Bargain Buddy
Bargain Buddy is an Adware program developed by Exact Advertising. Bargain Buddy software monitors Internet usage and displays advertisements based on the websites a user views. The software may also display ads for Exact Advertising programs such as FunGameDownloads and PhotoGizmo.Method of Infection/Variants
The program is downloaded as a Browser Helper Object as part of software bundles via the Internet, through free downloads such as games, wallpapers and screensavers. Bargain Buddy may also be known as CashBackBuddy, Bullseye Software, eXact Searchbar and NaviSearch.Bargain Buddy is only known to infect computers running the Microsoft Windows Operating System, specifically integrating with the Internet Explorer web browser. The following Windows systems may be infected:
In a typical installation, the following files are created: bbchk.exe & bargains.exe. The Registry is also modified so the software runs at system startup.Removal
Exact Advertising insists that users should only attempt to remove Bargain Buddy and other Exact Advertising products through the Add/Remove programs applet, in the Control Panel. Symantec has released a tool to help remove the program. It may also be removed by PC Tools Spyware Doctor, the Norton Family of Security products, and Spybot Search & Destroy.
