PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar

Short bio

PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar is Malwarebytes’ detection name for a family of browser toolbars published by Visicom Media Inc.

Symptoms

PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar adds a toolbar to the affected browser(s) which are usually Internet Explorer plus the default browser, if that is a different one.

Users may see warning similar to these during install:

and users may find an entry similar to this one in their list of installed Programs and Features:

installed Visicom toolbar

Type and source of infection

PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that can be classified as a browser hijacker.
PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar is often installed bundled with other software.

Protection

Malwarebytes protects users from PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar by using real-time protection. It detects the installers even if they have not (yet) been added to the definitions.

Malwarebytes blocks the bundler that installs PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar

Remediation

Malwarebytes can detect and remove PUP.Optional.VisicomToolbar without further user interaction.

Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
Click on the Get started button.
Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
Click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

Add an exclusion

Should users wish to keep this program and exclude it from being detected in future scans, they can add the program to the exclusions list. Here’s how to do it.

Open Malwarebytes for Windows.
Click the Detection History
Click the Allow List
To add an item to the Allow List, click Add.
Select the exclusion type Allow a file or folder and use the Select a folder button to select the main folder for the software that you wish to keep.
Repeat this for any secondary files or folder(s) that belong to the software.

If you want to allow the program to connect to the Internet, for example to fetch updates, also add an exclusion of the type Allow an application to connect to the internet and use the Browse button to select the file you wish to grant access.