Adware.BetterSurf
Threat Scorecard
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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: | 5,510 |
Threat Level: | 20 % (Normal) |
Infected Computers: | 6,638 |
First Seen: | November 18, 2013 |
Last Seen: | September 14, 2023 |
OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
BetterSurf Plus is an adware application that attaches itself to the most used Web browsers - Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. This Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) may have an adverse effect on your on-line experience because BetterSurf Plus may hijack your browser and modify your search results in Google and Bing. The computer user may find himself rerouted to possibly harmful websites without suspecting they may contain a danger. As a typical adware program, the main task of BetterSurf Plus is to generate Web traffic by providing advertisements in the form of pop-ups, banners and in-text links. These activities may be extremely annoying and cause impaired functionality of the system. Moreover, BetterSurf Plus may pose a more serious threat to the computer because if often attempts to install third-party programs from unreliable sources.
Table of Contents
How did You Get BetterSurf Plus on Your PC?
People who find their browser performing abnormally have no clue what caused this. However, under every sponsored advertisement there is a text like ‘Ads by Better Surf’ or something formulated differently, but always containing the name of the adware, so several users presume BetterSurf Plus is a computer virus that sneaked without their permission. Usually, this is not the case. The PUP relies on the bundling method in order to overtake as many computers as possible. Its creators pay the developers of third-party programs to include BetterSurf Plus in their installation file. Some of the programs bundled with BetterSurf Plus are 1ClickDownload, Superfish, Yontoo and FBPhotoZoom, but certainly there are others. In most cases, there is information about the additional program that will be loaded beside the application, which was initially downloaded.
However, aiming to finish the installation process as soon as possible, many people skip these details and in fact agree to install BetterSurf Plus. For this reason the anti-virus programs often don't show notifications about BetterSurf Plus - it doesn't slip into the computer without authorization and after all, the PUP is not really a threatening program. You can find proof of the way this adware entered your computer if you open the Extensions Tab in Chrome or its analogs in the other Web browsers. Also, you must take in mind that the extensions, installed by third-party programs, are usually harder to remove than the legit add-ons.
What Actions Will BetterSurf Plus Perform after Installation?
Once successfully installed, BetterSurf Plus will start performing the tasks it was designed to do. The main goal of the adware application is to generate Web traffic to sponsored websites. The annoying application collects your browsing data in order to show various deals and offers that may attract your attention. However, the third-party sites may not be reliable and nothing guarantees that you will receive what you pay for. Additionally, even if you don't buy anything but just follow the link out of curiosity, you are still helping the creators of BetterSurf Plus. With each page visit, the site will appear at a more visible place in the search engines, attracting more people.
With the desire to make you visit as many pages as possible, BetterSurf Plus uses quite irritating methods. The advertisements will appear very often, sometimes using deceptive content and eye-catching animations to make you click them. In case you find yourself on some of the promoted sites, random pop-ups will appear when you click anywhere on the page. Some of these advertisements may contain fake notifications - for example suggesting that you should update your Flash Player or Java. In fact, this is just a trick for loading additional applications on your computer, which may contain a risk.
How to Handle BetterSurf Plus?
Due to the unpleasant characteristics of BetterSurf Plus that may not only slow your PC but harm it as well, specialists recommend to delete the adware as soon as you find it. This threat, however, is quite stubborn. A simple disable of the extension will not prevent the PUP from displaying the advertisements. If you attempt to uninstall it through the Windows tools, it may not turn out successful because some of the files of the application will still remain. For the complete removal of BetterSurf Plus, the traces it left in the registries should be deleted as well. This is a very sensitive database and if you change or delete a file, it cannot be repaired and will have immediate consequences. This is why the best way to handle BetterSurf Plus is to use an anti-spyware program that is specially designed to deal quickly and efficiently with this and many other threats. Your system will function as usual, the vulnerabilities will be removed permanently and in the future you will be protected from other infiltrations.
Aliases
15 security vendors flagged this file as malicious.
Anti-Virus Software | Detection |
---|---|
Fortinet | Riskware/BetterSurf |
Ikarus | AdWare.Win32.BetterSurf |
AhnLab-V3 | Adware/Win32.BetterSurf |
Antiy-AVL | GrayWare[AdWare:not-a-virus]/Win32.BetterSurf |
Sophos | BetterSurf |
McAfee-GW-Edition | BehavesLike.Win32.AdwareBetterSurf.mh |
DrWeb | Adware.BetterSurf.1 |
Comodo | Application.Win32.AdWare.BetterSurf.C |
Avast | Win32:Adware-gen [Adw] |
Symantec | Adware.Adpopup |
McAfee | Adware-BetterSurf |
CAT-QuickHeal | AdWare.BetterSurf.r5 (Not a Virus) |
AVG | Generic5.AKJO |
Fortinet | Adware/BetterSurf |
Ikarus | JS.BetterSurf |
SpyHunter Detects & Remove Adware.BetterSurf
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. | file-6220826_crx | 8cf09f72515a2aabf208546f6768fdba | 81 |
2. | BetterSurf.exe | 2f6f50b74d227a4fc7d2734d04fbee88 | 26 |
3. | Better-Surf.exe | 8ea615058f2fd5b7781e2da47d1e7978 | 20 |
4. | Better-Surf.exe | 9d4daf4db9f3b1398bb6b9c4d183af63 | 16 |
5. | BetterSrf.dll | 6f9b34cdc51c04bec390ec06526bedd4 | 10 |
6. | BetterSrf.dll | 593cce274fa0bbffa69bf8e2fcef6c2a | 3 |
7. | BetterSrf.dll | eb505e6275b4e3723b4e568b7227c6d0 | 2 |
8. | BetterSrf.dll | 3d827e71ef9179a80148ed24d01c1ad8 | 1 |
9. | BetterSrf.dll | 6504d88bb3b08c4bb070c5ee9c7aab60 | 1 |
10. | BetterSrf.dll | 999d5a8f6e5d31bace1fab96c58b4268 | 1 |
11. | BetterSrf.dll | 7682b6217f31e9207b741c0778d7f8fc | 1 |
12. | BetterSrf.dll | 80a488237f0b451fbd631ba106d021d4 | 1 |
Registry Details
Directories
Adware.BetterSurf may create the following directory or directories:
%ProgramFiles%\Better-Surf |
%ProgramFiles%\BetterSurf |
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Better-Surf |
%ProgramFiles(x86)%\BetterSurf |
URLs
Adware.BetterSurf may call the following URLs:
Better Surf Plus |
BetterSurf |
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