DSrch – A New Adware Threat
There is a new threat to your computer floating around called DSrch. Today I’m going to share the information that my research on the threat has turned up. I do this because I have an intense dislike for adware, spyware, malware, and Trojan programs. I feel that they are made just to create problems for other people’s computers, and after my years of working in the computer industry I simply find the thought of creating something for the purpose of causing computer problems offensive.
With DSrch you will find yourself flooded with pop-ups and pop-unders from various advertisers. You will also find your Web browser settings modified and your search results redirected to advertiser’s sites. Dsrch monitors your Web browsing and sends the information to a parent server for marketing and advertising reasons. That is correct—DSrch collects information on you and passes it on to an unknown source. It opens up a security hole on your computer that allows other malware and Trojans to make their way onto your computer.
DSrch makes its way onto your computer as a component of an Internet Explorer plug in, or as a part of a bundle that makes its way onto your computer through the Vundo Trojan. The Vundo Trojan is well known for adding malware, adware, and spyware to computers and then getting a larger bundle of adware, malware, and spyware onto your computer after the initial infection.
Removing DSrch the traditional way, by using “Add or Remove Programs,” is problematic. It will seem that you have removed DSrch until you reboot your computer. Then the pop-ups, pop-unders, and Web search redirection will start all over again. Those who are technically suave can try to manually remove the infection, but that method has some pitfalls as well. Not only is manual removal time consuming, but if you miss a file DSrch will reinstall itself on reboot. There is the added danger of removing a file that Windows needs to operate properly. I probably don’t need to tell you how much of a problem that could be.
