What is the purpose of Funshopper?
Funshopper is designed for a number of reasons – all of them to benefit the programmer. Now there's a surprise! It can be used to generate income – this is because often adware comes bundled with free software programs and the programmer will use the adware as a means of recouping their development costs. It may also be used to drive traffic to a certain website, or simply as a means of increasing sales for a product or service. This particular sample installs web browser extensions, for example fUnshoopper, and display adverts, new tabs and pop-up windows. It may also redirect you to dodgy websites filled with ads.
What does adware look like?
Adware is displayed in a number of ways. We've all seen online adverts – they look almost like traditional printed media ads: boxes on the sides of the web page we're looking at. Adware also appears as larger banner adverts, as links, or – and this is where adware gets its bad reputation from – as pop-up windows.
Pop-up windows, and their close relation, pop-under windows, are a nightmare to deal with. They constantly reappear, no matter how many times you click the little 'x' in the corner of the window. They are overwhelmingly for second rate products, dodgy weight loss plans, not very interesting online games, or pornographic websites. And you don't need us to tell you how embarrassing it can be if you're in the middle of the office, at home with the family, or, heaven forbid, in the middle of an important presentation to have something X rated suddenly appear on your computer's screen.
So is Funshopper malicious software?
This is a bit of a grey area as not all adware can be considered to be malware. Increasingly adware is utilized by large, reputable businesses or organizations who need to embrace online advertising to make up for the sharp drop in revenue seen by the decrease in effectiveness of traditional or print advertising.
However, tell that to anyone who's ever had their computer infected by the type of adware like Funshopper that displays pop-up ads and you'll be likely to get somewhat of a different response. There really is a difference, though, in an advert that sits quietly on the edges of a webpage telling you about a sale on designer ladies shoes, and a manga cartoon style temptress imploring you to visit an adult website!
How do I protect myself from manga temptresses?
Assuming you want to that is! Seriously though, no one should be using their computer without having an anti-malware program installed. Make sure you have one – and keep it up to date. To remove Funshopper and related malware from your computer, including web browser extensions, please follow the steps in the removal guide below!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment down below. Good luck and be safe online!
Written by Michael Kaur, http://delmalware.blogspot.com
Funshopper Ads Removal Guide:
1. First of all, download anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this malware. Hopefully you won't have to do that.
2. Remove Zombie News related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).
Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.
If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".
Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.
3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following:
- Funshopper
- GoSave
- deals4me
- SaveNewaAppz
- and any other recently installed application
Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.
Remove Funshopper related extensions from Google Chrome:
1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.
2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove fUnshoopper 5.5, MediaPlayerV1, Gosave, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
If the removal option is grayed out then read how to remove extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Remove Funshopper related extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.
2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to remove fUnshoopper 5.5, Gosave, MediaPlayerV1, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
Remove Funshopper related add-ons from Internet Explorer:
1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.
2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove the browser add-ons listed above.