InspiringBackgrounds

Posted by Max Lehmann on October 28, 2016

What is InspiringBackgrounds?

InspiringBackgrounds is a new browser extension that may seem useful to you but it is definitely not without risk. As a matter of fact, our malware researchers at anti-spyware-101.com say that this questionable extension is none other than a newcomer from the notorious Mindspark family created by Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. We have seen the emergence of dozens of similar potentially unreliable tools in the past months and years. Of course, we do not claim that this is a major attack and you need to unplug your computer and barricade your windows right away. In fact, our malware experts have concluded that, just like all other tools coming from this family, this infection is also a potentially unwanted program, or PUP in short. In this sense it is, of course, possible that keeping or using this browser extension could lead to system security vulnerabilities. If it is important for you to use a safe computer, we suggest that you remove InspiringBackgrounds as soon as possible. In order to learn more about the potential risks, please continue reading our article. test test test

Where does InspiringBackgrounds come from?

Just like most similar tools, this PUP is also mostly spread via questionable freeware bundles. This is a method schemers tend to use when they want to make sure that their malicious or simply unwanted programs spread widely on the web. Hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting computer users search the net daily to try to find free materials to download, including music and movie files, books, and, of course, software. However, what they may not be aware of is that there are plenty of fake and malicious file-sharing websites that can infect them very easily. These sites are usually filled with unreliable third-party contents, such as advertisements, buttons, and notifications. These can all confuse you and make you believe that clicking on them is a "good idea." For instance, you may see a flashing banner that tells you that your Windows needs an urgent update because some malware threats have been detected on your computer. Do you think you could say categorically "no" to this? Or, would it make you think? You should know that one click on such a content can easily drop a package of malicious software installers, including this PUP, adware programs, browser hijacker, and worse.

This can also happen when your system is infected with adware apps or browser hijackers. Both of these infections are capable of displaying corrupt third-party advertisements similarly to the aforementioned malicious websites. If you care about your files and your operating system, you should remove InspiringBackgrounds and run a malware scanner on your system to see clearly what else may be endangering your virtual world. We also need to mention that this browser extension does have a promotional website, "inspiringbackgrounds.com," which you might land on. You can directly install this tool on this page unless your computer is protected by some up-to-date security tool, which may block this page right away.

How does InspiringBackgrounds work?

When you let this extension on board, it makes certain changes to the affected browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer; it sets itself as your home page and new tab page. This application offers you beautiful background images to choose from as your browser background, inspiring quotes from different categories to read on this page as well as customizable local weather alerts. This may all sound great and tempting. However, this works like bait in the case of Mindspark products. This is all about using this tool as a stage for showing you third-party advertisements, i.e., to promote affiliated websites to drive web traffic there.

As a matter of fact, this extension provides you with a search tool as well. This is supposed to be a customized Google search tool as the label says right next to the search box. However, our experience with this family shows that using this tool could land you on modified search results pages that may contain potentially unreliable third-party ads and sponsored links. If you click on such content, you might be taken to harmful websites operated by cyber criminals. If you do not want to end up in the center of an online scam or drop more infections onto your system, we believe that your best solution would be to delete InspiringBackgrounds from your system.

How can I remove InspiringBackgrounds?

There are two stages for you to be able to eliminate this threat without leftovers. First, you should uninstall InspiringBackgrounds by locating the uninstaller in the list of installed programs in Control Panel. Second, you need to take care of the extensions in Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome because these browsers are not dealt with otherwise. Please use our guide below as a reference if you need assistance with these steps. If you want to protect your computer from similar and more dangerous attacks as well, we suggest that you be more careful what kind of websites you land on and that you avoid clicking on third-party ads, too. Of course, if you want peace of mind and automatic filtering, we recommend that you find a reliable anti-malware program and install it as soon as possible. For best results, keep this tool always updated and activated.