About:Pushstat.com is a malicious web domain that redirects users of affected web browsers to advertising web pages. To do this it modifies various Browser settings.
Pushstat.com is a dubious web domain that interrupts the browsing sessions, by redirecting users to sponsored web pages to promote the website and hence earn revenue. It is a malicious browser hijacker.
The malware invades the system stealthily without user knowledge and targets prominent web browsers that the users commonly use in order to steal the sensitive data. The motive behind this malicious act is to make profit by selling the collected data to the third parties or extort users.
It continuously asks for the permission from the user to install it and even if the user chooses not to do so, the endless loop of these permissions trap them in selecting the wrong choice!
It wipes the traces and entry points to remain in a hidden state.
Impacts of Pushstat.com on the system
Pushstat.com lurks in the background after gaining access to a computer system. The malicious domain initiates pernicious tasks by invading system registries. This enables this nasty system infection to plague browser settings and redirect the browsing sessions to the suspicious pushstat.com website. The redirects may swindle users to install rogue programs or trick them to enter their credentials like username or passwords and register to any kind of hoax service. Often users use same passwords to access other important services like online banking. Hence user’s credentials are exposed without their knowledge and can be used by cyber criminals to exploit them.
Other system details that Pushstat.com shows interest in are:
System IP Address
Time zone
Search queries
Installed plug-ins
Browser History
Browser Type and version
Operating system and its version
Pushstat.com monitors user browsing cookies to generate most relevant ads for the users. The ads are intrusive and accidental or deliberate click on those may make your system susceptible to other malware, Spyware or Trojans. The ads displayed by the PUP may also contain the following phrases:
Advertisements by Pushstat.com
Powered by Pushstat.com
Ads powered by Pushstst.com
Brought to you by Pushstat.com etc
The click on the ads may also lead to unsolicited download of malicious software programs on your system. This may compromise system storage and render it sluggish.
Removing this malicious domain is of utmost importance to avoid any privacy- related issues and protect the system against any hazards.
Spread Techniques of Pushstat.com
Programs like Pushstst.com invade the system by bundling their payload with popular third party apps.
Users are often lured to download third party apps available on various websites, forums, P2P networks and sometimes social media channels for free.Pushstat.com is distributed by inserting its payload to the main software program.
The infection code is hidden from the user until they go for Advanced or Custom configuration options and set to install by default.
Following regular steps during the installation may lead to unintentional download of this PUP along with the derided app.
To prevent such side effects, you should always select the Advanced or Custom options presented in the installer. There you may find more information about the presence of additional programs and opt out their installation.
Threat Summary
Name:Pushstat.com
Browsers Affected: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox
Targeted Operating System: Windows
Category: PUP, Redirector
Symptoms: Registry modification, customized browser settings, unnatural network activities, occasional sluggishness of the infected device, appearance of annoying ads, download links, pop-ups, torrents, spam messages that may redirect the user to another web page and interrupt their browsing activity
Steps to remove Pushstat.com manually from windows and your Browser
Note: Before we begin, try to remember how the extension got downloaded on your computer system. Generally, these programs come bundled with free applications that we download off the internet. It is a good practice to locate and uninstall such programs while removing the Browser Hijacker/ Extensions.
Click on the “Start” button on the bottom left corner of your screen. A Start menu will be displayed as shown below. From this menu select the option that reads “Control Panel”.
In the window that will be displayed, click the option “Switch to classic view”.
This will display all the options/icons available to you. From the displayed icons, click on the icon that reads “Add or Remove Programs”.
Select the “Uninstall a program” option from the “Programs” category. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
Select the programs related to Pushstat.com and click on the Uninstall button.
Windows 7/Vista
Right click on the “Start” button located at the lower left corner of the screen. From the Start menu, click on “Control Panel”.
The “Control Panel” Window will be displayed on the screen. Click on “Uninstall a Program” option from the “Programs” category.
The “Programs and Features” window will be displayed on the screen. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
Scroll though the list of programs and select the programs related to Pushstat.com and then click on the “Uninstall” button.
Windows 8/10
Right click on the “Windows logo” on the lower left side of the computer screen. From the drop down menu, select and click on “Control Panel”.
The “Control Panel” window will be displayed. From this window select “Uninstall a program” option form the “Programs” category.
A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
Select the programs related to Pushstat.com and click on the “Uninstall” button.
In the confirmation box, click on the box that reads “OK” to save changes.
Type “Regedit” in search box / Run Box, select it and press Enter.
An authorization dialog box will appear, then you just have to click “Yes”. (The dialog box appearance may vary depending on OS used. For Windows 10 the the dialog box looks like the first screenshot and for windows 7 it appears like the second screenshot)
In the registry editor, take the backup of the current registry settings before making any changes in case you want to revert to old settings later. For this, Click on File option in the menu and select Export. Save the entry at a known location.
From the Menu, Click Edit and Select Find.
Enter Pushstat.com and click OK in the search box.
The Malware may have hijacked your web browser’s desktop shortcuts. In this case we will need to manually clean them by removing any links within the startup argument.
Locate your web browser shortcuts (Desktop, Taskbar or Start Menu), then right-click on it and select Properties. To view the Properties menu for the browser shortcut pinned to your Taskbar, right-click on the browser shortcut from the Taskbar. Right-click again on the browser icon and Select Properties.
In the Shortcut tab, in the Target field, remove the url argument for Pushstat.com which starts with “http”. There should be only the path to the browser’s main file and end with .exe such as iexplore.exe, chrome.exe or firefox.exe These are the default shortcut path that should be there in your Target box, if there is anything else you should remove it.
