BlowSearch

· Overview ·
· Origins ·
· Distribution ·
· Operation ·
· Risks ·
· Detection and Removal ·
· Research ·

Overview

Vendor Notes:

 from the web site: 'The FREE BlowSearch.com Search Toolbar installs in seconds and includes: Web Search - Find better results from the Web's leading search engines. White Pages & Yellow Pages - Look up personal and business listings easily from one location. Popup Blocker - Block those annoying popup ads forever! Cursor Search - Search any word on a Web page by simply right-clicking your mouse. News Ticker - Get breaking news headlines delivered to you wherever you go on the Web. More Lookup Tools - Receive personalized horoscopes, maps, stock quotes and weather forecasts.'

Alias:

 Spyware/SearchHelp [Panda], Trojan.Win32.StartPage.bi [Kaspersky], Win32.Startpage.V [Computer Associates], Win32/SearchHelp.A trojan [Eset], Win32/StartPage.IDG!Trojan [Computer Associates]

Category:

Browser Helper Object: (BHO). A component that Internet Explorer will load whenever it starts, shares IE's memory context, can perform any action on the available windows and modules. A BHO can detect events, create windows to display additional information on a viewed page, monitor messages and actions. Microsoft calls it "a spy we send to infiltrate the browser's land." BHOs are not stopped by personal firewalls, because they are seen by the firewall as your browser itself. Some exploits of this technology search all pages you view in IE and replace banner advertisements with other ads. Some monitor and report on your actions. Some change your home page.

Adware: Software that displays popup/popunder ads when the primary user interface is not visible or which do not appear to be assocaited with the product.

Homepage Hijacker: Any software that changes your browser's home page to some other site. Hijacks may reroute your info and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that info. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower.

Toolbar: A group of buttons which perform common tasks. A toolbar for Internet Explorer is nomally located below the menu bar at the top of the form. Toolbars may be created by Browser Helper Objects.

Trojan: Any program with a hidden intent. Trojans are one of the leading causes of breaking into machines. If you pull down a program from a chat room, new group, or even from unsolicited e-mail, then the program is likely trojaned with some subversive purpose. The word Trojan can be used as a verb: To trojan a program is to add subversive functionality to an existing program. For example, a trojaned login program might be programmed to accept a certain password for any user's account that the hacker can use to log back into the system at any time. Rootkits often contain a suite of such trojaned programs.

Similar Pests:

 Browser Helper Object · Adware · Homepage Hijacker · Toolbar · Trojan

Origins

Group:

 AdOrigin Corp

Mailing Address:

 AdOrigin Corp 4223 1st Ave 4th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11232

Phone:

 New York - Corporate Office: Phone: (718) 928-0100 Fax: (718) 369-2365 Delaware - Office: Phone: (302) 376-8837 Fax: (208) 485-8486

EMail:

 Abuse@BlowSearch.com Advertising@BlowSearch.com BusinessDev@BlowSearch.com Comments@BlowSearch.com Support@BlowSearch.com Webmaster@BlowSearch.com

URL:

 http://www.blowsearch.com/

Date of Origin:

 November, 2003

Distribution

Prevalence:
  • BlowSearch: < 0.00005%
    • More Info

    Clot Factor:
  • BlowSearch: 1

    • The "Clot Factor" is a measure of how much a pest "gums up" a machine by adding registry entries, files, and directories. As more objects are placed in a machine, manual removal becomes more difficult and more error-prone.

    Growth:
  • BlowSearch: Insufficient data to report growth
    		•

    Operation

    Platform:

    		 Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP, Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher

    Advertising:

    		 Yes. "nfoSpace reserves the right to send e-mail to Member for the purpose of informing him or her of changes or additions to the Downloadable Toolbar or of any InfoSpace related products and services." -- from the EULA.

    Storage Required:
  • BlowSearch: at least 645 KB
    		•

    Browser Performance:

    		 Likely to slow performance of Internet Explorer.

    ScreenShot:


    BlowSearch Toolbar

    Risks

    Privacy Issues:

    		 Yes. "In the course of using the Downloadable Toolbar, the Downloadable Toolbar automatically records certain information about your use of the Downloadable Toolbar and the Internet: time and date of login; duration of session; URL hits during session; advertisements served during the session via the Downloadable Toolbar; software add-ons installed via the Downloadable Toolbar; when you send a message sent via the Downloadable Toolbar, the time you send the message and the recipient's user name or email address. This information enables us to catalog traffic patterns and other usage statistics, which helps us better tailor our services to the needs of our users.

    Our primary goal in collecting information is to statistically analyze the Downloadable Toolbar usage, to improve our content and product offerings on the Downloadable Toolbar and to customize the Downloadable Toolbar's content and layout. We do research on our users' demographics, interests, and behavior based on the information provided to us upon download of the Downloadable Toolbar, during a promotion, from our server log files or from surveys. We do this to better understand and serve our users." -- http://web.blowsearch.com/blsrch.main.toolbar/tbar/privacy.htm

    Privacy Policy:

    		 http://web.blowsearch.com/blsrch.main.toolbar/tbar/privacy.htm

    Detection and Removal

    Automatic Removal:

    PestPatrol detects this.

    PestPatrol removes this.

    Manual Removal:

    		 Use "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows® Control Panel.
    Stop Running Processes:

    Kill these running processes with Task Manager:

    Unregister DLLs:

    Unregister these DLLs with Regsvr32, then reboot:

    Clean Registry:

    Remove these registry items (if present) with RegEdit:

    Remove Files:

    Remove these files (if present) with Windows Explorer:

    Remove Directories:

    Remove these directories (if present) with Windows Explorer:

    Restore Settings:

    After following the instructions above, you will still need to restore your original settings and prevent this from happening again. Here''s how.

    Research

    File Analyses:

    More Info:
  • AllTheWeb, AltaVista, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Google, HotBot, Lycos, LookSmart, MSN, Yahoo!
    		•

    Research By:
  • PestPatrol's Pest Research Center
    		•

    Last Revised:

    		 April 15, 2005