Audio Ads virus – annoying and stealthy
John Taylor | 16.05.2014 14:17 | Technology | World
There is a substantial contrast between adware activity based on compromising web browsers and the processes implemented by entities like the Audio Ads virus. The former consists in modifying browser settings to divert traffic to certain landing pages with ads, while the latter focuses exclusively on audio-based advertising. Both of these approaches are malicious, relying on certain pieces of unwanted code.
The Audio Ads infection is flagged by security suites as Rootkit.Boot.Harbinger.a, which is troubling in itself. Rootkits are very insidious cyber threats characterized by sneaky infiltration into computers and background activities whose source is hard to spot. When operating on a contaminated computer, this particular sample configures Windows to automatically start the respective executable upon system launch. It runs independently from web browsers therefore the obnoxious audio will be playing pretty much all the time, advertising a variety of things without asking for the victim’s permission. Of course turning the volume off is a cold comfort because no other files or streaming multimedia can then be enjoyed.
The rootkit responsible for putting all this mess into practice propagates with drive-by downloads and scripts on malicious sites. For instance, when you’re installing a free application like video or PDF converter, codec pack or similar, the setup may include something undeclared or opt-out, and this extra item might well be a piece of malware.
The Audio Ads virus can hardly be removed by hand, that is, via uninstalling a program from Control Panel or eliminating some browser extension. It typically takes an automatic tool to clean up a rootkit, and this is an optimal way to act in this case. To resolve this issue, be sure to follow removal instructions on reliable web resources only.
Provided by: http://namosofts.com/guides/audio-ads.html
The rootkit responsible for putting all this mess into practice propagates with drive-by downloads and scripts on malicious sites. For instance, when you’re installing a free application like video or PDF converter, codec pack or similar, the setup may include something undeclared or opt-out, and this extra item might well be a piece of malware.
The Audio Ads virus can hardly be removed by hand, that is, via uninstalling a program from Control Panel or eliminating some browser extension. It typically takes an automatic tool to clean up a rootkit, and this is an optimal way to act in this case. To resolve this issue, be sure to follow removal instructions on reliable web resources only.
Provided by: http://namosofts.com/guides/audio-ads.html
John Taylor
e-mail:
JohnTaylor2213@gmail.com
Homepage:
http://namosofts.com/guides/audio-ads.html