Home Malware Programs Browser Hijackers Web-start.org

Web-start.org

Posted: October 4, 2016

Threat Metric

Ranking: 5,928
Threat Level: 5/10
Infected PCs: 3,274
First Seen: October 4, 2016
Last Seen: October 14, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows


Web-start.org is a search engine that may rely on browser hijackers to bring new users to it. Browser hijackers linked to Web-start.org may be found in low-quality software bundles, but it is also possible that they may rely on other distribution techniques that work by tricking users into thinking that they are about to install a useful browser utility or another piece of software. The hijackers linked to Web-start.org may set this page as the user's default new tab page and homepage, but some variants also may modify the Web browser's default search engine too. Apart from the search field, Web-start.org also features a small collection of quick links to popular Web destinations like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, etc. The links don't include any pages that are considered to be threatening or of poor quality, so it is safe to say that Web-start.org is not a website that exposes users to harmful content.

While Web-start.org is not considered to be unsafe, it is difficult to trust a website that relies on browser hijackers to bring new users and to generate traffic to particular pages. If your default new tab page or homepage have been replaced by Web-start.org, then the cause for this is probably a browser hijacker that you may have agreed to install on your computer unknowingly. Often, browser hijackers may be disguised as toolbars or browser extensions that may be found in online ads or software bundles.

Getting rid of the Web-start.org browser hijacker and restoring your Web browser's settings to their default values is strongly recommended since Web-start.org is not considered to be a reputable search service. To do so, users should start by eliminating the browser hijacker that is causing the problem. This can be done in two ways – either by uninstalling unknown or suspicious browser extensions manually or with the assistance of a reputable anti-malware utility automatically. Once this issue has been solved, users should open their Web browser's settings panel and set their default new tab page, search engine or homepage to the website they prefer manually.

Technical Details

Registry Modifications

The following newly produced Registry Values are:

HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\web-start.org

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:
web-start.org
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