HowToSuite Toolbar
Posted: November 30, 2015
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: | 1,807 |
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Threat Level: | 2/10 |
Infected PCs: | 93,166 |
First Seen: | November 13, 2015 |
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Last Seen: | October 17, 2023 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
HowToSuite is a questionable toolbar that targets mature PC users. This application promises the clients access to over hundreds of educational videos, life hacks, recipes and ways to improve their homes. While 'do-it-yourself' guides may be helpful, you should not rely on HowToSuite to access these sites. The HowToSuite Toolbar is a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) that may overwhelm browsers with new advertising elements. The developer of this questionable application is well-known to cyber security experts. The company that stands behind HowToSuite is called Mindspark Interactive Network. It has created and keeps releasing dozens of suspicious Web toolbars that often leave the clients dissatisfied.
Although it may be difficult to find, the HowToSuite Toolbar has an official product page. The Chrome Web Store also offers it, but the PUP may get access to the PC in software bundles. This delivery tactic may be problematic because the checkbox of the suspicious application is marked in advance. Unless the user unchecks it manually, the toolbar will enter together with the main program. If it does, you may notice it in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer immediately. You should know that all Mindspark products promote Ask-based search engines, which you may notice as your homepage. They may not be reliable because the results that you will face may be sponsored links to its partners. The ads that the PUP generates may come in different types, but most noticeable and troublesome are usually the pop-ups, banners, interstitial ads and videos. The fact that they come in large quantities may lead to speed drops of the browsers. If you wish to remove HowToSuite toolbar from your Web clients, you should use a special anti-malware solution.
Technical Details
Registry Modifications
File name without pathhowtosuite.dl.myway[1].xmlhowtosuite.dl.tb.ask[1].xmlhttp_free.howtosuite.com_0.localstorage-journalhttp_howtosuite.dl.myway.com_0.localstoragehttp_howtosuite.dl.myway.com_0.localstorage-journalhttp_howtosuite.dl.tb.ask.com_0.localstoragehttp_howtosuite.dl.tb.ask.com_0.localstorage-journalHKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\AppDataLow\Software\HowToSuite_fwSOFTWARE\HowToSuiteSoftware\HowToSuite_fwSoftware\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{24C3E2A5-54B3-4901-8C87-D178E6B756C1}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{2F06E199-4985-4AAA-8639-78404D5DA516}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Approved Extensions\{5465B327-DC50-4026-8EEB-DCCB70290B62}SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\howtosuite.dl.myway.comSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\HowToSuite_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\HowToSuite_RASMANCSSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuiteSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite AppIntegrator 32-bitSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite AppIntegrator 64-bitSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite EPM SupportSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite Search Scope MonitorSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuiteSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite AppIntegrator 32-bitSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite AppIntegrator 64-bitSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite EPM SupportSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HowToSuite Search Scope MonitorHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}HowToSuiteTooltab Uninstall Internet Explorer
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