Weather Forecaster

Posted by Max Lehmann on January 23, 2020

What is Weather Forecaster?

Do you check the weather conditions daily or maybe even hourly? If you do, Weather Forecaster is an extension that you might be intrigued to install. Although it is presented as a tool that can give you access to weather-related information, our analysts identify it as a potentially unwanted program, or PUP. Why is that so? To put it in short, the extension is capable of collecting information about its users that is not limited to the information necessary to produce a weather report. In fact, the program does not show a weather report at all. Instead, it employs third-party websites to do it. On top of that, the PUP employs an unreliable search tool to provide you with search results, and if you trust it, you could be exposed to unreliable links. If you know all of this already and if you are ready to delete Weather Forecaster from your Google Chrome browser, we suggest moving to the last section of this report and the removal guide below. If you have more questions, continue reading.

Did you use the installer available on chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/weather-forecaster/bfhdbclhojfkcjeeglbcnpdncpelbjkc to download Weather Forecaster? It looks like this PUP does not have a website representing it, but the Privacy Policy presented via the Chrome webstore links to legal.eightpoint.ky/privacy.html. Eightpoint Technologies is the creator of this potentially unwanted program, as well as many other PUPs, including My Flight Finder Tab, EasyCouponsAccess, and QuickMapsAndDirections. All of them have different themes, as you can tell from the names, and all of them pose as beneficial extensions. Truthfully, all they do is provide links to third-party sites, and so it does not look like these extensions can be viewed as being highly beneficial. Perhaps they were not created to offer weather reports, coupons, maps directions, and similar services? One thing that all of these PUPs have in common is that they all expose users to an unreliable search engine. They redirect to Yahoo Search, and while we have nothing against it, the PUPs can modify the results, and they can become unreliable. This is why we suggest deleting them from all compatible browsers.

All searches conducted via Weather Forecaster are redirected via query.weatherforecastertab.com. If you are well familiar with Yahoo Search, you might think there is nothing wrong going on; however, if you interact with the results shown, you could end up visiting websites that have nothing to do with your searches or that promote products and services you should not really trust. If you do not care about data-tracking cookies that might record information about you or the search results that might promote links to unreliable websites, you might still continue using Weather Forecaster because it presents easy-access links to weather.com, weather.gov, accuweather.com, pollen.com, and myquickmaps.org. Well, the good news is that you can add links to these websites to your bookmarks, which will help you access them with a click of a button. If access to these websites is the only reason you continue using Weather Forecaster, you need to think if removing this PUP is not the better option.

Before you install new software/extensions or start using new services, you need to research them. Do not focus on promotional information alone. At least, look at third-party reviews. Next, review the privacy policies and terms of use because if you do not agree with something, using the service or extension might not be a good idea. If you did not do this before installing Weather Forecaster, you might regret your decision to let this PUP into your life now. We hope that you keep this in mind for the future. Right now, let’s remove Weather Forecaster, if that is what you want to do. You should be able to remove this PUP manually using the guide you can find below. Note that it includes steps that show how to clear browsing data also. You should not skip these steps. In case other PUPs exist on your system, or if you need help protecting your system against malware, install anti-malware software without delay. Remember that there are far worse threats than PUPs, and they might cause lasting consequences if they manage to slither into your system, and so reliable protection is necessary.