Hijack.AutoConfigURL
ThreatDown is now the name of the Malwarebytes line of business products. References to Malwarebytes below reflect the amazing technology used to first identify the threat.
Short bio
Hijack.AutoConfigURL is Malwarebytes’ generic detection name for hijackers that change the target’s proxy settings on a Windows system.
Malicious behavior
Users may find a change in on of these registry values:HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings AutoConfigURL
or
They do this by pointing them to a remote WPAD.datfile that the affected machine downloads and then use the instructions in the file to configure various browser settings such as proxy settings.
Home remediation
Add an exclusion
When Hijack.AutoConfigURL is detected on your computer, Malwarebytes for Windows does not know if it was authorized. Optimization software, malware, and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are known to make these types of changes, hence they are regarded as potentially unwanted.To have Malwarebytes for Windowsignore Hijack.AutoConfigURL, you must add Hijack.AutoConfigURL to the Allow list. Here’s how to do it.
- When Hijack.AutoConfigURL appears in the list of Scan results.
- Uncheck the entry or entries related to Hijack.AutoConfigURL.
- Then click on Next.
- You will see a prompt giving you several options.
- Choosing Always ignorewill add Hijack.AutoConfigURL to the Allow List.
- You can remove them there when you decide they should no longer be ignored.
- When Hijack.AutoConfigURL is on the Allow listit will no longer show up in your Scan results.