LizardSales

Posted: September 25, 2014

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Ranking:	17,093
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	1,494

First Seen:	September 25, 2014
Last Seen:	July 27, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

LizardSales is a browser add-on that loads extra advertisements through your browser, which LizardSales justifies by claiming to serve its users opportunities for online discounts. Potentially Unwanted Programs like LizardSales may be the ultimate culprits for browser instability, miscellaneous performance issues and possible security breaches related to compromised advertisement networks. In general, malware researchers would suggest removing LizardSales with programs specialized in uninstalling adware in all but extremely unusual circumstances.

The Origin of Advertisements Skittering into Your Search Results

Although LizardSales and its website, lizardsales.info, have existed since 2013, only in mid-2014 have malware researchers found additional reasons to be concerned with this prototypical example of adware. Recent events have led to the implication of the streaming movie site, Crunchyroll.com, in the non-consensual distribution of LizardSales, which may install itself through misleading pop-ups or browser redirects from that site. Investigations are continuing to confirm the exact nature of the content used to introduce LizardSales to new PCs, but exploits appear to be unlikely. Although Crunchyroll.com is not a threatening domain, you may wish to protect your PC against potential threats exploiting that site until its administrators resolve the security breach.

LizardSales's recent distribution campaign has given unwilling PC users additional exposure to its primary functions as adware, which involve modifying Web pages so that they load extra advertising links. These links frequently are injected into the search results of sites like Bing or Google. At the present date, malware researchers haven't found evidence of LizardSales's links including hostile content. However, such advertisement networks may be sources of attacks against vulnerable PCs, and rarely provide any legitimate benefits to their viewers.

Exterminating the Lizard in Your Browser

LizardSales is in the same overall classification as almost any other adware: a Potentially Unwanted Program that is not designed to harm your PC, but also provides few or no beneficial features. Because of the built-in risks of allowing adware to modify any site's search results to suit their preferences, uninstalling LizardSales always should be considered before any other options. LizardSales also has historically been unusually difficult to install through the Windows Control Panel or equally-standardized methods, which is why the use of anti-adware software also is advisable.

Advertising links promoted by LizardSales add-ons tend to specialize in online coupons, discounts and similar retailer-related content. Unfortunately, there is limited evidence of LizardSales advertisements offering any real bargains. Malware researchers also outline the fact that its EULA explicitly avoids responsibility for any consequences that may arise from your interaction with the same advertisements that LizardSale promotes. As tends to be true for even the most harmless forms of adware, taking LizardSales at its word is a serious PC security risk without much benefit to counterbalance the dangers.

LizardSales

Threat Metric

The Origin of Advertisements Skittering into Your Search Results

Exterminating the Lizard in Your Browser

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