Produtools

Posted: June 10, 2013

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:	2,855
Threat Level:	2/10
Infected PCs:	8,834

First Seen:	June 11, 2013
Last Seen:	October 17, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Produtools (or, by its full title, the Produtools Maps Community Toolbar) offers an application's marketplace, desktop notifications and various Web content-delivering features, but these functions all are smokescreens for Produtools's main point: redirecting your browser to the Produtools site and other Conduit Ltd websites. Produtools, like any Conduit toolbar, attempts to profit from controlling which sites you visit and monitoring your basic online behavior, but doesn't include any features of sufficient benefit to make up for these disadvantages. As a result, SpywareRemove.com malware experts categorize Produtools as a Potentially Unwanted Program or PUP, and suggest deleting Produtools whenever Produtools is installed without your permission – generally, by using a decent anti-malware product.

Produtools: Making a Profitable Product Out of Your Browser History

Produtools is one of the newer entries into the ongoing Conduit toolbar saga, but insofar as its features are concerned, is very much a case of history repeating itself. By displaying its content as a delivery platform for relevant Web searches, links to popular sites and other features of general usage, Produtools encourages you to install Produtools for enhancing your browser. However, Produtools's most important functions go unnoticed except in the dry text of its user conditions and privacy policies: redirecting your browser to Produtools-affiliated sites, including locking your homepage, and also monitoring your online searches, website visits and related behavior.

Information that Produtools gathers from the latter may be sold to third parties or used for displaying various advertisements, and Produtools may refuse to allow you to reset your homepage or otherwise counteract its changes to your browser. All of this is, sadly, very common for Conduit toolbars and related PC threats. SpywareRemove.com malware experts also can point out many other brands of browser add-ons offering similar features to scam you out of controlling your own browser, such as Findr Toolbar and Search, Internet Helper Toolbar, Vuze Toolbar, Vaf Music Toolbar, WiseConvert Community Toolbar, FLV Runner Toolbar, Delta Search Toolbar and Adware.2YourFace.

The Right Tool for Prying Produtools Out of Your Browser

The characters mentioned above are enough to classify Produtools as, at a bare minimum, a PUP or browser hijacker (depending on its installation method and resistance to being removed), but there's a new addition to the Conduit add-on experience within Produtools. Along with its other attacks, Produtools also may disable various other browser add-ons, especially ones related to browser security. With this damning evidence in hand, SpywareRemove.com malware experts only can recommend deleting Produtools as quickly as you would remove any other security threat from your PC.

Updated and reliable brands of anti-malware software are the best means of removing Produtools and making certain that its browser changes are completely reverted. Initial infection vectors for Produtools include its website, of course, along with other sources of software downloads that may package Produtools with obtuse references to its true functions.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

horny-vid.com