CoolWebSearch

CoolWebSearch is a Homepage Hijacker that also may deliver ads to your computer. Many websites on the internet reference this as one of the nastiest programs around. CoolWebSearch was first noticed back in the summer of 2004. Even experts such as Merijn Bellekom have had a very hard time when it comes to removing this. Recent versions of the CoolWebSearch install using malicious HTML applications or security flaws such as exploits in the HTML help format with Microsoft Java and virtual machines.

Some of the other varients of CoolWebSearch include:

• CoolWebSearch/DataNotary - modifies your web browser. Also thought to be the first version
• CoolWebSearch/BootConf - modifies DNS Host Files for redirection
• CoolWebSearch/MSInfo - a version that acts as a redirector of web searches to global-finder.com
• CoolWebSearch/SvcHost - modifies your host file to send searches to slawsearch.com
• CoolWebSearch/Pnp - a search hijacker version
• CoolWebSearch/MSSPI - gets advertisements from unipages.cc
• CoolWebSearch/DNSRelay - redirects searches to yellow2.com
• CoolWebSearch/Winres - named for registering winres.dll. This changes your home page to about-blank and then is used to download other programs to your computer.

You can scan your computer for CoolWebSearch and other types of programs just like this using Webroot Spy Sweeper.