Other Malware Similar to Superfish That You Should Check Your Computer For
The internet exploded with anger last week after it discovered that Lenovo was installing Superfish, a horribly insecure adware , on new machines. Superfish is not the only program of its kind, however. Here are a few more examples that you should check your computer for.
Our friends at How-To Geek remind us that there are many other programs that insert ads into your browser – and thus violate HTTPS security, just like Superfish. They may not come preinstalled on machines like Superfish, but you can still get them by downloading “legal” software — even from a “legal” site like CNET’s Download.com.
So, while you are clearing out the Superfish fiasco, you should also check the following malware. Follow our instructions to remove Superfish , but look for these programs in steps 3 and 6:
- Sendori
- Purelead
- Rocket Tab
- Super Fish
- Watch it
- Pando
- Wajam
- WajaNEnhance
- DO_NOT_TRUSTFiddler_root (Fiddler is a legitimate developer tool, but malware has hijacked their certificate)
- System Alerts, LLC
- CE_UmbrellaCert
These are not the only ones, but they are some of the most common How-To Geek found. Comodo also appears to bundle an HTTPS-breaking program called PrivDog with its Comodo browser, and Lavasoft includes similar malware in its Ad-Aware program, according to Ars Technica .
If you see that any of them are installed on your computer or in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities folder, uninstall them and uninstall the corresponding programs. The How-To Geek says that after doing this, you should also clear the certificate caches in your browser. You can see complete instructions for doing this, along with an explanation of how these programs work, at the link below.
Download.com and Others Combine HTTPS Style Adware Superfish | How-To Geek