WeWatcherProxy

Posted: October 12, 2015

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.

Threat Level:	8/10
Infected PCs:	19

First Seen:	October 12, 2015
Last Seen:	February 2, 2021
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

WeWatcherProxy is an adware program that funds itself through third-party advertisements that may be delivered through your Web browser. While WeWatcherProxy isn't a threat, malware researchers frequently find security issues accompanying adware programs like this add-on and see no significant benefits to allowing WeWatcherProxy on your computer. In most circumstances, PC owners should remove WeWatcherProxy with any required anti-adware or anti-malware tools adept at uninstalling similarly invasive software.

The Watcher Forcing You to Watch Its Advertisements

WeWatcherProxy, often identified by PC security companies as being a variant of Graftor adware, is a browser add-on that runs as a Windows service for the sole purpose of injecting extraneous advertisements. Because WeWatcherProxy may exploit Layered Service Provider-based features for modifying your online experience, WeWatcherProxy may affect any Web browser, without any respect for the brand. WeWatcherProxy's LSP format also may allow WeWatcherProxy to intercept submitted information, monitor your Web traffic and even modify information being transferred. However, these benefits also may come with the drawback of making WeWatcherProxy incompatible with other operating systems, such as Linux and OS X.

Fortunately, malware researchers haven't seen any history of WeWatcherProxy abusing its features for collecting passwords, blocking Windows Update or conducting other, equally harmful behavior that is possible via LSP. However, like other adware, WeWatcherProxy may launch itself automatically and inject its advertisements automatically. Besides adding new advertisements to unrelated Web pages or generating pop-ups, WeWatcherProxy also may redirect your browser to other sites entirely, a process known as a browser hijacking. This attacks could include redirecting you from your default homepage or search engine of preference.

Opting out of the Proxy with Only Downsides

In August of 2015, malware experts saw WeWatcherProxy being distributed and installed automatically. This symptom may be an indication of WeWatcherProxy and other PUPs being bundled with unrelated downloads and software, particularly from torrent networks and freeware websites. Using good security software for scanning your files before opening them can let you detect potential bundle-derived installers that would place WeWatcherProxy on your PC, and modify your browser automatically.

WeWatcherProxy is specific to Windows, but its LSP format makes its uninstallation more involved than removing a standard browser add-on or extension. Anyone wishing to delete WeWatcherProxy should restart their computers, open their advanced startup options, and select Safe Mode (to prevent WeWatcherProxy's service from launching automatically). Then your anti-adware tools can scan your PC and remove all traces of this adware.

Note that removing Layered Service Provider-based threats improperly may cause other problems with your Internet connectivity, potentially disabling your online access. These unwanted side effects are why most PC users should reserve the manual removal of even non-toxic adware like WeWatcherProxy for their dedicated security programs.

WeWatcherProxy

Threat Metric

The Watcher Forcing You to Watch Its Advertisements

Opting out of the Proxy with Only Downsides

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