Whiteboard New Tab

Threat Scorecard

Ranking: 4,898
Threat Level: 50 % (Medium)
Infected Computers: 193
First Seen: November 29, 2022
Last Seen: September 23, 2023
OS(es) Affected: Windows

The Whiteboard New Tab promises users to turn their new tabs into a sort of painting canvas. They would be able to draw freely within the new tab space. Naturally, such functionality would definitely be an appealing prospect for many users. The problem is that infosec researchers have determined that the Whiteboard New Tab also possesses browser hijacker capabilities.

Browser hijackers are intrusive applications designed to take over users' browsers and change multiple important settings. The goal is to promote a sponsored address and generate artificial traffic toward it. In the case of the Whiteboard New Tab, users will notice that their browser's new tab page, homepage, and the default search engine will be set to open the find.asrcforit.com address.

The promoted page belongs to a fake search engine. On its own, it is not able to generate search results as a response to users' search queries. Instead, it will take the search query and redirect it to another source - find.asrcforit.com, which causes redirects to the legitimate Bing search engine. However, many dubious pages and engines could adjust their behavior based on the specific IP address or geolocation of each user, so some may be presented with low-quality results taken from untrustworthy sources.

It also is important to keep in mind that adware, browser hijackers, and PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs), in general, are notorious for having data-harvesting functionality. These intrusive applications may monitor the users' browsing activities and collect numerous device details. Some are even capable of extracting sensitive information, such as account credentials, banking details, payment information, etc., from browsers' autofill data.

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