Home Malware Programs Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) Down Checker Ads

Down Checker Ads

Posted: July 16, 2015

Threat Metric

Ranking: 9,334
Threat Level: 1/10
Infected PCs: 7,591
First Seen: July 16, 2015
Last Seen: October 12, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

Down Checker is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP), which can turn your browsing process into a rather unpleasant activity. The presence of this questionable application may also represent a security risk to your system. Down Checker is advertised as a helpful application, which can scan your PC and inform you when there is a new version of some of the installed programs. Although this feature may seem useful, few users suspect that this tool causes so many changes in the web clients. Immediately after its installation, Down Checker becomes an inseparable part of all available browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. After this step is complete, the PUP inserts a vast amount of commercial materials. You may start noticing ads whenever you launch your browser and wherever you go. The intrusive ads, which are primarily banners, pop-ups, interstitial ads and hyperlinked words, may soon become annoying. They may also significantly impede the functionality of the Internet clients – the users may experience freezes and crashes. Nothing guarantees that the promoted third-party pages are safe, so you should stay away from the displayed offers. The potential danger for your PC is not only related to the sponsored sites. Although there are no confirmed cases of an infection yet, the updates of Down Checker may contain some harmful codes. For the listed reasons, the best course of action is to delete the PUP and to let another program keep your system updated.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}SOFTWARE\downcheckerSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\dchecker_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\dchecker_RASMANCSSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\downcheckerSYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\DownCheckerSYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DownChecker

Additional Information

The following directories were created:
%PROGRAMFILES%\BroadcomService%PROGRAMFILES%\DownChecker%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\DownChecker
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