Shares.Toolbar

Posted: August 26, 2013

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.

Ranking:	11,581
Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	2,099

First Seen:	August 26, 2013
Last Seen:	September 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The shARES Toolbar is a new member of the Conduit family of Potentially Unwanted Programs. Like most other members, the shARES Toolbar redirects your browser to Conduit-affiliated websites without any consideration given to your browser's homepage or search settings. Although the shARES Toolbar is targeted at Spanish-speaking demographics, its functions make the shARES Toolbar no different from other Conduit PUPs, and SpywareRemove.com malware researchers continue to recommend deleting the shARES Toolbar and any other member of its family with a suitable anti-malware program for the sake of your browser's safety.

The shARES Toolbar: Sharing Sites with You Even If You'd Rather that It Kept Them to Itself

The shARES Toolbar is a relatively old member of the Conduit family of toolbars, and incidents related to the shARES Toolbar have been ongoing since at least 2010. Despite its age, the shARES Toolbar continues to be compatible with most versions of Windows and its browser hijacks – the primary symptom of all members of its family – still pose a potential threat to any casual PC user. However, unlike most members of this family, the shARES Toolbar is marketed towards Spanish-speaking Web surfers, and PC users who browse only English sites are at less risk than usual of acquiring a shARES Toolbar infection.

SpywareRemove.com malware researchers confirmed the shARES Toolbar's inclusion of all the characteristic traits of a Conduit PUP, such as:

Locking your homepage to a Conduit-affiliated website. This change ignores your browser's default homepage settings.
Redirecting your Web searches to additional Conduit websites. Once again, any changes to your browser's normal search settings will be ignored.

At this point in time, SpywareRemove.com malware analysts classify Conduit websites as more or less safe to visit temporarily, although they encourage all of the appropriate browser security features being in place during any prolonged interaction with sites promoted by shARES Toolbar and other disreputable toolbars.

Declining the Questionable Generosity of the shARES Toolbar

While the shARES Toolbar is marketed as a beneficial add-on, SpywareRemove.com malware researchers haven't found any features worth keeping a shARES Toolbar installed on your PC – even in the absence of its highly questionable attempts to control which sites your browser can load. Since a shARES Toolbar often installs itself to several browsers at the same time, the simplest way to uninstall the shARES Toolbar is to use anti-malware-scanning software that can remove all versions of the shARES Toolbar in a single sweep. This has the added benefit of also being able to detect any PC threats that may be related to the shARES Toolbar.

The shARES Toolbar branches out linguistically from its brethren but remains a standard Conduit PUP in all other respects. SpywareRemove.com malware analysts recommend treating any member of the shARES Toolbar's family as undesirable as the shARES Toolbar, and this includes both recent and old brands like the Goofler Toolbar, the Messenger Plus Toolbar, the Trustworthy Toolbar, the OurWorld Toolbar, the iWin Toolbar, the Entrusted Toolbar, the Midicair Toolbar and the Movies Toolbar.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

CLSID{9c905b42-976e-43c1-bc30-fc5937017909}