Friday
2008-11-30, 00:02
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "SplashSpot" manually.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.
If this guide was helpful to you, please consider donating towards this site (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=donate).
Threat Details:
Categories:
spyware
Description:
Having registered the ss.dll, a connection to mmviewer website is established.Ss.exe and splashspotgames.exe do not appear on screen after execution, they get copied to the System folder and continue to run in background without user consent.
Supposed Functionality:
This software promises prizes by playing games, registration is required.
Privacy Statement:
Information Gathered From Members
If you elect to be a Member on SplashSpot.com, you will be required to provide us with certain personal information, including your name, e-mail address, credit card number, expiration date, and billing address (this required information is subject to change from time to time). There will also be opportunities for you to provide us with additional information regarding your preferences and interests. This information, however, is not required and is completely optional on your part.
Additional data may be collected from Members based upon certain services they elect to utilize on our web site. For example, we may track the categories of greetings you send in order to make appropriate recommendations for products or services available on our site or those of our Business Partners. Members may register for specific SplashSpot.com Newsletters, which are e-mail alerts to track important dates and occasions they specify. By obtaining this information, we can provide our Members with specific content and advertising in which they might be interested. None of this information is required to use our service or to become a Member; however, the omission of certain types of data will limit the value of your membership.
If you become a Member of SplashSpot.com, we may share your registration information with our partner sites. We may also disclose your offline address to postal advertisers and catalogue marketers.
SplashSpot.com's Uses of Personal Information
If you have provided us your consent, we will use the information we have collected about you in five ways:
To send personalized, targeted information that we think our users will find relevant, either from SplashSpot.com or directly from its Business Partners;
To include targeted advertising within such messages;
To send promotions and coupons based on the user's interests;
To contact the user for feedback and surveys; and
To send the user other information about SplashSpot.com.
On-Site Advertising
SplashSpot.com may also use information about you to target advertising while you are visiting our site. We may also use geographic or other information we have collected from you to make sure that the ads you see are for goods and services that are actually of interest to you or are available in your area. We may use cookie files to assure that you will not be served the same ads repeatedly.
Information Sharing Between Affiliates
SplashSpot.com is part of the Razor Media, LLC. SplashSpot.com reserves the right to share your personally identifiable information with its marketing partners, including your e-mail, postal address, phone number, and purchase history. We may use that information to conduct joint promotions, offer you special premiums, and to share databases and equipment. We also reserve the right to share your personal information with other companies that Razor Media, LLC may subsequently acquire. We will only share your credit card information among our affiliates if you expressly give us permission to do so.
Removal Instructions:
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\SplashSpot Games.exe".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\ss.dll".
The file at "<$DESKTOP>\ss.exe".
The file at "<$DESKTOP>\Play Games, Win Prizes.url".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\ss.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify files!
Folders:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\SplashSpot Games".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMS>\SplashSpot Games".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify folders!
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "SplashSpot Games" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\".
If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=regalyzer), RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
Final Words:
If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
Please read these instructions (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288) before requesting assistance,
Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum (http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22) where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.
If this guide was helpful to you, please consider donating towards this site (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=donate).
Threat Details:
Categories:
spyware
Description:
Having registered the ss.dll, a connection to mmviewer website is established.Ss.exe and splashspotgames.exe do not appear on screen after execution, they get copied to the System folder and continue to run in background without user consent.
Supposed Functionality:
This software promises prizes by playing games, registration is required.
Privacy Statement:
Information Gathered From Members
If you elect to be a Member on SplashSpot.com, you will be required to provide us with certain personal information, including your name, e-mail address, credit card number, expiration date, and billing address (this required information is subject to change from time to time). There will also be opportunities for you to provide us with additional information regarding your preferences and interests. This information, however, is not required and is completely optional on your part.
Additional data may be collected from Members based upon certain services they elect to utilize on our web site. For example, we may track the categories of greetings you send in order to make appropriate recommendations for products or services available on our site or those of our Business Partners. Members may register for specific SplashSpot.com Newsletters, which are e-mail alerts to track important dates and occasions they specify. By obtaining this information, we can provide our Members with specific content and advertising in which they might be interested. None of this information is required to use our service or to become a Member; however, the omission of certain types of data will limit the value of your membership.
If you become a Member of SplashSpot.com, we may share your registration information with our partner sites. We may also disclose your offline address to postal advertisers and catalogue marketers.
SplashSpot.com's Uses of Personal Information
If you have provided us your consent, we will use the information we have collected about you in five ways:
To send personalized, targeted information that we think our users will find relevant, either from SplashSpot.com or directly from its Business Partners;
To include targeted advertising within such messages;
To send promotions and coupons based on the user's interests;
To contact the user for feedback and surveys; and
To send the user other information about SplashSpot.com.
On-Site Advertising
SplashSpot.com may also use information about you to target advertising while you are visiting our site. We may also use geographic or other information we have collected from you to make sure that the ads you see are for goods and services that are actually of interest to you or are available in your area. We may use cookie files to assure that you will not be served the same ads repeatedly.
Information Sharing Between Affiliates
SplashSpot.com is part of the Razor Media, LLC. SplashSpot.com reserves the right to share your personally identifiable information with its marketing partners, including your e-mail, postal address, phone number, and purchase history. We may use that information to conduct joint promotions, offer you special premiums, and to share databases and equipment. We also reserve the right to share your personal information with other companies that Razor Media, LLC may subsequently acquire. We will only share your credit card information among our affiliates if you expressly give us permission to do so.
Removal Instructions:
Files:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\SplashSpot Games.exe".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\ss.dll".
The file at "<$DESKTOP>\ss.exe".
The file at "<$DESKTOP>\Play Games, Win Prizes.url".
The file at "<$SYSDIR>\ss.exe".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify files!
Folders:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\SplashSpot Games".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMS>\SplashSpot Games".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify folders!
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "SplashSpot Games" at "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\Programs\".
If SplashSpot uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=regalyzer), RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
Final Words:
If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
Please read these instructions (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288) before requesting assistance,
Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum (http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22) where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.