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[Metallica]

Content is republished with permission from Malwarebytes.

What is Movieapp Search?

The Malwarebytes research team has determined that Movieapp Search 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 redirects to their own search engine and adds Recommended Searches.



How do I know if my computer is affected by Movieapp Search?

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



and this changed setting:



You may have noticed these warnings during install:









How did Movieapp Search 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 Movieapp Search?

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 Movieapp Search?

• No, Malwarebytes removes Movieapp Search 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 Movieapp Search 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 DefaultSearchURL: Default -> hxxps://search.movieapp.net/search.php?src=mvasdr&type=ds&q={searchTerms}
CHR DefaultSearchKeyword: Default -> Movieapp
CHR DefaultSuggestURL: Default -> hxxps://search.movieapp.net/suggest.php?q={searchTerms}
CHR Extension: (Movieapp) - C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh [2021-03-23]

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\mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh\3.0.20_0
       Adds the file background.js"="10/29/2020 8:33 PM, 2158 bytes, A
       Adds the file manifest.json"="3/23/2021 8:56 AM, 1888 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh\3.0.20_0\_metadata
       Adds the file computed_hashes.json"="3/23/2021 8:56 AM, 404 bytes, A
       Adds the file verified_contents.json"="3/22/2021 3:43 PM, 1649 bytes, A
    Adds the folder C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh\3.0.20_0\icons
       Adds the file icon128.png"="3/23/2021 8:56 AM, 6279 bytes, A
       Adds the file icon16.png"="5/29/2020 1:53 PM, 610 bytes, A

Registry details [View: All details] (Selection)
------------------------------------------------
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings]
       "mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh"="REG_SZ", "C806E755B36C3D7DD6BBB7C11FB427F2371D96CAE137236BB5701FB317781A7B"

Malwarebytes log:

Malwarebytes
www.malwarebytes.com

-Log Details-
Scan Date: 3/23/21
Scan Time: 4:05 PM
Log File: 2fd024ce-8be9-11eb-a2ed-080027235d76.json

-Software Information-
Version: 4.3.0.98
Components Version: 1.0.1217
Update Package Version: 1.0.38581
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: 233534
Threats Detected: 5
Threats Quarantined: 5
Time Elapsed: 1 min, 49 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
PUP.Optional.SosoInteractive, HKCU\SOFTWARE\GOOGLE\CHROME\PREFERENCEMACS\Default\extensions.settings|mafjekgodphomngmogijlhnfingjgboh, Quarantined, 16151, 923806, , , , , , 

Registry Data: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Data Stream: 0
(No malicious items detected)

Folder: 1
PUP.Optional.SosoInteractive, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\MAFJEKGODPHOMNGMOGIJLHNFINGJGBOH, Quarantined, 16151, 923806, 1.0.38581, , ame, , , 

File: 3
PUP.Optional.SosoInteractive, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Secure Preferences, Replaced, 16151, 923806, , , , , B41A1F7A7BD87ED3908254A59E99B438, 281F71168DB128FD1BED4155DFFDA4DEEDC66A7DC4451C5E5ECE84555C21063B
PUP.Optional.SosoInteractive, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\Default\Preferences, Replaced, 16151, 923806, , , , , D0C0FAAFB7437C5849EF55A22A85722F, 3606B1BB78F5871E4BFBCB3AE6F162C340DEF168C62C9B4FB80F3884B1595335
PUP.Optional.SosoInteractive, C:\USERS\{username}\APPDATA\LOCAL\GOOGLE\CHROME\USER DATA\DEFAULT\EXTENSIONS\MAFJEKGODPHOMNGMOGIJLHNFINGJGBOH\3.0.20_0\BACKGROUND.JS, Quarantined, 16151, 923806, 1.0.38581, , ame, , 552006CFB20C0AFFD4F57F22A2DAE2ED, A06DB43A848EFD3D36825564BCC0BB46D329B1B039217F3E0CE8809740743508

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.