NewtonKnows

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

Overview

Vendor Notes:

 NewtonKnows comprises a IE search-hijacker and toolbar, and a targeting pop-up system that works across many browsers.

See Also:

 Grokster · Winhost32

Category:

Search Hijacker: Any software that resets your browser's settings to point to other sites when you perform a search. 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. Search results when such a hijacker is running will sometimes differ from non-hijacked results.

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.

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.

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.

Similar Pests:

 Search Hijacker · Adware · Browser Helper Object · Toolbar

Origins

Group:

 Virtumondo

Date of Origin:

 October, 2003

Distribution

Distribution:

 Bundled with Grokster

Prevalence:
  • NewtonKnows: 1.3%
    • More Info

    Clot Factor:
  • NewtonKnows: 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:
  • NewtonKnows: Insufficient data to report growth
    		•

    Operation

    Advertising:

    		 Yes. While browsing, you will see links in "speech bubbles" pop up in the lower right corner of IE.

    Storage Required:
  • NewtonKnows: at least 205 KB
    		•

    Browser Performance:

    		 Likely to slow performance of Internet Explorer.

    Risks

    Privacy Issues:

    		 Yes. When a targeted site is visited, NewtonKnows sends a request back to its controlling servers include the hostname of the site being viewed, and a unique ID. This can be used to track your use of different web sites.

    If you entered an e-mail address at the time of install, such a browsing record is personally identifying. The privacy policy explicitly allows NewtonKnows's makers to combine personally identifying web usage records with other databases (which might include, for example, addresses and telephone numbers), and to use this database for marketing.

    Security Issues:

    		 Yes. NewtonKnows has a silent self-updating feature which allows its controlling server to execute arbitrary unsigned code.

    Stability Issues:

    		 No.

    Recommendations

    Caution:

    		 Do not attempt to remove manually. Deleting the LSP used by NewtonKnows will result in a lost Internet connection.

    Detection and Removal

    Automatic Removal:

    PestPatrol detects this.

    PestPatrol removes this.

    Manual Removal:

    		 Follow these steps to remove NewtonKnows from your machine. Begin by backing up your registry and your system, and/or setting a Restore Point, to prevent trouble if you make a mistake.
    Remove AutoRun Reference:

    Go To the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
    If you find the value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run\newtnupd.exe, delete it and reboot the machine immediately.



    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 04, 2005