Claria

Classification

Category:

Spyware

Type:

Data Miner

Platform:

-

Aliases:

GAIN Publishing, GAIN Network, Gator

Summary

Claria collects information about the user's surfing habits. This includes URLs, forms, search queries and information about how long a webpage was viewed. Country, zip code, system configuration and what software is installed on the users system are also sent back to Clarias servers.

Pop-up advertisements are displayed on the user's system with content matched against the collected information from the user. The advertisement is commonly shown while browsing the web.

Removal

Automatic action

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.

Suspect a file is incorrectly detected (a False Positive)?

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 detection database 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.

For more Support

Community

Find the latest advice in our Community.

User Guide

See the user guide for your product on the Help Center.

Contact Support

Chat with or call an expert for help.

Submit a sample

Submit a file or URL for further analysis.

Technical Details

Claria collects information from the user with the help of their ad-delivery software. The information is silently sent back to Clarias servers.

This information is collected:

  • visited URLs
  • web forms
  • search queries
  • information about how long a web page was viewed
  • system configuration
  • country
  • zip code

Claria claims to use the collected information to:

  • display relevant advertisements
  • detect web trends
  • aggregate data to perform research
  • share collected information with 3rd party advertising partners
  • share behavioral profile and demographic information with 3rd party websites
  • transmit search queries to search partners

Advertisements are displayed as pop-ups in various flavors while browsing the web. The number of ads are not excessive but still in the amount of several per day.

Claria uses a "trickler" to delay installation of the ad-delivery software. When installing an ad-supported software the "trickler" is added to your temporary files and after a while set to action to download and install the ad-delivery software. This will make sure the latest version is received but also confuse the user, making it difficult to understand where the ad-delivery software originated.

Claria distributes mostly with bundled installations, for example with their own screen savers. The concept is to make the wanted software free by including advertisement software to show advertisements to the end user. The advertisement software is also conducting advanced tracking of the users' behavior and usage.

To be able to deliver localized advertisements to the user, some of the software that GAIN Publishing distributes requires demographic information, forcing the using to provide Claria with country and zip code in order to function. An example of this is Weatherscope.

Claria is an advertisement company using the name GAIN Publishing as distributor of their ad-delivery software to end-users. GAIN Publishing is however a part of the Claria corporation and therefore called Claria by F-Secure.

Some of GAIN Publishing's software reinstalls the ad-delivery software if it was removed.