The difference between adware and spyware
As covered above briefly, PubBrowsAppPlus is a type of online marketing. In a nutshell it is advertising that, more often than not, has been customized to show you ads by PubBrowsAppPlus2.1 that will interest you. How does adware – or more precisely, the creators of adware – know what sort of adverts have a higher likelihood of you clicking on them and visiting their website? Well, that's where spyware comes in to the equation. Once infected, you will notice multiple processes running on your computer. You can tell already that these are related to the adware. So, not only these processes use your system resource they are potentially dangerous as well. Multiple anti-virus engines detect it as Generic.2FB, Crossrider (fs), ADWARE/CrossRider.Gen7, not-a-virus:WebToolbar.Win32.CrossRider.lpz, Trj/Genetic.gen.
Adware and spyware do have certain characteristics in common, namely the ability to monitor which websites you are visiting, and which products or services you are looking at once you are on a particular site. Technically speaking, PubBrowsAppPlus is not as harmful or malicious as spyware, but regardless, it is still something that you should avoid where possible.
How does PubBrowsAppPlus monitor my Internet usage?
Firstly, to avoid installing PubBrowsAppPlus on your computer, it is useful to know how it gets on to your system in the first place. It is installed when you download another program. It is secretly bundled in with this program and will install itself onto your hard drive at the same time as the main installation. But that's not all, for the adware will also install a type of tracking component as well. And it is this which is able to capture data concerning the sites that you are visiting and the content that you are looking at once you are there. This data is then relayed back to the adware developer who uses the knowledge to display adverts that you are likely to be interested in on your PC's screen.
The conclusion
As seen above, PubBrowsAppPlus could be considered a type of spyware, thanks to its web monitoring function, but thankfully it doesn't take invasive techniques to a whole new level by recording which keys you type, and some key loggers take screenshots too.
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
PubBrowsAppPlus 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 PubBrowsAppPlus 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:
- PubBrowsAppPlus
- GoSave
- deals4me
- 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 PubBrowsAppPlus related extensions from Google Chrome:
1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.
2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove PubBrowsAppPlus2.1, GoSave, deals4me, 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 PubBrowsAppPlus related extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.
2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to remove PubBrowsAppPlus2.1, GoSave, deals4me, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
Remove PubBrowsAppPlusrelated 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.