SkypEmoticons
Threat Scorecard
EnigmaSoft Threat Scorecard
EnigmaSoft Threat Scorecards are assessment reports for different malware threats which have been collected and analyzed by our research team. EnigmaSoft Threat Scorecards evaluate and rank threats using several metrics including real-world and potential risk factors, trends, frequency, prevalence, and persistence. EnigmaSoft Threat Scorecards are updated regularly based on our research data and metrics and are useful for a wide range of computer users, from end users seeking solutions to remove malware from their systems to security experts analyzing threats.
EnigmaSoft Threat Scorecards display a variety of useful information, including:
Ranking: The ranking of a particular threat in EnigmaSoft’s Threat Database.
Severity Level: The determined severity level of an object, represented numerically, based on our risk modeling process and research, as explained in our Threat Assessment Criteria.
Infected Computers: The number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular threat detected on infected computers as reported by SpyHunter.
See also Threat Assessment Criteria.
| Ranking: | 9,557 |
| Threat Level: | 20 % (Normal) |
| Infected Computers: | 21,783 |
| First Seen: | October 29, 2013 |
| Last Seen: | September 7, 2025 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
SkypEmoticons is a considered a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program). SkypEmoticons is advertised as a Skype add-on that allows computer users to add fun pictures and interactive components to their Skype chat sessions. However, SkypEmoticons comes with a whole host of unwanted components that may wreak havoc on the affected computer. The developers of Skype itself strongly advise computer users to avoid SkypEmoticons because it may cause problems with their Windows installation as well as cause a large number of irritating and potentially harmful symptoms on their computers.
Table of Contents
What are the Characteristics of PUPs Like SkypEmoticons
PUPs, or Potentially Unwanted Programs, are not considered threatening, or at least not on the same level as Trojans, viruses, worms, rootkits, and other components that may be destructive and harmful. PUPs like SkypEmoticons usually limit their attacks to displaying advertisements automatically and causing Web browser redirects. However, the many symptoms linked to SkypEmoticons and similar PUPs may be extremely irritating and disruptive, even if they do not endanger the affected computer or the victim's data. Because of this, PUPs like SkypEmoticons should be removed at once. Unfortunately, since PUPs are not regarded as threatening, many security programs are not capable of detecting or removing SkypEmoticons. Dealing with PUPs may require an additional security program or an anti-virus program that is capable of detecting and removing these kinds of threats.
SkypEmoticons’s Offer of Free Emoticons is a Tried and True PUP Deliver Method
For some reason, the offer of free emoticons is among the most common ways of delivering threats, PUPs, or convincing computer users to click on shady links or advertisements. In fact, advertisements for additional emoticons are very common on shady websites and have become almost as much a cliché as spam email messages advertising sexual enhancing medication. This is not a new phenomenon; for more than a decade, free emoticons have been used to lure gullible computer users into downloading and installing Web browser extensions, shady toolbars and even threats. Perhaps it is because inexperienced computer users are more likely to want to use emoticons in their online interactions, or because they may be less likely to find legitimate sources for these kinds of components, the offer of free smileys has been a common tactic to trick inexperienced computer users – even after Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other important developers have fully integrated a wide selection of emoticons and emojis into their services. In fact, Skype already has a wide variety of emoticons to be used in their chat service, making SkypEmoticons particularly useless except for those particularly obsessed with these types of components.
Common Symptoms that may be Linked to SkypEmoticons
Numerous complaints linked to SkypEmoticons are often voiced on Skype's official user forums and online support resources. Computer users have complained that SkypEmoticons may display advertisements and interfere with their Web browser. Other common complaints associated with SkypEmoticons include Windows performance issues, such as freezing or slowing down. Since SkypEmoticons has been linked to advertisements, these may act as a common way of distributing other PUPs which, when acting together, may severely exacerbate the presence of performance issues on a computer. The presence of advertisements for SkypEmoticons on a victim's Web browser may indicate the presence of other PUPs, not of SkypEmoticons itself. Other PUPs may change the affected Web browser's security settings, homepage and default search engine and then use the affected Web browser to display pop-up messages, advertisements, and redirect computer users to websites containing advertising material. If your Web browser's homepage and search engine have been altered in this way, it may be possible that the SkypEmoticons advertisements are being caused by other PUPs present on your computer.
SpyHunter Detects & Remove SkypEmoticons
File System Details
| # | File Name | MD5 |
Detections
Detections: The number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular threat detected on
infected computers as reported by SpyHunter.
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | SE.exe | 165b96fdfdb68677da27f4716cf59d59 | 3,488 |
| 2. | SEDownloader.exe | 3b6ff68f02d9c05ba13da3d885aedce8 | 48 |
| 3. | sInstaller.exe | 8b857ee5a6f9e8c6ac1f12bdcc70824d | 4 |
| 4. | skypemoticons_new.exe | a28d6efff7b9a1dfcc93e176ecf5a7bd | 2 |
Registry Details
Directories
SkypEmoticons may create the following directory or directories:
| %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\SkypEmoticons |
| %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\SkypEmoticons |
| %APPDATA%\SkypEmoticons |
