3spiral Wave

3spiral Wave is a new Google Chrome browser extension that offers you “animated background and the weather forecast” as well as Google search capability on the same page. Although we have found that this extension itself may not be a threat to your PC, it may collect information about you and also enter your system with more serious threats via freeware bundles. We have labeled this application as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) mainly because of the questionable bundled versions. Our research shows that there is another identical tool on the web called AntiGravity Flow Tab, which has also been categorized as a PUP for showing certain questionable traits. We cannot claim that any of these extensions can damage your files or pose a real direct threat, but you definitely cannot leave any other risk sources on your system that may have come on board with them. In fact, we also recommend that you remove 3spiral Wave because it would simply make your virtual world a bit safer.

This PUP is available basically from two official sources: Its promotional page, triplespiralwave.com, and the Chrome web store, chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/3spiral-wave-tab-new-tab/ilcfbbdpbjdjnkanagkbdbmcblhfmkmg. The official page is a rather simple page with limited information and a big green “Get Chrome Extension” button. If you click this button, you can directly install this tool. However, at the time of writing this article it seemed that this webpage was temporarily down and all you could find there was a “502 – Bad Gateway” error page. Strangely enough, the webpage of the other identical browser extension, AntiGravity Flow Tab (antigravityflowtab.com), was also down for the same period. It could be a minor glitch or a simple server restart, we do not know, but after ending the previous sentence, both went online again. Of course, this may not be sufficient for you to delete 3spiral Wave from your browser.

As a matter of fact, this PUP seems to be quite popular as in the past month it has had 110 thousand downloads. While in the same period its clone had a mere 9 downloads, which is a bit strange. Nevertheless, we would like to point out that before you add this extension the usual pop-up window comes up that informs you about the permissions you are giving this tool. Let us remind you that it can know your e-mail address, read and change your bookmarks, and read and change all data on the websites you visit. If such a tool can know your e-mail address and it may share information with third parties, it is possible that sooner or later you will start receiving annoying promotional e-mails or even data phishing mails, not to mention spam mails. If you still do not want to delete 3spiral Wave, let us go on.

When you are installing this PUP and your system is protected by an up-to-date anti-malware program, it may flag this tool as a threat called “JS/Adware.Tablayouts.A application,” which is already quite suspicious because it tells us that this PUP might be able display third-party advertisements. Such ads are always risky to engage with because cyber criminals can easily exploit these tools and promote their malicious pages through them. But, unfortunately, this PUP can also be found spreading in freeware bundles, which can cause multiple virtual security threats to your system as these software packages may contain all kinds of malware infections, including adware programs, browser hijackers, Trojans as well as other PUPs. If you have installed free software lately that you downloaded from a questionable source or by clicking on a third-party ad looking like a software update notification, we suggest that you scan your system with reliable security software to find all malicious threats after you remove 3spiral Wave.

When you install this PUP, it changes your home page and new tab page settings in your Google Chrome browser. This tool offers you an animated background, a Google search engine with a couple of thumbnail links below it leading to popular websites (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, ebay, and Twitter). At the bottom of the page you can also see local weather information on a bar that can be hidden. These may all sound interesting and useful and we cannot even claim that this PUP will show you modified search results. However, this extension can collect information about your browsing habits that could be shared with third parties to send customized content to your screen. Our research shows that this application might also show third party ads that could be unreliable and therefore pose a potential threat to your system even if indirectly. All in all, we believe that it is best for you to remove 3spiral Wave.

It is really not that difficult to put an end to this PUP since all you need to do is remove the extension through your settings menu. If you do not know how to do that, please follow our instructions below. As we have already mentioned, this PUP may be the least harmful threat on your computer if we can call it a threat at all. Nevertheless, there could be more serious and dangerous malware infections on board that could cause further infections and exposure to malicious third-party content. Therefore, leaving them unaddressed would be a big mistake. Even if you decide to leave this PUP in your browser, we still advise you to act and remove all other threats. If you cannot accomplish it manually, you may want to install a reliable anti-malware program, such as SpyHunter.

How to remove 3spiral Wave from your browser

Google Chrome

1. Press Alt+F to open the menu.
2. Choose More tools.
3. Open Extensions.
4. Locate the undesirable extension and click on the trash can icon on its right.
5. Press Remove in the pop-up.