Open Google chrome and click on the three vertical dots () located on the top right corner of the Chrome Window.
From the Drop down menu that appears, click on the “Settings”. A new browser tab will open up, displaying all the settings.
Now, we will make changes to the appearance section. Under the “Appearances” section, we will enable the “Show Home Button” option. You can select New Tab page or can add Google or any of your preferred browsers under the “Show Home Button” option.
After this, we will go to the “Search Engine “section.
Here, make Google or any of your preferred browsers as your default browser in the drop-down menu under the option “Search engine used in the address bar”.
After this click on Manage Search Engines. Now you can remove Other Search Engines that were added by the browser hijacker. Simply click the three vertical dots () and select the option “Remove from list”.
You can make Google or any other preferred browser as your Default Search Engine by clicking the three vertical dots () and clicking on the “Make default” option.
At the end, we will go to the section “On Startup”. You can select the “Open the New Tab page” or can “Continue where you left off”. If you want to open a specific page or set of pages, select the option “Open a specific page or set of pages” and remove any pages added by the browser hijacker by clicking on the three vertical dots () and selecting “Remove”.
Then, add Google or any of your desired URL in “Add a new page” option under the “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
This is a very important step and we would like you to pay very close attention here. This step has to be repeated with all the shortcuts to the browser that you can locate; like your desktop, start menu and the shortcut pinned to your taskbar. Right click on the shortcut and a context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
A Google ChromeProperties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe”
Click OK at the end to save the changes.
Mozilla Firefox
Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the three horizontal lines () i.e. Open Menu located on the top right corner of the Firefox Window.
From the drop down menu that is displayed, we have to right click on the () Options to open the window.
Now, we will click Search, under the given options that are displayed in the left corner of the screen.
You can choose Google or any of your preferred browsers as your default search engine to use in the address bar and search bar.
Then, you have to go to the () General and under “startup” section to make sure that Firefox is your default browser.
At the end, we have to add Google or your preferred URL in the box given under Home Page.
After this, you have to right click on the browser shortcuts that you can locate like your desktop, start menu and taskbar to which the application is pinned. A context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
A Firefox Properties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”
Click OK at the end to save the changes.
Internet Explorer
Open Internet Explorer and click on the gear icon ()which is at the top right corner of the Internet Explorer Window.
From the Drop down menu that appears, click on the “Manage add-ons” A new browser tab will open up, displaying all the add-on types.
Now, we will click on the “Search Providers” option from the list of options displayed on the left hand side of the screen. Then we will click “Find more search providers” option given at the lower left corner of the Manage add-ons
This will open an Internet Explorer Gallery; from here you can add Google search or any of your preferred add-ons as your default browser.
Next, you are required to go to the “Manage add-ons” window and click on the “Search Providers” option under the Add-on Types.
Here, you can enable Google Search or any of your preferred browsers as your default browser in the list of search providers.
At the end, we will click on the gear icon ()which is at the top right corner of the screen and select “Internet Options” from the drop-down menu.
A new window will open displaying the Internet options. In the “Internet Options” window, add Google or any of your desired URL under the Create Home Page option and click OK.
After this, you have to right click on the browser shortcuts that you can locate like your desktop, start menu and taskbar to which the application is pinned. A context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
An Internet Explorer Properties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe”
Launch the Task Manager Window by pressing Ctrl+ Shift+ Escape simultaneously. (The task manager window may vary depending on the OS ) OR bring the mouse cursor on the Task Bar (which is present at the bottom of the computer screen), right click on the empty space and click on Task Manager.
Task Manager window for Windows 10
Task Manager window for Windows 7
2 Right Click on the Suspicious File and select Open file Location.
3 In the File Location Screen that appears, Right click on the File and click on Delete, to delete the File permanently from the location.
OR
Open Task Manager window again by following the steps mentioned above.
Click on the Startup tab.
Select the suspicious entry and click on the Disable button present at the bottom right corner of the window
OR
Open Task Manager window again by following the steps mentioned above.
Click on Services tab.
Right click on the suspicious entry and click on Stop.
Tips to prevent your computer system from getting infected –
Keeping the Operating System Updated- In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
Resist clicking on spam emails – One of the major techniques used for malware distribution is forwarding spam emails to the user. The system gets infected as soon as the user clicks on the attachment. These mails appear to be genuine, so be aware and resist falling for these tricks.
Keep an eye on third party installations- It is quite important that you take due care while installing any third party applications for they are major source of such infections. Such malware programs come bundled with the free applications thereby requiring the user to remain cautious.
Regular periodical backup- In order to keep your data and files safe, it is recommended to take regular back up of all your data and files either on an external drive or cloud.
Use Anti-Virus Protection- We strongly recommend the use of antivirus protection/internet security in your PC like Hitman Pro and Vipre so that it remains safe.
Enable the Ad Blocker/Popup Blocker in your browser- Enabling the popup blocker/ ad blocker in your chosen browser will help you to stay protected from annoying adware.
The researchers at Virus Removal Guidelines are dedicated to track down the latest vulnerabilities which may infringe your system security. Our team of expert performs a detailed research about every malware infection before educating our users about the same.
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) located on the top right corner of the Chrome Window.
) i.e. Open Menu located on the top right corner of the Firefox Window.
) Options to open the window.
Task Manager window for Windows 10
Task Manager window for Windows 7
