WSearch

Posted: December 11, 2009

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:	19,101
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	9

First Seen:	December 11, 2009
Last Seen:	February 14, 2025
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Wsearch can refer to either the Wsearch.net website or the Wsearch browser hijacker, a PC threat that redirects your browser to this site automatically. Because Wsearch's website has been found to promote malicious Web content, you should use anti-malware tools to delete malware responsible for redirecting you to Wsearch as quickly as possible after you begin to see the first Wsearch hijacks. Any unprotected contact with Wsearch may result in attacks that display fraudulent advertisements, initiate drive-by-downloads or simply flood your browser with needless pop-up advertisement spam.

Wsearch: When a Little Search Can Hurt More Than You'd Think

Wsearch disguises itself as a Web-searching site a la Google, but actually is in the business of promoting malicious and illegal content through profitable third-party advertisements and links. Wsearch is not directly related to attacks that could install malicious software onto your PC but may promote sites that do host such attacks and has a history of redirecting its users to phishing attacks. The latter attacks are scams that attempt to persuade you to provide personal information and/or money under fraudulent pretenses such as by giving 'free' prizes or asking you to fill out surveys. SpywareRemove.com malware experts also warn that sites similar to Wsearch.net may often promote fraudulent security programs or scamware.

Along with being a website, the name Wsearch refers to a browser hijacker that promotes the same site. Browser hijacks redirecting you to Wsearch have been observed to trigger under the following circumstances in past attacks:

When you attempt to navigate to a website via the Web address bar (by typing an URL directly).
When you click a Web link to another site.
When you try to load specific popular websites such as Google or MySpace.

Wsearch hijackers also are exceptionally old in terms of malware; their attacks have been seen as long ago as half a decade but remain active even in 2013.

Getting the Web Search without the Wsearch Problems

Wsearch and sites directly affiliated with Wsearch always should be avoided as PC threats that may harm your computer. Because there have been numerous variants of Wsearch hijackers over the years, specific infection vectors are difficult to identify, but SpywareRemove.com malware researchers continue to encourage using anti-malware software for the removal of all browser hijackers, including deleting Wsearch hijackers. Likewise, due to this long history and overall variability, Wsearch hijackers have been found attacking all types of Windows Web browsers.

PC threats related to Wsearch hijackers also are known for causing other issues that can be not-insignificant security hazards. Internet connectivity problems, redirects towards sites besides Wsearch.net and problems booting Windows all may be seen until you remove a Wsearch hijacker and its related malware.

Aliases

Mal/Behav-119 [Sophos]Virus.Win32.Agent.GRW [Ikarus]W32/Agent.EKZ!tr.dldr [Fortinet]W32/Heuristic-KPP!Eldorado [F-Prot]Trojan.DownLoader.origin [DrWeb]Adware.BDSearch.1 [BitDefender]Win32:Agent-GRW [Avast]TR/Agent.49152 [AntiVir]

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:

388b.dll

File name: 388b.dll
Size: 49.15 KB (49152 bytes)
MD5: b9c56a419065c77cd90edac8d91db595
Detection count: 41
File type: Dynamic link library
Mime Type: unknown/dll
Group: Malware file
Last Updated: December 11, 2009