Plaxo Toolbar

To use the Plaxo toolbar the user first has to signup with the Plaxo. The Plaxo toolbar lets user to keep his Yahoo! Address Book up to date, quickly look up contact information while browsing the Web, and also syncs calendar, tasks and notes. The toolbar can also be used to search yahoo from any page on the web.For maintaining the users yahoo account the Plaxo needs user’s information and all his contacts etc are available to the Plaxo, Inc. The toolbar also collects information about the users browsing and can show popup ads.0

General information:

Malware Name: Plaxo Toolbar
Malware Type: Toolbar
Company Name: Plaxo, Inc.
Company URL: http://www.plaxo.com/
Threat Level: High
Operating System: WIN XP
Installation Type: Installed through EXE
Operation: Time of After restarting browser.

Company Description:

Plaxo, Inc. keeps people connected by solving the common and frustrating problem of out-of-date contact information. Founded in July 2001, Plaxo provides a free service that securely updates and maintains the information in your address book.

Spyware Description:

To use the Plaxo toolbar the user first has to signup with the Plaxo. The Plaxo toolbar lets user to keep his Yahoo! Address Book up to date, quickly look up contact information while browsing the Web, and also syncs calendar, tasks and notes. The toolbar can also be used to search yahoo from any page on the web.For maintaining the users yahoo account the Plaxo needs user’s information and all his contacts etc are available to the Plaxo, Inc. The toolbar also collects information about the users browsing and can show popup ads.0

Characteristics/Symptoms:

    -> Collects data about the users browsing habits -> Slows the browser -> Needs users personal Information -> Communicates with the host server -> Can show popup ads0

Additional information might be found here:

google Search at Google for Plaxo Toolbar
bing Search at Bing for Plaxo Toolbar
yahoo Search at Yahoo for Plaxo Toolbar

Processes Running:

File information Created after Installation:

File Location Size (Bytes) Type
C:\Program Files\Plaxo\IE Toolbar\0.9.5.42\PlaxoIETlbr.cab 439161 WinZip File
C:\Program Files\Plaxo\IE Toolbar\0.9.5.42\instub.cab 72116 WinZip File
C:\Program Files\Plaxo\IE Toolbar\plx_ie_tlbr_uninstall.log 742 Text Document

Folder information Created after Installation:

Folder Location

Registry information Created after Installation:

Main Registry Key Sub Registry Key Key Value Name
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{C058B2A4-F2DF-438B-A5EE-BB4482DE9FFC}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Management\ARPCache\Plaxo IE Toolbar
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Plaxo IE Toolbar