Home Malware Programs Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) GreatZip

GreatZip

Posted: June 15, 2017

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 1/10
Infected PCs: 347
First Seen: June 15, 2017
Last Seen: November 29, 2022
OS(es) Affected: Windows

GreatZip is a Potentially Unwanted Program that is meant to work as a utility that allows users to compress and decompress files quickly, as well as to work with various file formats like .ZIP, .RAR, .TAR.GZ and others. The software itself work as expected, but security researchers note that some of GreatZip's versions might be distributed with the assistance of software bundling. In addition to this, the setup file that can be downloaded from the GreatZip's official website also may be bundled with 3rd-party utilities whose installation is optional. However, in some cases, these software bundling techniques may use misleading messages and instructions to trick users into agreeing to install an application that they may not need.

Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) are not threatening, and you can rest assured that having GreatZip on your computer will not expose you to any security risks. However, you should also keep in mind that there are many free and more reliable archive-management utilities that you can use instead of GreatZip. Users who do not wish to continue using GreatZip's services can dispose of the PUP either by removing it manually from the Windows Control Panel, or by running an anti-malware application, which will ensure the full removal of GreatZip's files and Registry keys automatically.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}SOFTWARE\GreatZipSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\GreatZip.exeSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\GreatZipSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\GreatZip.exeHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}GreatZip

Additional Information

The following directories were created:
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\GreatZip%PROGRAMFILES%\GreatZip%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\GreatZip
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