StrataBeauty

Posted by Max Lehmann on April 5, 2016

What is StrataBeauty?

StrataBeauty is promoted as an application dedicated to providing you with tips and articles on beauty-related topics, but it is much more than that and not in a good way. We recommend that you remove it from your computer because it is an ad-supported application whose only purpose is to subject you to promotional links and advertisements. Its developers get paid for their services and, from what we know, they do not shy away from promoting malicious content. Even if it does not promote malicious content, it is still useless because apart from showing you ads it does not do anything else. test

Where does StrataBeauty come from?

StrataBeauty is a program dedicated to subjecting you to commercial content and apart from that it will not improve your browsing experience in any shape or form. It was released by a clandestine malware developer specializing in web monetization. This developer has also released multiple clones of StrataBeauty called Diet Bright, MultiSurveys, Diet Interactive, and Flexible Family. It has to release new applications constantly because older ones are quickly detected and denied entry to a computer or deleted by antimalware programs such as SpyHunter. Nevertheless, it is possible to uninstall this program using Control Panel, and we will show you how to do it at the end of this description.

In the meantime, let us discuss StrataBeauty’s distribution methods. Our malware researchers at Anti-spyware-101.com have found that this adware is currently being promoted by browser hijackers: search engines that hijack your browser’s homepage using malicious software or installers to promote commercial content. If you click on a link to this adware, then you will get redirected to Stratabeauty.com — its main promotional and distribution website. This website hosts this adware’s InstallCore-based installer which means that if you install this application, then you will also install additional undesirable software as well. This software may include adware (e.g. Search Know,) potentially unwanted programs (e.g. System Healer,) and even browser hijackers (e.g. Yoursearching.com.) So, it is evident to see that this program comes from a shady background and that it is promoted via malware. Thus, it is clear to see that this program is of malicious nature, and this becomes even more clear when you know how it works.

How does StrataBeauty work?

Usually, adware renders pop-ups, banners, coupons, and so on, but StrataBeauty took online advertising to a whole new level. This is rather innovative in how it forces you to view its promotional links, so let us elaborate on this a bit more. This program’s functionality includes force opening Internet Explorer and loading promoted websites such as Download.safepcrepair.com/index.jhtml?partner=^AW7^xdm326&sub_id=316650_3631. This website promotes a program by Mindspark Interactive Inc. We do not know whether this program is legitimate, because we have yet to analyze it, but keep in mind that it might fall into the category of potentially unwanted programs. Now, you can close Internet Explorer at any time, but that is not where your problems end. In addition to promoting via Internet Explorer, StrataBeauty has a dedicated GUI window capable of promoting the same content as the browser. So the means of promotion this program has are somewhat innovated, but that is of no benefit to you. We believe that this method is more efficient since banners and coupons require you to click them to generate income while forcefully loading the pages does not that, and so the developers make more money that way.

How do I remove StrataBeauty?

Our tests have shown that this program drops its files to folders such as %PROGRAMFILES%, %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs, and so on. Also, it creates six registry keys for forcing Internet Explorer to open and load the promoted websites. However, the good news is that uninstalling it via Control Panel removes all of the files and registry keys, so please follow the instructions below to get rid of StrataBeauty in its entirety.