Home Malware Programs Adware PhraseFinder

PhraseFinder

Posted: April 24, 2015

Threat Metric

Ranking: 19,708
Threat Level: 2/10
Infected PCs: 47,453
First Seen: January 29, 2015
Last Seen: January 14, 2025
OS(es) Affected: Windows

PhraseFinder is classified an adware infection that is known to affect users' web browsers. Typically, adware applications are distributed by being bundled with other free programs and installs as browser plugins. The PhraseFinder app is known to be a part of the InfoAtoms browser extension and capable of displaying a variety of advertising materials. Ads by PhraseFinder are in the web browsers and based on users' online preferences such as frequently visited websites, search queries, etc. Ads by PhraseFinder may also underline words on web pages that you visit so when the user hover their mouse over them, they stretch. Regardless of their shape and as appealing as the ads may seem, computer security experts advise users not to trust or click them. Instead, it is recommended to utilize a proper anti-malware tool to remove the infection.

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:



c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_11.sys File name: pfnfd_1_10_0_11.sys
Size: 58.23 KB (58232 bytes)
MD5: 13eae7201961a9e9734aa4cd8bafee5b
Detection count: 1,070
File type: System file
Mime Type: unknown/sys
Path: c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_11.sys
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: July 21, 2022
c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_8.sys File name: pfnfd_1_10_0_8.sys
Size: 58.23 KB (58232 bytes)
MD5: bbc272e07971c630bbce4e2a6b22b51e
Detection count: 602
File type: System file
Mime Type: unknown/sys
Path: c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_8.sys
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 2, 2023
%WINDIR%\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_9.sys File name: pfnfd_1_10_0_9.sys
Size: 52.72 KB (52728 bytes)
MD5: 086b056c48ff344e2b4601336083152c
Detection count: 272
File type: System file
Mime Type: unknown/sys
Path: %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_9.sys
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 29, 2023
c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_12.sys File name: pfnfd_1_10_0_12.sys
Size: 52.72 KB (52728 bytes)
MD5: c300efcabb86cf8997f131bc4dbd1329
Detection count: 108
File type: System file
Mime Type: unknown/sys
Path: c:\windows\system32\drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_12.sys
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 27, 2022
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\PhraseFinder_1.10.0.12\Service\pfsvc.exe File name: pfsvc.exe
Size: 278.6 KB (278608 bytes)
MD5: 46b04ccfcdc7fd3bcb3942728d96845a
Detection count: 14
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\PhraseFinder_1.10.0.12\Service
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: April 19, 2016

More files

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

Regexp file mask%WINDIR%\system32\Drivers\pfnfd_1_10_0_[RANDOM CHARACTERS].sys
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