WindowsProtectManger

Posted: November 19, 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:	4,855
Threat Level:	5/10
Infected PCs:	21,475

First Seen:	November 19, 2014
Last Seen:	October 16, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

WindowsProtectManger is a Potentially Unwanted Program that hijacks your browser and displays advertisements, while claiming to offer Web security features. Belying its marketing statements, WindowsProtectManger's features primarily endanger your browser's safety and performance, like the functions of most PUPs. Rather than overlooking its drawbacks, you should consider removing WindowsProtectManger with real security products, ideally ones with evidence of their ability to evict unwanted browser add-ons cleanly.

A PUP in a Manger, Your Browser for Its Bed

WindowsProtectManger is a Potentially Unwanted Program that describes itself as an add-on protecting your browser from any unwanted modifications. Paradoxically, WindowsProtectManger's primary functions include the same issues that WindowsProtectManger claims to block, such as redirecting your browser to unwanted search engines, hijacking its homepage and promoting third-party advertisements. As a result of these functions, a significant minority of PC security institutions, including malware researchers, have classified WindowsProtectManger as adware.

WindowsProtectManger uses a continuous background process that takes up system resources without any benefit to the PC's user. WindowsProtectManger also may update itself automatically, which malware researchers explicitly note is a possible security vulnerability. Unlike legitimate browser add-ons, WindowsProtectManger is not distributed by open, consensual methods, nor does WindowsProtectManger allow you to uninstall WindowsProtectManger from either your browser's add-on manager or the Windows Control Panel. Various Registry modifications also insure that WindowsProtectManger will load automatically, along with the Windows startup.

A Simple Protection for WindowsProtectManger Hijackings

For PC users who pay attention to the business histories of the software they install, WindowsProtectManger is readily identifiable as a PUP that harms your browser more than WindowsProtectManger benefits it. Malware experts also caution that WindowsProtectManger sometimes is distributed by third-party JavaScript updates and other download prompts that may circulate through online advertisements. If you're uncertain about the legitimacy of an update, always look to the original company resources before trusting a third-party link.

On the other hand, file scans anti-adware products also may identify the bundle-based utilities that could install WindowsProtectManger. Scanning any computer exposed to PUPs of any type also is recommended, both for deleting WindowsProtectManger and for verifying that no other threats could install themselves through the associated advertisements. Because of WindowsProtectManger's changes to the Registry and use of multiple, difficult-to-remove components, manual deletion is not a solution recommended by malware analysts for this PUP.

If your anti-adware tools are unable to remove WindowsProtectManger while the latter is in memory, you can take steps to disable all unwanted software prior to a system scan. Booting your PC from a recovery disk or rebooting into Safe Mode can provide adequate prevention of automatic startup exploits of the formats most often used by adware. WindowsProtectManger is not a threat and doesn't contain the high-level defenses boasted by Trojans or rootkits that would prevent its removal by appropriate security solutions.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

search.searchmedia.online