LightGate Ads

Posted: March 10, 2016

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:	10/10
Infected PCs:	12

First Seen:	March 10, 2016
Last Seen:	October 22, 2021
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

LightGate is an adware program that may deliver potentially unwanted content through your browser or modify your browser's settings arbitrarily. While some security products may misidentify LightGate as being a threat, LightGate has no threatening functions, but may be an incidental hazard to your Web-surfing safety or quality of life. Malware analysts suggest that you make your own, informed decision on whether or not to use the LightGate advertisements, and delete LightGate with the help of an anti-adware product whenever you don't want it.

Your Gateway to Advertisements Whether You Wanted Them or Not

When conducted with responsibility, the campaigns of advertising software provide legal means of exposing Web surfers to theoretically beneficial, new content. However, all too often, these campaigns may be compromised by third parties or companies with poor business standards, who may see no problems with installing adware onto PCs automatically. New cases of these incidents may occur every day, with malware analysts able to point to the LightGate advertisements as a particularly obvious example.

LightGate may install itself into your Program Files folder, but also may be seen hiding its components in sub-directories of the Windows OS folder. Regardless of where you find it, LightGate should display a separate memory process, lightgate.exe, that you can view with any memory management application (like Task Manager). Installation methods for these variants of LightGate still are being subjected to confirmation by malware analysts, although most advertising programs may prefer to install themselves in bundles with other products.

Besides looking for traces of the LightGate's program components, you also can monitor your PC for symptoms of LightGate. These symptoms may include:

LightGate may launch pop-up windows automatically while you surf the Web. LightGate pop-ups may include third-party advertisements, but may load threatening content, such as phishing attacks like '855-718-3514' Pop-Ups unintentionally.
The LightGate advertisements may redirect your Web searches to affiliates or insert advertising links into your results.
Your browser's homepage also may be locked to a website specified by the LightGate advertisements.

Closing the Adware Gate Tight

In February, LightGate campaigns showed an interest in Russian-speaking PC users, although LightGate is an English-based product. Like almost any adware, LightGate may be installed on other systems regardless of their respective locations. Malware analysts only confirmed LightGate installations in Windows systems, with emphasis on the fact that some variants of this adware program may try to disguise their components as being part of your Windows operating system.

LightGate is most accurately classifiable as being a Potentially Unwanted Program or PUP; however, some PC security products could flag LightGate as a variant of the Kazy Trojan or Artemis. Even though LightGate doesn't pose an immediate threat to your PC's safety, its automatic installation may be one sign of a threat having compromised your machine. Computers showing LightGate's symptoms under unusual circumstances should receive scans by your anti-malware products, as well as scans from anti-adware tools for deleting LightGate.