Web Surf Shield Virus

Posted: November 6, 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.

Threat Level:	9/10
Infected PCs:	10

First Seen:	November 6, 2013
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Web Surf Shield Virus is a browser hijacker that redirects you to irrelevant surveys to allow criminals to profit from your traffic. Since the Web Surf Shield Virus's attacks are disguised and resemble a supposedly legitimate update prompt, attentiveness to where you download any software update remains one of the best common sense defenses against such attacks. Since the Web Surf Shield Virus may block your browser's ability to visit other websites on a completely arbitrary basis, malware experts also suggest deleting any Web Surf Shield Virus with anti-malware tools immediately.

The Shield that Really is a Slide Towards Free Money for Crooks

With the name of the 'Web Surf Shield' seeming to imply that the Web Surf Shield Virus is some form of scamware, malware researchers initially expected the Web Surf Shield Virus to be a rogue system scanner, a la members of the WinWebSec or FakeRean families. However, the Web Surf Shield Virus actually turned out to be something more unusual: a browser hijacker that specializes in promoting surveys. Multiple browsers currently are estimated to be at risk for these hijacks.

Like any form of scamware, the Web Surf Shield Virus promises to help you with security features that the Web Surf Shield Virus doesn't have – such as the ability to block potentially compromised sites or provide you with immediate access to important browser updates. These hijacks merely redirect your browser to surveys that pay money out to criminals for your participation, and, needless to say, don't offer updates or enhanced Web-browsing safety of any sort.

Taking the Wind out of a Web Surf Shield Virus's Sails

Even if you've realized that interacting with a Web Surf Shield Virus's surveys has no profit in it for you, the mere fact that the Web Surf Shield Virus may control which sites your browser loads makes the Web Surf Shield Virus a security hazard to your Web-surfing experience. Malware researchers advise you deal with the Web Surf Shield Virus the same way you should deal with any similar browser hijacker: by using anti-malware products to expunge the Web Surf Shield Virus from your hard drive the very moment you start seeing its survey redirects.

The Web Surf Shield Virus's infection methods aren't yet identified, but all current evidence leads to the Web Surf Shield Virus being installed without any consent from the users of the affected PCs. Malware researchers particularly point out poor-security freeware sites as a common infection vector for browser hijackers like the Web Surf Shield Virus, as well as many other low-level PC threats. Avoiding programs that use suspicious installers or any form of bundling with additional programs should be treated as a basic necessity for keeping your browser from being redirected to sites without your having any say so in the matter.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following messages's were detected:

#	Message
1	Web Surf Shield Access to this pages has been temporarily blocked. Please take time to download our web shield update below. You can continue assessing this site after installing this update. Thank you.