BrowserPlus2 Toolbar

Posted: October 28, 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:	14,755
Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	410

First Seen:	October 28, 2013
Last Seen:	September 10, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The BrowserPlus2 Toolbar is a Potentially Unwanted Program and browser hijacker from the Conduit family. Although the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar sports a new brand name, its major functions are all the same as those for previous members of the Conduit toolbar family, including browser hijacks that redirect you to unwanted sites and unnecessary restrictions to your ability to uninstall it (or, for that matter, any other browser add-ons). Even though the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar doesn't redirect your browser to extremely compromised sites and isn't a high-level PC threat, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers can't recommend any reaction to the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar other than using a good anti-malware product to delete the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar as soon as you have the time for it.

When Adding a Toolbar to Your Browser is an Overall Negative

As a Conduit toolbar, the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar may market itself as a helpful add-on but, in terms of its fundamental features, is no different from any other browser hijacker that tries to control your browser without your permission. Besides resetting your default search engine to Conduit.com or another website (the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar also has been observed promoting Bing, for example), the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar causes a variety of minor browser functionality issues. Malware experts have determined the most risky of these to be the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar's restrictions on your ability to manage Internet Explorer's add-ons, which prevents you from deactivating unwanted or even unsafe browser-based software.

While the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar may redirect you to arbitrary search sites against your will, the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar isn't meant to expose you to hazardous content intentionally. In the worst case scenario, a BrowserPlus2 Toolbar's hijacks may result in your accidental exposure to PC threats through Conduit.com and other sites that take insufficient care for their users' safety. For these reasons and the aforementioned security issue, malware researchers always recommend deleting a BrowserPlus2 Toolbar.

The Simple Equation that Equals a Deleted BrowserPlus2 Toolbar

Like many other Conduit toolbars, the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar takes active measures to block you from removing the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar from your browser. To be certain of deleting a BrowserPlus2 Toolbar as completely as possible, using anti-malware products to scan and disinfect your computer always is advisable. Currently, the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar only has been confirmed to be compatible with Internet Explorer, but the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar always should be removed regardless of whether or not you prefer IE over other brands of Web browsers.

Malware experts also are familiar with many other members of the Conduit toolbar family that show symptoms unhappily reminiscent of the BrowserPlus2 Toolbar's own attacks. Other PUPs from this family, such as the Energy Community Toolbar, the MySavings Toolbar, the Sweet Tunes Toolbar, the Mini001 Toolbar, the Top 10 Toolbar, the MakeMeBabies Toolbar, the iPumper Toolbar and the Trustworthy Toolbar also should be avoided whenever possible.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UrlSearchHooks\{78fad561-2f55-4bcd-b896-786662704334}Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UrlSearchHooks\{78fad561-2f55-4bcd-b896-786662704334}Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{78fad561-2f55-4bcd-b896-786662704334}

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%temp%\CT3309350