Couponsbar

Posted: February 28, 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:	49

First Seen:	February 28, 2014
Last Seen:	August 17, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Couponsbar is a browser hijacker that, supposedly, enhances 'searching and sharing online,' but, in reality, provides few benefits to compare with its disadvantages. Like all programs classified as browser hijackers, Couponsbar uses varied means of redirecting your browser to other sites. Although malware experts haven't found it appropriate to classify Couponsbar-related sites as unsafe, they do warn that search results and other links from Couponsbar's sites aren't likely to be perfectly accurate, or to be designed in such a manner as to benefit you. Removing Couponsbar with good PC security tools should be all that's needed to remove its hijacking effects on your Web browser.

An Add-On that Doesn't Raise the Bar on Search Engines

Couponsbar easily could be mistaken for a shopping-themed advertising add-on, such as a toolbar that loads product offers from alternative Web retailers. However, belying its misleading name, Couponsbar is, in fact, a browser hijacker, or a program that redirects your browser to other sites, regardless of your browser's actual settings. So far, malware researchers have seen Couponsbar cause redirects from homepages and search engines, all in an effort to promote its own search sub-domain, search.coupons-bar.com.

An examination of this 'search engine' by malware researchers quickly revealed that most of its results were from affiliated partners or were borrowed from other search sites with a better reputation than Coupons-bar.com. In many cases, Couponsbar's search results were irrelevant to the terms entered, making this add-on's reason for existence highly questionable. Nonetheless, Couponsbar's search site doesn't have any known affiliation with compromised sites that could harm your computer or your Web browser; at least, any more than Couponsbar already might be doing with its hijacks.

Couponsbar's other features, such as 'sharing' content through social networks or interacting with your Facebook album, may be of use to some Web surfers. However, ultimately, Couponsbar remains a generic product with a central feature of questionable value, and malware experts recommend finding any Couponsbar-related features you might want from a more reliable source.

Stopping Couponsbar from Barring You from Your Search Engine of Choice

Search hijackers may vary in terms of meanness, with simple tactics like Couponsbar occupying the shallow end of the browser add-on industry, but not to the point of being classified as a threat. Because Couponsbar prevents you from using your browser's normal search and homepage settings as intended, deleting Couponsbar only should be delayed in exceptional cases, where you're entirely certain that you want Couponsbar's features and are untroubled by its substantial drawbacks. To remove Couponsbar, or any other Potentially Unwanted Program that may try to prevent its deletion from taking place completely, using anti-malware software generally is the standard, and safest response.

Couponsbar is downloadable at its website, although the limited contact information of its company raises more than a few questions about their intended business model. Malware researchers also tend to see Couponsbar and other PUPs installed through free software sources with poor reputations, including various freeware databases. Be sure to research these sites before installing their software, lest you end up with Couponsbar as your search engine, even if your search engine is set to another site entirely.

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:

coupons-bar.exe

File name: coupons-bar.exe
Size: 303.25 KB (303256 bytes)
MD5: c9b7c096aedcb129d0cacc4135cd1092
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Installer\Features\C03B6554040CFA243BABE38928343248Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products\C03B6554040CFA243BABE38928343248

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Installer\{4556B30C-C040-42AF-B3BA-3E9882432384}