Ask.com - 1.9% Detection Rate *

Did you just run into a file that is digitally signed by Ask.com? If that's the case, please read on.

You'll typically notice Ask.com when clicking to run the file. The publisher name shows up as the "Verified publisher" in the UAC dialog as the screenshot shows:

Screenshot where Ask.com appears as the verified publisher in the UAC dialog

You can view the digital signature details for Ask.com with the following steps:

  1. Open up Windows Explorer and locate the Ask.com file
  2. Right-click the file and select Properties
  3. Click on the Digital Signatures tab
  4. Click the View Certificate button

Here's a screenshot of a file signed by Ask.com:

Screenshot of the Ask.com certificate

As you can see in the screenshot above, the Windows OS states that "This digital signature is OK". This implies that the file has been published by Ask.com and that no one has tampered with the file.

If you click the View Certificate button shown in the screenshot above, you can see all the details of the certificate, such as when it was issued, who issued the certificate, how long it is valid, and so on. You can also examine the address for Ask.com, such as the street name, city and country.

VeriSign Class 3 Code Signing 2010 CA, VeriSign Class 3 Code Signing 2004 CA, GeoTrust TrustCenter CodeSigning CA I and Symantec Class 3 SHA256 Code Signing CA has issued the Ask.com certificates. You can also examine the details of the issuer by clicking the View Certificate button shown in the screencap above.

Ask.com Files

The following are the Ask.com files I've collected, thanks to the FreeFixer users.

Detection RatioFile Name
1/56offercast.exe
1/48GenericAskToolbar.dll
1/49AskSLib.dll
1/51ApnIC.dll
3/48AskPIP_FF_.exe
3/51askBar.dll
2/42askBar.dll
1/51askBar.dll
1/46AskService.exe
1/51RunIE.exe
1/48askupgrade.exe
1/47ASKUpgrade.exe
1/49Offercast_AVIRAV7_.exe
1/49ApnIC[1].0
3/47Offercast2802_SGT_.exe
1/50ApnIC.dll
1/46AskPIP_X-SD.exe
2/55GenericAskToolbar.dll
6/54ochelper.exe
1/46PIP268_SGT_.exe
3/48Offercast2802_DSGOH_.exe
1/57ApnStub.exe
3/56Offercast346_AVG_.exe
2/56AskPIP_FF_.exe
11/56OffercastInstaller_AVR_U-0121-01-P_.exe
1/48AskSLib.dll
1/47ApnStub.exe
1/54UpdateTask.exe
2/57UpdateTask.exe
3/54AskInstallChecker-1.5.0.0.exe
1/41askBar.dll
3/48Offercast2802_PTV_.exe
3/53UpdateTask.exe
1/42GenericAskToolbar.dll
2/55Updater.exe
2/57Updater.exe
5/56Offercast3410_AVG_.exe
4/54Offercast381_ADAP_.exe
9/57EverestWrapper.exe
12/59offercast29_ovov6-2_.exe
1/42AskService.exe
1/47APNIC.dll
2/47ApnStub.exe
1/40GenericAskToolbar.dll
3/50APN_ATU3_.exe
3/50MSI6FC1.tmp
4/54PIPInstaller_PLTV52.exe
5/55Offercast321_SGT5_.exe
2/55UpdateTask.exe
1/55GenericAskToolbar.dll
3/55UpdateTask.exe
1/51Updater.exe
3/54SaUpdate.exe
2/56UpdateTask.exe
3/57Offercast2802_PCD_.exe
2/57AskPartnerCobrandingTool.exe
3/56SaUpdate.exe
1/57GenericAskToolbar.dll
4/57Offercast2821_SGT2_.exe
2/57GenericAskToolbar.dll
2/55ASKInstaller.exe
4/57Updater.exe
5/57AskToolbar.exe
0/4995.tmp
0/47SaUpdate.exe
0/47A0279259.dll
0/48UpdateTask.exe
0/51askBar.dll
0/51askBar.dll
0/51askBar.dll
0/48GenericAskToolbar.dll

Scanner and Detection Names

Here's the detection names for the Ask.com files. I have grouped the detection names by each scanner engine. Thanks to VirusTotal for the scan results.

