and all means available to them (refusing to display components in the Control Panel or your browser's plugin manager, continuing to affect your browser even after they appear to have been uninstalled, etc.).

If you see the symptoms of See Similar without any awareness of having installed a browser plugin that could be responsible for See Similar, your computer also may be infected with other PC threats that are responsible for installing the See Similar plugin. While malicious software related to adware attacks like See Similar usually do not encompass high-level PC threats such as banking Trojans or backdoor Trojans, you still should be careful to scan your PC with appropriate security software to determine whether or not any additional, less obvious PC threats than See Similar plugins are on your computer.

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%\AdwCleaner\Quarantine\C\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar\BackgroundHost.exe.vir

File name: BackgroundHost.exe.vir
Size: 598.84 KB (598848 bytes)
MD5: 2c18164dd30e48140397a23ce0c83e23
Detection count: 1,438
Mime Type: unknown/vir
Path: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\AdwCleaner\Quarantine\C\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar\BackgroundHost.exe.vir
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 3, 2022

C:\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar02\BackgroundHost.exe

File name: BackgroundHost.exe
Size: 598.84 KB (598848 bytes)
MD5: ef192a0f54ba75dc267182bb3370110b
Detection count: 1,129
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar02\BackgroundHost.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 27, 2023

C:\Program Files\SeeSimilar02\BackgroundHost.exe

File name: BackgroundHost.exe
Size: 635.71 KB (635712 bytes)
MD5: 60a9234fc0195ca4d994b25ac3c2e8fa
Detection count: 1,103
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Program Files\SeeSimilar02\BackgroundHost.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 1, 2022

%PROGRAMFILES%\SeeSimilar\ScriptHost.dll

File name: ScriptHost.dll
Size: 400.7 KB (400704 bytes)
MD5: 0bb9b938a466600f9c603c76830e8471
Detection count: 895
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\SeeSimilar
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 7, 2020

C:\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar\BackgroundHost64.exe

File name: BackgroundHost64.exe
Size: 475.45 KB (475456 bytes)
MD5: 964799f133f2cae67ed584f256a8ea5f
Detection count: 234
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SeeSimilar\BackgroundHost64.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2020

%PROGRAMFILES%\SeeSimilar\BackgroundHost.exe

File name: BackgroundHost.exe
Size: 635.71 KB (635712 bytes)
MD5: 7d5b9a5fa41ff8b77bc226bd429036e0
Detection count: 206
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\SeeSimilar
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 7, 2020

seesimilarsetupvw.exe

File name: seesimilarsetupvw.exe
Size: 1.8 MB (1805740 bytes)
MD5: d54173fe8261863ed46f4dc5845248cc
Detection count: 33
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 2, 2014

%TEMP%\seesimilar02.exe

File name: seesimilar02.exe
Size: 1.18 MB (1188152 bytes)
MD5: 4b912f3a604d16f9199fe17379a923f1
Detection count: 12
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %TEMP%
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 3, 2014

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\SeeSimilarSetup.exe

File name: SeeSimilarSetup.exe
Size: 546.04 KB (546048 bytes)
MD5: b5e68f69a623051842a5ba41a6392d89
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\SeeSimilarSetup.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 22, 2022

%TEMP%\seesimilarsetup-18-.exe

File name: seesimilarsetup-18-.exe
Size: 743.7 KB (743704 bytes)
MD5: 428332c2b2dde836414bdb3f95dd9f77
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %TEMP%
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 13, 2020

%TEMP%\seesimilarsetup-19-.exe

File name: seesimilarsetup-19-.exe
Size: 743.7 KB (743704 bytes)
MD5: 44373e54fd7934027aa2fea1f633b4c7
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %TEMP%
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 3, 2014

C:\Program Files\SeeSimilar02\uninst.exe

File name: uninst.exe
Size: 110.38 KB (110382 bytes)
MD5: 4091c515ddb7ddcb8bbc73cfa26f6303
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Program Files\SeeSimilar02\uninst.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 25, 2021

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

CLSID{03203952-C366-4EE7-814A-28EF6E42D90E}{1C227A4B-BECB-48FF-9534-378C740CCBAE}{1EE513CD-9CBF-4322-B983-F965B137196E}{382D2A61-4B06-40F0-A1BC-2A6DED575A2D}{898C2989-C983-4DE2-AD5B-E659B1BAF587}{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}{A8303047-5831-47B9-917C-7BD5C5296566}{B8B1A3A6-BBE7-4147-87EB-0C10B00B7534}HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Settings\{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\Stats\{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{93488930-185C-4CED-AFEB-0FD4930F8423}HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}SeeSimilar02