Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar)

Posted: January 22, 2014

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:	5/10
Infected PCs:	272

First Seen:	January 22, 2014
Last Seen:	May 4, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) is a browser hijacker and adware program sometimes distributed in modified bundles with unrelated security software. Through a series of Web-browsing modifications that take over your homepage and show unsolicited advertisements, the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) puts the basic security and performance of your browser at risk, and normal uninstallation processes often fail to delete these changes. If you're unable to avoid installing the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) by accident, malware researchers would consider it best to use a reliable PC security product to uninstall the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) and its browser changes cleanly.

The Market that Finds You First

The Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar), currently categorized as a Potentially Unwanted Program that is only a small threat to your PC, is a browser add-on that tends to be installed through the installers of separate products. These installers, seemingly modified by third parties malware experts have yet to identify, include legitimate programs like the Avast's anti-virus software, but also bundle the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) with it. However, the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) isn't an inherent partner for any known software company, and using appropriately official download sources should prevent you from dealing with an unintended installation of the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar).

With a strategy for profit that's reminiscent of those of many other PUPs examined by malware researchers, the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) has two symptoms that are notable immediately:

In-browser advertising, which may include injected banners, text-injected hyperlinks, product comparisons, sponsored search links, et cetera.
Homepage hijacks. This basically changes your browser forcing it to use the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar)'s website for your homepage, ignoring any built-in homepage settings or future changes to those settings. Currently, the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) appears to be promoting the Conduit website, similar to other Conduit.com-partnered PUPs.

Although malware researchers haven't found the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) promoting any kind of unsafe Web content, its unwillingness to relinquish control over your Web-browsing settings, along with its ability to determine what content you load automatically, make the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) a threat both to your online security and to your PC's ease of use.

The Exit from the Market You Didn't Want to Search

The Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) is as much a danger to your PC as any other add-on that considers its control over your browsing experience more important than your comfort and safety. Although malware researchers may offer no opinions for or against unrelated products that may be bundled with the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar), they do consider removing the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) best for your Web browser. Although you may be able to avoid the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar)'s hijackings or advertisements by methods that don't require this program's removal, failing to delete the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) does leave your PC at risk for future security and performance problems.

The Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) has been in distribution for at the minimum of eight months, if not for an extended time than that, but malware analysts have confirmed new, non-consensual installations of this toolbar in the past two months. If you have any indication of an installer including the Appmarket Search (Appmarket Toolbar) or other unwanted toolbars, reliance on strong anti-malware technology can provide a preliminary detection of any threats before they're given a chance to hijack your browser.

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:

C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbappm.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbappm.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\appmarketToolbarHelper.exe

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\appmarketToolbarHelper.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\uninstall.exe

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\uninstall.exe
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbapp0.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbapp0.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbapp2.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbapp2.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbappm.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hk64tbappm.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbapp0.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbapp0.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbapp2.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbapp2.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbappm.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\hktbappm.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbapp0.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbapp0.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbapp2.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbapp2.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbappm.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\ldrtbappm.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbapp0.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbapp0.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbapp2.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbapp2.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbappm.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\prxtbappm.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbapp0.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbapp0.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbapp2.dll

File name: C:\Program Files\appmarket\tbapp2.dll
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\AppDataLow\Toolbar\RegisteredSources\CT3295790SOFTWARE\Classes\Toolbar.CT3295790Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{9d84f755-b891-4a4d-95c8-f6d01108a008}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION\tb_appmarket.exe

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\NativeMessaging\CT3295790%PROGRAMFILES%\appmarket%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\appmarket%TEMP%\ct3295790%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\appmarket

The following URL's were detected:

Appmarket.OurToolbar.com