Weekly Hits
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: | 1,231 |
| Threat Level: | 20 % (Normal) |
| Infected Computers: | 12,504 |
| First Seen: | September 8, 2022 |
| Last Seen: | September 25, 2023 |
| OS(es) Affected: | Windows |
The Weekly Hits presents itself as a browser extension geared specifically towards music lovers. Once installed, the application is supposed to provide convenient links and help users find easily the most searched song lyrics for the specific week. While some users could indeed find this functionality to be rather helpful, keeping Weekly Hits active on your computer is still not recommended. After all, analysis of the application has revealed that it also acts as a browser hijacker.
Browser hijackers are intrusive PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) designed to take over users' Web browsers as a way to promote a sponsored address. By modifying the browser's homepage, new tab page, and default search engine settings, the application can ensure that users will be redirected to the intended destination every time they launch the affected browser, open a new tab or attempt to search the Internet via the URL bar.
In the case of the Weekly Hits, the promoted website is weeklyhits.xyz, a fake search engine. Instead of delivering relevant search results on its own, the weeklyhits.xyz engine redirects the entered search query to different sources. For example, the site has been observed showing results taken from the legitimate Bing search engine. However, this may not always be the case, as many fake engines modify their behavior based on certain factors, such as the user's IP address and geolocation.
The Weekly Hits also can perform other intrusive actions. The PUP exploits the legitimate 'Managed by your organization' Chrome feature to act as a persistence mechanism, effectively preventing users from removing the application. PUPs also are infamous for possessing data-tracking capabilities. While active on the system, they may collect various information - the search history, browsing history, IP address, device details and many others. The extracted data may be packaged and uploaded to a remote server under the control of the PUP's operators.
