WinterWaldo

Posted by Lisa Blanc on December 16, 2016

What is WinterWaldo?

If you download WinterWaldo onto your Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser, you will see some changes. The extension modifies the New Tab to represent home.winterwaldo.com, and homepage and default search provider settings could be modified as well. Although the interface of the search engine looks completely normal, you should not classify it as a trustworthy search tool. Anti-Spyware-101.com malware researchers warn that interacting with this engine is not only useless but potentially risky as well. You probably have downloaded the extension because it promised access to online games. While it does that by displaying quick-access links to play.winterwaldo.com games, it also represents a suspicious search tool. Moreover, it silently collects information to help third-party advertisers to deliver more attractive offers. In fact, the suspicious add-on is classified as an advertising-supported program because it has been found injecting third-party ads. If you do not understand why this is a reason for deleting WinterWaldo, you should continue reading. We have also included a removal guide. test test

How does WinterWaldo work?

The suspicious WinterWaldo is officially promoted at winterwaldo.com. In the past, it was also available at the Chrome web store, but the link is currently down, due to which Chrome users cannot actually download the add-on from the official website. Unfortunately, this allegedly beneficial tool that promises to help you access fun online games could also be spread via third-party installers. You have to keep in mind that unfamiliar installers could be very dangerous because they could bundle the extension with much more malicious and dangerous infections. Harmless programs could be added as well, but the thing is that malicious threats and useful applications often look exactly the same, and it might be hard for less experienced users to recognize which programs are okay and which ones require removal. We propose installing a malware scanner to inspect your operating system and check if there are any threats that must be eliminated from your operating system. If malware is found, do not ignore it. While WinterWaldo is considered a potentially risky application, much more dangerous threats could slither in bundled with it, and you have to be very careful about that.

As you know already, WinterWaldo enables access to legitimate online games. It also displays quick-access links to legitimate websites, including facebook.com, vimeo.com, pinterest.com, etc. And what about the search tool? The search dialog box that is displayed in the center accepts your search queries, but you are redirected to google.com/search for results. Google Search is well-known, and we are sure that most users will think that the results presented can be trusted. We are not so sure about that. As you know – if you have reviewed the Privacy Policy – the extension works with third parties who can serve all kinds of offers and advertisements. Well, the search results could be modified to include sponsored links, and that is not something that Google is responsible for. Don’t you think that is a bit misleading for an allegedly beneficial app to introduce you to ads that look like regular Google search results? The familiar search engine is employed for a reason, and that is to distract you and make you think that it is safe for you to interact with all of the links displayed. Our research team considers this a reason to delete the adware.

How to delete WinterWaldo

WinterWaldo is an ad-supported program we suggest deleting. Although it presents online games and it can help you access different websites, it also can deliver modified search results, and the changes it makes to your browsers might be unwelcome. According to our researchers, you should be able to get rid of this adware by erasing the extension installed on your browsers. At the moment, this adware is compatible with Chrome and Firefox browsers, which is why these are the browsers we focus on in our removal guide. If you find that you need to erase it from different browsers, you should post a comment below, so that we could add more steps. If you stick with manual removal, do not forget about other potentially active threats. Luckily, you can erase all of them along with adware using an automated anti-malware tool, which we also advise installing to enable full-time Windows protection.