Istsearch.com

Posted: September 15, 2014

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:	5/10
Infected PCs:	63

First Seen:	September 15, 2014
Last Seen:	April 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

ISTsearch is a browser hijacker that redirects your Web searches, most likely to acquire revenue from the affiliate traffic. For the present, malware researchers have categorized ISTsearch as a Potentially Unwanted Program that isn't as threatening as a Trojan or other threats, but, still, provides no real benefits to your computer or Web-surfing experience. Since ISTsearch's redirects may deprive you of your ability to determine which sites are loaded by your browser, removing ISTsearch through an appropriate security tool is recommendable in all normal circumstances.

ISTsearch: Why Your Browser Keeps Spelling out Spellso

The revenue statistics of popular search engines easily reach billions of dollars annually, but malware experts frequently examine the drawbacks of these websites' public services, in the form of browser search hijackers. These browser hijackers artificially inflate the traffic of affiliate search sites and even, in a minority of instances, may be used to distribute threats under the guise of search results. ISTsearch is another inclusion in the already-large numbers of browser hijackers to date, and, like most others, seeks to redirect your Web searches without providing any notable features in exchange.

ISTsearch provides redirects to Istsearch.com, which, itself, is a mirror of Spellso.com. Both sites are incapable of providing independent search results of any type, and redirect their traffic to a third affiliate website. Malware experts have found no unsafe content on any of these sites, but do highlight the fact that all results provided are, ultimately, stolen from other, reputable search sites that you may visit directly. There are no benefits in allowing ISTsearch to redirect your browser, as is also true of almost all other unwanted programs that hijack your browser for their self-serving financial incentives.

Refusing to Search the Web ISTsearch's Way

ISTsearch is a PUP, or unwanted software, as opposed to a Trojan, virus or other classification of threatening software. Despite that limitation, ISTsearch and most other PUPs also may be potential security risks, and may unintentionally expose your PC to hostile websites, advertisements or scripts such as those that are responsible for distributing legitimate threats. Taking these dangers into account, along with the lack of advantages for letting ISTsearch determine which sites you use in your Web searches, malware researchers find suggesting that you delete ISTsearch to be a straightforward recommendation.

Whenever possible, you should delete ISTsearch only by using authorized PC security tools or the assistance of a trained professional in PC security. An incomplete removal of ISTsearch or a similar browser hijacker often fails to remove the settings changes responsible for the browser redirects, which could allow ISTsearch to continue to affect your browser long after its supposed deletion. For casual PC users, any attempts to delete these settings personally, such as by modifying the Registry, also risks varied forms of damage to your OS.

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:

istsearch.exe

File name: istsearch.exe
Size: 689.47 KB (689472 bytes)
MD5: 0032a6d84783fde64d4546f81c69a987
Detection count: 55
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 30, 2020

setup.exe

File name: setup.exe
Size: 947 KB (947008 bytes)
MD5: d7a00eba6df2aefae74d4aca0b849175
Detection count: 53
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%PROGRAMFILES%\ISTsearch%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\ISTsearch

The following URL's were detected:

www.istsearch.com

Hoistsearch.com