Home Malware Programs Bad Toolbars Message Viewer Toolbar

Message Viewer Toolbar

Posted: December 2, 2013

Threat Metric

Threat Level: 2/10
Infected PCs: 30
First Seen: December 2, 2013
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The Message Viewer Toolbar is a browser add-on often installed with, unsurprisingly, the Message Viewer by the Encryptomatic software company. These two products aren't considered threatening and shouldn't harm your PC, but the Message Viewer Toolbar does have a history of being exploited to hijack its user's Web searches, redirecting traffic to undesired results and sites. Whether or not you have any use for Message Viewer is besides the point that you never should let a third party choose what sites are loaded through your browser, and malware experts always would consider uninstalling a Message Viewer Toolbar with competent PC security products to be a sensible and responsible decision.

What You Might End Up Viewing Besides Messages

The Message Viewer application is a general file reader for Outlook messages and similar e-mail clients. This product only truly became of interest to malware analysts when they found reports of a related add-on, the Message Viewer Toolbar, being used as a browser hijacker. Hijacks have used the format of a common search redirect, forcing visitors to Google to redirect to alternate search results and sites. However, it should be stressed that these redirects have not yet had any evidence of being used for illegal or harmful purposes, although unconfirmed allegations of such have been made.

The Message Viewer Toolbar may be installed with promotional content describing the Message Viewer Toolbar as a useful addition to your browser's repertoire. In reality, malware experts always consider browser hijackers of any stripe to be pests at best, and security risks at worst, and this remains true even when the Message Viewer Toolbar happens to be attached to an otherwise legitimate product. This especially is the case due to one of the defining traits of all browser hijackers, including the Message Viewer Toolbar, which is to ignore any normal browser settings that would let you control your homepage, error pages and/or search engine of choice.

A View of the Web that Doesn't Have an Extra Toolbar Included

Message Viewer Toolbar is classified as a Potentially Unwanted Program, the Message Viewer Toolbar, along with other PUPs, may present obstacles to its complete removal, particularly with respect to removing its search-hijacking browser modifications. To get your browser back to its usual self while still removing the Message Viewer Toolbar safely, anti-adware, anti-malware or other PC security products should be trusted to handle an automated uninstall.

The Message Viewer Toolbar has a more well-defined distribution and installation technique than most other browser hijackers. If you're installing any version of Message Viewer software by the previously mentioned company or any related software product, double-check the installation options for offers to install add-ons. Most official toolbar-based products, if caught during the install process, will provide options for stopping their installation – even if those options sometimes are hidden more carefully than is palatable to the unsuspecting clientele.

Loading...