Search Tuner Extension
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: | 3,173 |
| Threat Level: | 20 % (Normal) |
| Infected Computers: | 137 |
| First Seen: | August 7, 2023 |
| Last Seen: | September 21, 2023 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
Search Tuner is a legitimate Google Chrome extension, which bears some characteristics typical of Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs). Developed by Searchtuner.com, it is practically a search engine, which tampers with your browser settings to 'Improve your search results and overall search experience.' The Search Tuner Extension can be found in the official Chrome Store and has over 73 thousand users currently. However, it appears that the Chrome Store is not the Search Tuner's sole distribution channel at all.
Security researchers have come across numerous reports from bewildered Search Tuner users who do not have the foggiest notion where they may have got it from. This can only mean that the extension has somehow found its way into software bundles with other, usually popular programs. Unless SearchTuner's creators have allowed such bundling explicitly, it has no official sanction. Is there any room for concern, though?
To a certain extent, yes. Even though Search Tuner's Privacy Policy stipulates that the add-on does not collect personally identifiable data clearly, it can still gather some details such as a user's IP address, search queries and browsing history, including media streaming. If the PC user performs all these queries in the Google Chrome Omnibox while the SearchTuner extension is on, the latter transfers the collected data to a partner server, which turns out to be Yahoo's proprietary search engine. At the same time, however, Search Tuner overwrites the user's default Home page, changing it to search(dot)searchtuner(dot)com. Since all queries now go through this particular search engine before being redirected to Yahoo, the results yielded as a result may differ from those generated from an outright Yahoo search. It is those different results that may lead the user to potentially unsafe locations on the Web such as the malware-laden advertisements (a/k/a malvertisements) in particular.
The potential threat mentioned above is the reason why sticking to the popular search engines out there are likely to reduce the risk of falling into a harmful trap. That is why PC users who happen to stumble upon the Search Tuner extension on their machines are advised to uninstall it by following the steps outlined in the Chrome Store, reset their browser settings to their defaults, and utilize a reputable anti-malware solution to keep threats at bay.
URLs
Search Tuner Extension may call the following URLs:
| medicmediai.com |
