FlashFree

Posted: April 9, 2015

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:	8/10
Infected PCs:	80

First Seen:	April 9, 2015
Last Seen:	September 5, 2022
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

FlashFree is a Chrome extension that claims to be a viable means of blocking unwanted Flash content, but also injects advertisements of its own into your browser. Although this swerve in intended purpose is insufficient for making FlashFree classifiable as a threat, FlashFree does merit being rated as a Potentially Unwanted Program that you should uninstall from your PC. Since malware experts have seen cases of incomplete FlashFree deletions that could cause additional issues, you should consider using proper anti-adware utilities to delete FlashFree for your browser's safety.

Free from Flash, but not from Advertisements

Flash, while a go-to means of delivering advanced graphical content, also is favored by some third parties for attacking vulnerable PCs. As a safety measure, some Web surfers prefer to block Flash by default, with some turning to the seemingly innocuous FlashFree extension. Up to early 2014, FlashFree acquired mostly positive reviews for that purpose, with no significant anomalies in functionality. However, in January 2014, FlashFree was updated with a notably extraneous feature: injecting extra advertisements into Chrome.

As an adware program, FlashFree prefers to use forcibly inserted advertising links bound to text content, which may be 'relevant' keywords for the advertising partner's services. FlashFree must be uninstalled to disable these advertisements, and since they may include pop-up Flash content, they work counter to the original, security-oriented purpose of this extension. Currently, malware analysts have yet to see any major attacks originating through advertisements promoted by FlashFree. However, adware advertising networks may distribute such PC threats as fraudulent patches, disguised PUP installers and, in the worst cases, even drive-by-downloads.

Freeing Your Browser from FlashFree Links

Like most non-threatening extensions, FlashFree can be installed from the Chrome store, for those willing to ignore its many, negative reviews. However, malware analysts also saw recent incidents involving FlashFree's distribution by other channels, most notably, attacks through online advertisements. These attacks installed a variety of other threats in addition to FlashFree, including at least one secondary adware program for Internet Explorer. At this time, the rest of the payload still is being determined, along with the exploit used to achieve the non-consensual installation of the above software.

Whether FlashFree comes to your browser by a legitimate store link or by illegitimate advertising content, its classification as a PUP makes FlashFree a potential source of future attacks against your PC. Removing FlashFree and other adware from your browser, especially with dedicated anti-adware tools, can prevent precisely the same kinds of attacks that now are used to distribute FlashFree to unwelcoming Web surfers. Sadly, FlashFree's history shows that even a formerly useful security product may silently update itself into an extension that serves the opposite of its theoretical purpose.

FlashFree

Threat Metric

Free from Flash, but not from Advertisements

Freeing Your Browser from FlashFree Links

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