Browser Companion Helper

Posted: February 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:	7,168
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	1,091

First Seen:	February 4, 2013
Last Seen:	October 10, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Browser Companion Helper is a PUP and browser hijacker that lays claim to being a beneficial browser add-on even though its functions can't provide any meaningful benefit to your PC. Besides changing your browser's settings without your permission or any good justification, Browser Companion Helper (also known as BCHelper) also has been known to cause DLL pop-up errors and poor web-browsing performance. Because Browser Companion Helper doesn't have any features worth putting up with its drawbacks, SpywareRemove.com malware research team urges you to treat Browser Companion Helper as PUP, and you can remove Browser Companion Helper with your preference in PC security software.

Browser Companion Helper: the Chum that Wants to Take Your Browser to Places Unseen

Browser Companion Helper claims to improve your web-browsing experience but, in truth, only includes functions that would benefit anyone except whoever may choose to browse the web via your PC. One notable red flag for Browser Companion Helper is that its widespread availability on various freeware websites is accompanied by a series of suspiciously-similar (and anonymous) 'reviews' that simultaneously praise Browser Companion Helper while they mutilate the English language with awkward grammar and spelling mistakes. By diving deeper, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers found the following issues associated with Browser Companion Helper once Browser Companion Helper is installed:

Browser Companion Helper will change your homepage to an unwanted website and refuse to allow you to undo this change.
Besides changing your homepage, Browser Companion Helper also switches your regular search engine to the one it chooses. Like the above attack, this attack can't be reversed by changing the settings of your browser.
Many recent Browser Companion Helper problems also have been associated with unusual DLL error messages that are linked to missing SQL database files. While these errors may make Browser Companion Helper semi-disabled or even totally unable to function, by themselves, they aren't a danger to your PC and should be considered just another symptom of the presence of Browser Companion Helper. Similarly, SpywareRemove.com malware experts stress that SQL database files like SQLite are not harmful to your computer.

Finding a Lifelong Browser Companion that's Less Traitorous Than the Browser Companion Helper

Besides all of its confirmed functions, as a PUP, Browser Companion Helper also may take up unusual system resources, harm your browser's performance and/or refuse to uninstall itself completely through normal software-uninstall techniques. Given these issues, SpywareRemove.com malware experts suggest that you use anti-malware applications for deleting Browser Companion Helper, regardless of how many browsers Browser Companion Helper afflicts with its attacks, and regardless of whether or not you see error messages associated with Browser Companion Helper.

Since Browser Companion Helper promotes itself as a useful product, avoiding the freeware sites that distribute Browser Companion Helper, as well as staying informed on the nature of recent Potentially Unwanted Programs, can help to close off most of the major Browser Companion Helper-related infection routes. If you begin to see symptoms of Browser Companion Helper-related problems without your having installed Browser Companion Helper, your PC also may be infected by separate PC threats that have been installed through freeware links, browser exploits or other means.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

24-news.info

Adware.Browser Companion Helper