Crackle Redirect

Crackle is a legitimate website that is a popular source for online streaming movies and television shows. Like many modern web businesses, Crackle offers its customers an affiliate marketing option that can let computer users with popular websites or a considerable social media presence to promote Crackle among their followers in exchange for cash and prizes. Unfortunately, a Crackle Redirect campaign has surfaced. That is, criminals are using a malware infection in order to force computer users to visit Crackle against their will to profit from this affiliate plan. These kinds of malware infections are commonly known as browser hijackers because that they utilize the victim's web browser and force it to visit specific websites. ESG malware researchers consider the Crackle Redirect as a symptom of a severe malware infection that should be removed at once.

It is highly unlikely that Crackle is associated in any way with this kind of malware attack. However, one of the dangers of using affiliate marketing, which essentially is a crowd-sourcing approach towards marketing and advertisement, is that unscrupulous individuals will try to game the system by using illegal or unethical means. By creating malware that forces a Crackle Redirect on the victim's web browser, criminals can force computer users to visit Crackle repeatedly against their authorization. Since the administrators at Crackle have no way of knowing whether their visitors are visiting their website voluntarily or against their will, criminals can profit from these kinds of marketing plans.

ESG security researchers suspect that most Crackle Redirect occurrences are caused by a Trojan infection. These kinds of Trojans will often change the victim's HOSTS file, an essential Windows file that contains the addresses for the DNS servers that the victim's ISP provides. These DNS servers process IP address, translating domain names into numerical IP addresses, basically controlling how a computer connects to the Internet. However, the Trojan responsible for the Crackle Redirect alters the HOSTS file so that it causes the infected system to connect to rogue DNS servers, which can then send the infected computer system to other websites against the computer user's authorization. If your web browser is showing symptoms of the Crackle Redirect, ESG security analysts strongly advise using a well-suited anti-malware tool to scan your hard drives.