Websearch.a-searchpage.info

Posted: June 7, 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:	8,493
Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	141

First Seen:	June 11, 2013
Last Seen:	October 6, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

The recently-registered Websearch.a-searchpage.info appears to be a replacement for older sites than itself in the 'Websearch' ring of pseudo-search engines and conforms to the traditional Websearch business model: using browser hijackers to redirect you to Websearch.a-searchpage.info, and then using Websearch.a-searchpage.info to redirect your searches to affiliated search sites, such as Smartshopping.com, Localmoxie.com or SmartAddressBar.com. The searches originating from Websearch.a-searchpage.info, like other Websearch sites, usually include safe content, although links provided by sites partnered with Websearch.a-searchpage.info also may include additional advertisements and other unwanted content. The browser hijacker that forces redirects to Websearch.a-searchpage.info should be your primary security concern, but any good anti-malware scanner should be able to delete a Websearch.a-searchpage.info browser hijacker with no meaningful difficulty.

Searching for Answers on How Websearch.a-searchpage.info Justifies Its Existence

Although Websearch.a-searchpage.info is intended to profit off of Web search engine-based traffic, Websearch.a-searchpage.info doesn't have any marketing behind Websearch.a-searchpage.info or any features that would make Websearch.a-searchpage.info worth visiting. To overcome this issue without any real financial investment, browser hijackers appear to have been deployed for the sole purpose of forcing visitors to Websearch.a-searchpage.info. This opening gambit is the only real PC threat that SpywareRemove.com malware researchers have associated with the Websearch.a-searchpage.info business model (identical to that of other Websearch sites), as explained here:

Initially, your computer is infected by a browser hijacker that changes your Web-browsing settings in ways that cause Websearch.a-searchpage.info to load automatically. Websearch browser hijacker-based infections usually occur with downloads of other programs from unsafe sources.
After you've been redirected to Websearch.a-searchpage.info, you'll see a search interface similar to a primitive form of Google, based on the same template as other search sites. Using this search 'feature' willingly will perform another redirect. Alternatively, a browser hijacker may redirect your searches through Websearch.a-searchpage.info and skip the need for you to try to use Websearch.a-searchpage.info deliberately.
Finally, Websearch.a-searchpage.info will redirect you to an affiliate search site's search results. Smartshopping.com is Websearch.a-searchpage.info's site of choice, but others popular with the Websearch ring include Localmoxie.com, Yellowmoxie.com and Smartaddressbar.com. The search results contain a mixture of accurate results and unrelated (spam) links.

Interacting with search results related to Websearch.a-searchpage.info is not a serious risk to your PC's safety, but SpywareRemove.com malware experts do recommend keeping your guard up – especially if sites found through Websearch.a-searchpage.info ask for personal information or market questionable software.

Removing a Websearch.a-searchpage.info Derail from Your Browser

Websearch.a-searchpage.info only is one of many members of a family of cloned sites, with other Websearch partners including Websearch-soft-quick.info, Websearch.youwillfind.info, Websearch.simplespeedy.info, Websearch.pu-results.info, Websearch.mocaflix.com, Websearch.lookforithere.info, Websearch.just-browse.info, Websearch.helpmefindyour.info and Websearch.good-results.info. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers are most concerned with the browser hijackers that promote Websearch.a-searchpage.info; these PC threats can cause security issues for any browser and are installed without any consent.

You should remove Websearch.a-searchpage.info browser hijackers with anti-malware applications that are built to delete such malicious software easily. Since, in some cases, browser hijackers also are installed by other Trojans, you will want to scan your entire PC to be certain that your system has been completely disinfected.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

File name without pathhttp_websearch.a-searchpage.info_0.localstoragehttp_websearch.a-searchpage.info_0.localstorage-journalHKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\a-searchpage.info

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

a-searchpage.info