Storm Alerts

Posted: February 12, 2014

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:	8,370
Threat Level:	1/10
Infected PCs:	53,002

First Seen:	February 12, 2014
Last Seen:	March 10, 2025
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Storm Alert is an adware program that promotes its installation as a utility for providing live feeds on local weather. While these and other functions of Storm Alert aren't threatening, Storm Alert also is categorized as an adware program that may modify your Web browser in ways that result in a suboptimal browsing experience. Adware like Storm Alert isn't necessarily a security issue equivalent to a Trojan or a virus. Even so, in all but unusual circumstances, Storm Alert should be removed via trustworthy PC security software.

Your Latest Weather Alert: Cloudy with a Chance of Advertisements

Although adware-based products are quick to hide behind their seemingly benign features, relatively few of them accompany those features with trustworthy distribution and marketing models. Storm Alert is distributed predominantly in bundles with other programs, and malware experts have seen Storm Alert installed alongside other PUPs, including the Boxore adware, BoBrowser, the Movies Toolbar and Webssearches.com. Not all software associated with Storm Alert also is adware; for example, Webssearches.com hijacks the PC user's Web-browsing settings to redirect them to unwanted search sites.

Besides its questionable choice in distribution tactics, Storm Alert primarily is known for the advertisements Storm Alert uses to generate revenue. These advertisements inject into the HTML content of random Web pages automatically and may modify the format of those pages in ways that hinder your ability to interact with the site. Fortunately, these advertisements typically are designated as being delivered by Storm Alert, and advertising of Storm Alert is not intentionally threatening. On the other side, malware researchers have seen some content proffered by Storm Alert including possible phishing attacks disguised as online surveys.

Clearing Away the Bad Weather around Your Browser

Phishing attacks unintentionally loaded via Storm Alert may try to collect information by using misleading requests to encourage you to transfer it, and also may be avenues for other attacks. Other brands of Potentially Unwanted Programs related to Storm Alert have similar poor reputations for respecting the online safety of their users, and malware analysts tend to encourage their complete removal whenever possible. The range of browsers that may be subjected to Storm Alert still is in the middle of confirmation. At this time, malware experts have seen old versions of Windows (Windows XP, for instance) as being most often afflicted.

Storm Alert also has a history of trying to block its uninstallation, which, while unheard of for reputable browser software, is common for adware. This trait in combination with its frequent occurrence along with extraneous adware causes malware experts to recommend using all-inclusive anti-adware scans for deleting Storm Alert. Closing all Web browsers and using Safe Mode also may help your anti-adware tools detect Storm Alert and related software without any incidental issues.

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:\Users\<username>\Desktop\dati salvati\AppData\Local\StormAlerts\StormAlertsBrowser.exe

File name: StormAlertsBrowser.exe
Size: 333.93 KB (333936 bytes)
MD5: ef068fa52e7cfdc9766a90aa329792fe
Detection count: 726
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\dati salvati\AppData\Local\StormAlerts\StormAlertsBrowser.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: August 9, 2023

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\StormAlerts\StormAlertsuninstall.exe

File name: StormAlertsuninstall.exe
Size: 148.11 KB (148117 bytes)
MD5: 3e047cc27f943f38d45f912bf617a90d
Detection count: 295
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\StormAlerts\StormAlertsuninstall.exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 10, 2025

%LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlerts\StormAlerts.exe

File name: StormAlerts.exe
Size: 170.16 KB (170160 bytes)
MD5: b51f6bf2b38e79c481f35fff679fd7e2
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlerts
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 28, 2014

%LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlerts\StormAlertsApp.exe

File name: StormAlertsApp.exe
Size: 612.46 KB (612464 bytes)
MD5: 0651536989336f99c879b93ca328e640
Detection count: 9
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlerts
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 28, 2014

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\StormAlert\uninstall.exe

File name: uninstall.exe
Size: 537.46 KB (537464 bytes)
MD5: d4c7a62ba12a7e5bf92d22e46e3bb248
Detection count: 7
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\StormAlert
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: March 26, 2016

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\Z4N4VHUO\StormAlertsSetup[2].exe

File name: StormAlertsSetup[2].exe
Size: 506.2 KB (506200 bytes)
MD5: 7ac14bb5ed49656369774f07d37f7b51
Detection count: 5
File type: Executable File
Mime Type: unknown/exe
Path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\Z4N4VHUO\StormAlertsSetup[2].exe
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: January 11, 2021

%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\StormAlerts.lnk

File name: StormAlerts.lnk
Size: 1.13 KB (1131 bytes)
MD5: 49edbba787583337b32997ebe488c011
Detection count: 5
File type: Shortcut
Mime Type: unknown/lnk
Path: %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: May 28, 2014

More files

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

CLSID{1486e786-f6a5-e375-9b7c-27a57538205e}{78a1818a-486f-e47a-aba2-a896fc4269bf}File name without pathStorm Alerts.lnkwww.trackstormalert[1].xmlHKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION\StormAlertsApp.exeSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\SAUpdater_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\SAUpdater_RASMANCSSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlerts_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlerts_RASMANCSSOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlertsApp_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlertsApp_RASMANCSSoftware\StormAlertsSOFTWARE\StormAlertsAppSOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlertsApp_RASAPI32SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing\StormAlertsApp_RASMANCSHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..{Uninstaller}StormAlertStormAlerts

Additional Information

The following directories were created:

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\StormAlert%LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlert%LOCALAPPDATA%\StormAlerts%LOCALAPPDATA%\Weather_Warnings_LLC%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Weather_Warnings_LLC%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Storm Alerts