NationZoom.com
Posted: December 4, 2013
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: | 7,896 |
|---|---|
| Threat Level: | 5/10 |
| Infected PCs: | 18,552 |
| First Seen: | December 4, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Last Seen: | October 14, 2023 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
NationZoom.com is a faux search site that redirects to real search engines when any traffic attempts to make search queries. While NationZoom.com is harmless enough as a website, NationZoom.com also has been associated with recent browser hijacking campaign sprees, which dominate your browser to force it to specific destinations. Malware researchers see no justification for considering NationZoom.com a risky site, but do suggest deleting NationZoom.com hijackers, regardless of what format they take, with reliable anti-malware products.
A Zoom-In on Everything that's Wrong with NationZoom.com
NationZoom.com is one Web domain that isn't likely to be a security issue when you visit NationZoom.com, but still may be problematic due to its association with Potentially Unwanted Programs and low-level PC threats. Since NationZoom.com is a search engine that outsources the actual searches to reputable sites like Yahoo, there's very little reason to consider NationZoom.com threatening (although malware experts wouldn't recommend visiting Nationzoom.com without appropriate browser protection). Therefore, malware researchers became less interested in NationZoom.com due to its independent attributes than due to its ties to external factors, such as browser hijackers.
This homepage-hijacking campaign was first observed early in December of 2013, with NationZoom.com hijackers being distributed by a variety of fraudulent methods:
- Fake software patches and updates for major brands of products, such as Adobe's Flash.
- Installers for unaffiliated programs, especially media-oriented ones like movie players.
The resulting browser hijacker usually wasn't installed with any visible components, such as a toolbar. However, victims quickly noticed the infiltration of their PC, with their most-used Web browsers being forced to use Nationzoom.com for their homepages. Currently, malware experts only have confirmed Firefox and Internet Explorer being affected.
Making Your Browser's Nation Free of NationZoom.com
Browser hijackers are most feared for their ability to redirect victims to unsafe sites, but malware experts consider them minor security risks even in instances like this one, where a 'safe' but dishonest website is being promoted. NationZoom.com hijackers can't be removed like a normal browser add-on, nor can their homepage changes be reverted through your browser's standard settings. However, the average anti-malware program should find little difficulty in deleting NationZoom.com hijackers, along with reversing any unwanted browser changes that they made.
The distribution methods seen in use by NationZoom.com homepage hijackers also have been seen distributing high-level PC threats throughout the Internet's recent history. Malware experts would consider it wise to use thorough anti-malware solutions that can isolate all possible PC threats on your PC, instead of just a single browser hijacker. Backdoor Trojans and other forms of threats often use attacks that aren't nearly as obvious as a NationZoom.com homepage redirect but much more deadly than one.
Updating any security software used in this process also is encouraged, due to the recently-identified nature of Nationzoom.com's homepage-hijacking campaign.
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:%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 510.6 KB (510608 bytes)
MD5: 7a5eeea218c730439c0d8fbfc8bf60dd
Detection count: 288
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 22, 2022
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\DM\software\tugs_nationzoom.exe
File name: tugs_nationzoom.exeSize: 564.88 KB (564888 bytes)
MD5: 9bbefbeef84f224f34c08dc3adf7388b
Detection count: 66
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\DM\software\tugs_nationzoom.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 17, 2023
nationzoom.exe
File name: nationzoom.exeSize: 231.36 KB (231360 bytes)
MD5: 9815f9ee93f5b40f6fc3619be6224903
Detection count: 65
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 9, 2013
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 521.21 KB (521216 bytes)
MD5: fa7ba4e24653aba537fbcd5261e19317
Detection count: 50
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dane aplikacji\WPM
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 24, 2014
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\epom1_nationzoom_20131128171859.exe
File name: epom1_nationzoom_20131128171859.exeSize: 564.88 KB (564888 bytes)
MD5: 550075da1664e1ceea3e9e6e3e39472b
Detection count: 46
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\epom1_nationzoom_20131128171859.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 17, 2022
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 501.9 KB (501904 bytes)
MD5: 364c40012468a52a3eac99209ffc8a0d
Detection count: 32
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 24, 2014
%TEMP%\smt_nationzoom_20131128171426.exe
File name: smt_nationzoom_20131128171426.exeSize: 564.88 KB (564888 bytes)
MD5: f91c91b8bcec6b3ff47a838f808b3394
Detection count: 14
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %TEMP%
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: February 5, 2022
%TEMP%\tmpDEA3\mp3_nationzoom.exe
File name: mp3_nationzoom.exeSize: 564.88 KB (564888 bytes)
MD5: 20811a89dd9a8f2726cb003e18f756a4
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %TEMP%\tmpDEA3
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: July 18, 2020
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 493.56 KB (493568 bytes)
MD5: 175d7fbb15d0416c60d39deaad1171a4
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dati applicazioni\WPM
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 24, 2014
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 624.27 KB (624272 bytes)
MD5: 8891ba48ca8f5235fc4b710af31e9de4
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\WPM
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 24, 2014
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dados de aplicativos\WPM\wprotectmanager.exe
File name: wprotectmanager.exeSize: 563.2 KB (563200 bytes)
MD5: b979ddf4e1a14648e86e16666cbe3974
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Dados de aplicativos\WPM
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 24, 2014
Registry Modifications
Regexp file mask%PROGRAMFILES%\Mozilla Firefox\browser\searchplugins\nationzoom.xml%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Mozilla Firefox\browser\searchplugins\nationzoom.xmlHKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\windows_ie_ac_001\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\www.nationzoom.comSoftware\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\nationzoom.comSOFTWARE\nationzoomSoftwareSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\nationzoom Browser newtab extensionSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\nationzoomSoftwareHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}nationzoom Browser Protecter
idont like this program
I don't like the program
I have been trying since early last evening to delete/remove/get rid of forever/blast off/destroy, whatever, NationZoom from my PC. What the freak do I have to do to wipe out this sucker? It keeps inviting itself on my PC! It's like an alien that comes in the back door & leaves the door open a crack to let its friends in. And, I WILL NOT pay to have it removed since I DID NOT pay for it to come to my party!!! 🙁
heb hier niet om gevraagd, dus weg er mee. ik hou er niet van .