Classification

Category :

Spyware

Type :

Spyware

Aliases :

Shop At Home Select, Belcaro Group, Shop At Home

Summary

SahAgent is an application made by Shop At Home. The application redirects web surfing though Shop At Home's servers. It also monitors surfing behavior and sends data back to Shop At Home's servers.

Removal

Based on the settings of your F-Secure security product, it may block the file from running, move it to the quarantine where it cannot spread or cause harm, or ask you to select an action.

A False Positive is when a file is incorrectly detected as harmful, usually because its code or behavior resembles known harmful programs. A False Positive will usually be fixed in a subsequent database update without any action needed on your part. If you wish, you may also:

  • Check for the latest database updates

    First check if your F-Secure security program is using the latest updates, then try scanning the file again.

  • Submit a sample

    After checking, if you still believe the file is incorrectly detected, you can submit a sample of it for re-analysis.

    Note: If the file was moved to quarantine, you need to collect the file from quarantine before you can submit it.

  • Exclude a file from further scanning

    If you are certain that the file is safe and want to continue using it, you can exclude it from further scanning by the F-Secure security product.

    Note: You need administrative rights to change the settings.

Technical Details

Shop At Home's application, SahAgent, monitors web browsing. When the user enters an online store from a shopping site, the user is redirected through Shop At Home's web servers. The online store will then see it as if Shop At Home directed the traffic when it was the shopping site.

The software agent is promoted as a way to remember the user, so the user can take advantage of discounts made available by Shop At Home.

Shop At Home has a web site with discount offers. Users may browse among them to search for items to buy at a discount price. It will appear, to shopping sites like Wal-Mart and Amazon, that the user was directed from one of Shop At Home's websites. As a result, the retailers pay a fee to Shop At Home for the customers they are providing. But most likely, there is only a very small amount of traffic that is actually generated from Shop At Home's website. The agent, installed silently on a user's system, will hijack traffic, and therefore revenue, from legitimate shopping sites like Yahoo.

SahAgent is supposed to be distributed by registering at one of Shop At Home's web sites. The user can then opt-in to get the recall agent, but there are cases where SahAgent is installed silently, without a user's knowledge, and without reference to any of Shop At Home's websites.