Starburn Software Virus

Posted: November 28, 2012

Threat Metric

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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:	9,601
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	30,756

First Seen:	November 28, 2012
Last Seen:	October 9, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Starburn Software Virus is a browser hijacker that promotes search.starburnsoftware.com, a sub-domain of (oddly enough) a CD/DVD-burning company. Although SpywareRemove.com malware research team has noted that starburnsoftware.com has a middling to poor reputation, Starburn Software Virus appears to be an unlikely infection vector. However, Starburn Software Virus-based redirects to search.starburnsoftware.com are indicatives of the existence of a threat that should be removed with both haste and appropriate anti-malware tools. Because Starburn Software Virus's search features seem to be included primarily for easy revenue-generating purposes, you also should be careful when exposing yourself to the search results of a Starburn Software Virus's search engine, which may not be filtered for your safety.

When those Extra Twinkles in Your Browser's Searches are Due to the Starburn Software Virus

The Starburn Software Virus exists for the sole purpose of promoting search.starburnsoftware.com and generating revenue through non-consensual traffic. Firefox appears to be most heavily affected by Starburn Software Virus's attacks, although SpywareRemove.com malware experts warn that other brands of browsers also may be vulnerable. Symptoms that are typical for a Starburn Software Virus infection include:

Having your searches redirected to search.starburnsoftware.com. Consequently, this also may block your ability to use any other search sites.
Having your homepage locked to search.starburnsoftware.com.
Pop-up advertisements that appear at random and potentially include hostile content.
An inability to remove any of the above browser problems by adjusting your browser's settings.

The Starburn Software Virus, like many browser-based malware programs, also may monitor your visits to other sites for monetization purposes (selling the data to third parties or using it to configure appropriate advertisements).

Along with all of these problems, the search results from Starburn Software Virus's promoted search.starburnsoftware.com also include irrelevant results mixed in with its relevant ones.

Taking the Starburn Software Virus's Shooting Star Well Below Your Horizon

Although the Starburn Software Virus, unlike a true virus, doesn't give the appearance of been able to spread itself through attacks such as file infection, removing the Starburn Software Virus from your computer isn't quite as easy as hitting 'uninstall'. Even if you remove any Starburn Software Virus-related software by normal methods, its Starburn Software-promoting settings changes still will be intact on your computer and can continue to affect your browser.

Due to this problem along with the possibility of the Starburn Software Virus exposing your PC to other PC threats, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers recommend using powerful anti-malware scanners to delete the Starburn Software Virus and reverse its system changes. Doing this in a timely fashion, the Starburn Software Virus shouldn't be able to cause permanent damage to your computer or your web browser. Extensive contact with the site that the Starburn Software Virus promotes, starburnsoftware.com, isn't recommended in general but also has not been confirmed as a definitive source of other PC threats (at least, at this time).

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

ancientsend.com

One Comment

omigod says:

November 30, 2012 at 6:45 pm

do you really have to make the videos autoplay???? it's the most annoying thing ever. EVER.