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[Metallica]

Content is republished with permission from Malwarebytes.

What is styler?

The Malwarebytes research team has determined that styler is a search hijacker. These so-called "hijackers" manipulate your browser(s), for example to change your startpage or searchscopes, so that the affected browser visits their site or one of their choice.
This particular one also adds advertisements to your search results in the form of recommended searches.



How do I know if my computer is affected by styler?

You may see this entry in your list of installed Chrome extensions:



You may have noticed these warnings during install:





How did styler get on my computer?

Browser hijackers use different methods for distributing themselves. This particular one was downloaded from the webstore:



after a redirect from their website:



How do I remove styler?

Our program Malwarebytes can detect and remove this search hijacker.

• Please download Malwarebytes for Windows to your desktop.
• Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
• When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
• Click on the Get started button.
• Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
• When the scan is finished click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
• Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

Is there anything else I need to do to get rid of styler?

• No, Malwarebytes removes styler completely.

How would the full version of Malwarebytes help protect me?

We hope our application and this guide have helped you eradicate this hijacker.

As you can see below Malwarebytes Browser Guard, and the full version of Malwarebytes would have protected you against the styler hijacker. It would have blocked their website, giving you a chance to stop it before it became too late.

Technical details for experts

Possible signs in FRST logs:

CHR Extension: (styler) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj [2021-08-02]

Alterations made by the installer:

File system details [View: All details] (Selection)
---------------------------------------------------
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\0.1_0
       Adds the file 128.png"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 5796 bytes, A
       Adds the file background.js"="7/20/2021 6:58 PM, 65690 bytes, A
       Adds the file content.js"="7/20/2021 6:06 PM, 1678 bytes, A
       Adds the file jquery.min.js"="11/2/2012 2:54 AM, 93436 bytes, A
       Adds the file manifest.json"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 870 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\0.1_0\_metadata
       Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 2133 bytes, A
       Adds the file verified_contents.json"="7/20/2021 6:58 PM, 1735 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj
       Adds the file 000003.log"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 35 bytes, A
       Adds the file CURRENT"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 16 bytes, A
       Adds the file LOCK"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 0 bytes, A
       Adds the file LOG"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 371 bytes, A
       Adds the file MANIFEST-000001"="8/2/2021 9:17 AM, 41 bytes, A

Registry details [View: All details] (Selection)
------------------------------------------------
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings]
       "kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj"="REG_SZ", "468C39E85E7B078E35C0FC31775C517F3C82BF82F7C55BAE9A3EF36585243DBD"

Malwarebytes log:

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 8/2/21
Scan Time: 1:18 PM
Log File: 65903bec-f383-11eb-8252-080027235d76.json

-Software Information-
Version: 4.4.4.126
Components Version: 1.0.1404
Update Package Version: 1.0.43804
License: Premium

-System Information-
OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
CPU: x64
File System: NTFS
User: {username}-PC\{username}

-Scan Summary-
Scan Type: Threat Scan
Scan Initiated By: Manual
Result: Completed
Objects Scanned: 258053
Threats Detected: 13
Threats Quarantined: 13
Time Elapsed: 1 min, 13 sec

-Scan Options-
Memory: Enabled
Startup: Enabled
Filesystem: Enabled
Archives: Enabled
Rootkits: Disabled
Heuristics: Enabled
PUP: Detect
PUM: Detect

-Scan Details-
Process: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Module: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Key: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Registry Value: 1
Adware.SearchHijacker, HKCU\SOFTWARE\GOOGLE\CHROME\PREFERENCEMACS\Default\extensions.settings|kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , , 

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 2
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , , 
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\EXTENSIONS\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj, Quarantined, 300, 964939, 1.0.43804, , ame, , , 

File: 10
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 300, 964939, , , , , D60B5FEF943C06741C3CE567053C5A95, F8D240EEF5CF8C8DAC2E7D9CD77661010C2263D5D6144F283A41F9F41703A91D
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 300, 964939, , , , , B7440C58D39D1F974AF9F3481356EBF4, 7E0110CC551E5C0FC5A564201A29C79EC41C5DC704FA8C4501186A6257FF4DEC
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\000003.log, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , 8F1679D7116DA71559917BEC42041D2A, D4DABDA059D2D9FFE04FC84AD4FB0600186CCA13B185035BC2CB7B12E98FDE82
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\CURRENT, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , 46295CAC801E5D4857D09837238A6394, 0F1BAD70C7BD1E0A69562853EC529355462FCD0423263A3D39D6D0D70B780443
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\LOCK, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , , 
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\LOG, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , E8C7529D199DDB05459FDC6E7D0FA954, C2170583BE4C73579C4FE8C27388E969E2D40B51D1E8EFD14E5BF936C704228E
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\LOG.old, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , E7D1FB9784E44867A329D00BE7966A35, E4FB4F4FD34584C92290E69EB15D75E1ABAE77C9C81C11F9EE4ACD66E9C8C3E7
Adware.SearchHijacker, C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\kikanbbgfabodhoafkmceiaflnjpiphj\MANIFEST-000001, Quarantined, 300, 964939, , , , , 5AF87DFD673BA2115E2FCF5CFDB727AB, F9D31B278E215EB0D0E9CD709EDFA037E828F36214AB7906F612160FEAD4B2B4
PUP.Optional.SearchEngineHijack, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\ROAMING\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\background.js.lnk, Quarantined, 337, 964983, , , , , C06B26A659112BBD04ACB4C11B58B722, CE68F4A69AEF0651617F9FE37EFFC836DA3A840F20B1D45F254A95828F41A6BD
PUP.Optional.SearchEngineHijack, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\KIKANBBGFABODHOAFKMCEIAFLNJPIPHJ\0.1_0\BACKGROUND.JS, Quarantined, 337, 964983, 1.0.43804, , ame, , 090FCAF15D543117BA79F4D01B192A2B, C440B2BFF3123E639C09F3E6BB43016B2D8E96596202D5AD9D21F32C564932A6

Physical Sector: 0
(No malicious items detected)

WMI: 0
(No malicious items detected)


(end)

As mentioned before the full version of Malwarebytes could have protected your computer against this threat.
We use different ways of protecting your computer(s):

• Dynamically Blocks Malware Sites & Servers
• Malware Execution Prevention

Save yourself the hassle and get protected.