CrossReader
Posted: January 14, 2014
Threat Metric
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: | 11,593 |
|---|---|
| Threat Level: | 1/10 |
| Infected PCs: | 10,486 |
| First Seen: | January 14, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Last Seen: | September 27, 2023 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
CrossReader is a browser add-on that delivers news and related media content to your browser. Even though this functions may, in theory, be beneficial, malware researchers have found that CrossReader's implementation of them leaves few hairs to split between CrossReader and a typical adware add-on. These and other suspicious circumstances around CrossReader cause it to be recommended that you remove CrossReader with appropriate anti-adware software, unless you're extremely confident that CrossReader's features are a benefit to your browsing experience without any unwelcome drawbacks.
CrossReader: a 'Post-PC' World that's Still Full of Pop-Up Advertisements
CrossReader is an add-on for Internet Explorer and some mobile devices and boasts marketing that claims CrossReader to be a practically revolutionary force for relevant content delivery in a highly-mobile media environment. Malware analysts were disappointed, but not surprised, to find that the facts behind CrossReader's website claims are somewhat less attractive than their presentation. Bereft of its bluster, CrossReader is a simple adware program that displays third party content in pop-up windows, thumbnails and other browser additions. These advertisements are centered on news stories, but often include irrelevant content or content from sources that aren't very well vetted for their legitimacy.
CrossReader also takes a page from many other adware programs by attempting to monitor its users, which CrossReader sells as a supposed targeted advertisement feature that could help you find relevant advertising content. Your online searches, website visits and related data may be monitored by CrossReader, which could be considered invasive, and certainly doesn't have any meaningful benefits for the CrossReader's user. However, CrossReader isn't spyware and doesn't attempt to steal confidential information, despite some PC security companies' classification of CrossReader.com as a threatening website.
Getting Your Browser Extracted After It Crosses Paths with CrossReader
Besides being downloadable from its website, CrossReader also has been seen being distributed in bundles with other programs, which is a standard practice for adware of all stripes. Malware experts would consider it a good safety practice to scan suspicious installers that could carry CrossReader, and recommend avoiding downloads from sites that distribute adware of any affiliation. While CrossReader is an issue for Internet Explorer, many similar types of adware may be designed for full compatibility with multiple types of browsers.
CrossReader also has been found to be unresponsive to normal uninstallation procedures, which is likely a culprit for the site's occasional classification as a threatening domain. Although malware researchers find that CrossReader best fits the description of a Potentially Unwanted Program that only could endanger your PC by accident, deleting CrossReader is suggested. Even if CrossReader refuses to be removed through the Control Panel or other, normalized methods, using anti-malware or anti-adware tools for removing CrossReader should provide a quick and complete escape from CrossReader's news articles.
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:%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\CrossReader\CrossReader-bho64.dll
File name: CrossReader-bho64.dllSize: 940.54 KB (940544 bytes)
MD5: f57723e863e3a96e8a6b450486c65a7b
Detection count: 2,693
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\CrossReader
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 10, 2014
%PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader\CrossReader-bho.dll
File name: CrossReader-bho.dllSize: 598.52 KB (598528 bytes)
MD5: 3f1e18fe0ae0c5fc69f80c78470b67cd
Detection count: 126
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 10, 2014
crossreader.exe
File name: crossreader.exeSize: 5.15 MB (5154928 bytes)
MD5: 65de19616927b1a1f30799cc10b0237f
Detection count: 94
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 20, 2014
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\crossreader\crossreader-bg.exe
File name: crossreader-bg.exeSize: 738.3 KB (738304 bytes)
MD5: edb8948e91e926716ffbb9fdced66d78
Detection count: 73
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\crossreader
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 10, 2014
%PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader\CrossReader-bho.dll
File name: CrossReader-bho.dllSize: 748.03 KB (748032 bytes)
MD5: 8618ffc90b23d7da8ab75a3e94fb5ed5
Detection count: 46
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 10, 2014
%PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader\CrossReader-bho.dll
File name: CrossReader-bho.dllSize: 598.52 KB (598528 bytes)
MD5: 3c1948677a670f7a5d7e941d67487e47
Detection count: 12
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Path: %PROGRAMFILES%\CrossReader
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: June 10, 2014
C:\Program Files\crossreader\CrossReader-bg.exe
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreader\CrossReader-bg.exeFile type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-bho64.dll
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-bho64.dllFile type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-bho.dll
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-bho.dllMime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-buttonutil64.exe
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-buttonutil64.exeFile type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-buttonutil.exe
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-buttonutil.exeFile type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-codedownloader.exe
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderCrossReader-codedownloader.exeFile type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
C:\Program Files\crossreaderUninstall.exe
File name: C:\Program Files\crossreaderUninstall.exeMime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Registry Modifications
CLSID{11111111-1111-1111-1111-110311671120}HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\AppDataLow\Software\CrossReaderSOFTWARE\CrossReaderSoftware\InstalledBrowserExtensions\CrossReader\36720Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{11111111-1111-1111-1111-110311671120}SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\CrossReaderSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\CrossReader
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