ScannerDetection Names
AVwarePotentially Unwanted Application (PUA)
Ad-AwareGen:Heur.JAPIK.6
AegisLabWebtoolbar.W32.Asparnet!c
Antiy-AVLTrojan/Win32.Autoit, RiskWare[WebToolbar]/Win32.Asparnet
Baidu-InternationalPUA.Win32.AskToolbar.D, Hacktool.Win32.Bundled.bToolbar, PUA.Win32.AskToolbar.81, Adware.Win32.AskToolbar.Ask, Adware.Win32.AskToolbar.D, PUA.Win32.AskToolbar.45, Adware.Win32.Asktoolbar.45, PUA.Win32.AskToolbar.BD
BkavW32.HfsAutoB.4003, W32.Clodc17.Trojan.3f79, W32.OnlinegameDMBA.Trojan, W32.Clod27e.Trojan.270e, W32.FakeUpgrade.Trojan
CAT-QuickHealPUA.Askcom.Gen
ClamAVPUA.Win32.Packer.Anti-4
ComodoApplicUnwnt.Win32.Ask.A
CyrenW32/Application.LLTK-6696, W32/Application.TGDS-4922
DrWebAdware.Downware.1417, Adware.Toolbar.570, Trojan.DownLoader7.16675, Adware.Toolbar.282
ESET-NOD32a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.D potentially unsafe, a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask, a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.D, a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.G, a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask.G potentially unsafe, a variant of Win32/Bundled.Toolbar.Ask potentially unsafe
EmsisoftApplication.Toolbar (A)
FortinetRiskware/Ask
GDataWin32.Application.Agent.TU3NZL
IkarusWin32.SuspectCrc
K7AntiVirusUnwanted-Program ( 004c65951 ), Unwanted-Program ( 004c9d591 )
K7GWUnwanted-Program ( 004c65951 ), Unwanted-Program ( 004c9d591 )
Kasperskynot-a-virus:WebToolbar.Win32.Asparnet.gen
MalwarebytesPUP.Optional.BundledToolBar.A, PUP.Optional.Spigot.A, PUP.Optional.APNToolBar, PUP.Optional.APNToolBar.A
McAfeeASKToolbar.dll, Artemis!07E2FC67C053, Artemis!F61925B84C8C
McAfee-GW-EditionArtemis!8547D63AF660, Artemis!07E2FC67C053, Heuristic.BehavesLike.Win32.Backdoor.I, Artemis
MicroWorld-eScanGen:Heur.JAPIK.6
NANO-AntivirusTrojan.Win32.Generic.deinjd, Trojan.Win32.Autoit.cwjphg, Riskware.Win32.Toolbar.drkrqs, Trojan.Win32.Generic.deinog, Trojan.Win32.Generic.deinoh, Trojan.Win32.Bundled.cymwvz
NormanW32/AskBar.D
PandaPUP/AskToolbar
Qihoo-360Win32/Trojan.648
RisingMalware.Generic(Thunder)!1.A1C4-IWWVthJr0gB (Cloud)
SUPERAntiSpywareTrojan.Agent/Gen-Zbot
TotalDefenseWin32/Askbar.eFSWCaD
TrendMicro-HouseCallSuspicious_GEN.F47V0614, Suspicious_GEN.F47V1120
VIPREPotentially Unwanted Application (PUA) (not malicious)
YandexPUA.Toolbar.Ask!
ZillyaTrojan.FakeAV.Win32.280621, Adware.GenericCRTD.Win32.1740, Adware.OutBrowse.Win32.76627
eSafeWin32.TrojanHorse, Win32.Artemis

* How the Detection Percentage is Calculated

The detection percentage is based on the fact that I've collected 8588 scan results for the Ask.com files. 161 of these scan reports came up with some sort of detection. You can view the full details of the scan reports by examining the files listed above.

Analysis Details

The analysis is done on certificates with the following serial numbers:

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