Should I block it?
No, this file is 100% safe to run.
Additional versions
(Note, AnchorFree Inc publishes each variation of this file with the same version, but the hashes are unique.)
Relationships
Parent process
Related files
hsswd.exe
By AnchorFree Inc (Signed)
| MD5: | 51cb81fa5a1be7d1b860cf64e05ff990 |
| SHA1: | f45dcce528f77649b3eb8dd3188b8d1c9184f79b |
| SHA256: | dba185b60d52893b36fe14d5a9872da59c9c78468f4c88f780b86cf82f1b4bf7 |
About hsswd.exe (from AnchorFree Inc)
“Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers, ISP‘s, from viewing your web browsin”
Overview
hsswd.exe runs as a service under the name ExpatWd (ExpatWd) with extensive SYSTEM privileges (full administrator access). The file is digitally signed by AnchorFree Inc which was issued by the VeriSign certificate authority (CA).
Details
| File name: | hsswd.exe |
| Typical file path: | C:\Program Files\hotspot shield\bin\hsswd.exe |
| Size: | 542.29 KB (555,304 bytes) |
| Build date: | 8/17/2013 12:43 AM |
| Certificate |
| Issued to: | AnchorFree Inc |
| Authority (CA): | VeriSign |
| Effective date: | Sunday, March 27, 2011 |
| Expiration date: | Sunday, April 13, 2014 |
| Digital DNA |
| PE subsystem: | Windows Console |
| Entropy: | 6.591774 |
| File packed: | No |
| .NET CLR: | No |
More details
Behaviors
Services
Runs under 'SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services' by the Service Controller (services.exe)
- ExpatWd
- 'ExpatWd' (Expat Shield Monitoring Service)
- 'HssWd' (Hotspot Shield Monitoring Service)
Resource utilization
(Note: statistics below are averages based on a minimum sample size of 200 unique participants)
Averages
| CPU |
| Total CPU: | 0.00043251% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00032906% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00010346% | |
| Kernel CPU time: | 7,969 ms/min | |
| Context switches: | 4/sec | |
| Memory |
| Private memory: | 2.28 MB | |
| Private (maximum): | 5.47 MB | |
| Private (minimum): | 4.91 MB | |
| Non-paged memory: | 2.28 MB | |
| Virtual memory: | 57.9 MB | |
| Virtual memory (peak): | 59.53 MB | |
| Working set: | 5.38 MB | |
| Working set (peak): | 5.47 MB | |
| Resource allocations |
| Threads: | 6 | |
| Handles: | 110 | |
Process properties
| Integrety level: | System |
| Platform: | 64-bit |
| Command line: | "C:\Program Files\hotspot shield\bin\hsswd.exe" |
| Owner: | SYSTEM |
| Windows Service |
| Service name: | ExpatWd |
| Display name: | ExpatWd |
| Type: | Win32OwnProcess |
| Parent process: | services.exe (by Microsoft) |
Distribution by Windows OS
| OS version | distribution |
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
38.31% |
|
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
21.43% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
14.29% |
|
| Windows 8 Pro |
6.49% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premium |
4.55% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
3.90% |
|
| Windows 7 Home Basic |
2.60% |
|
| Windows 8 Enterprise |
2.60% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate N |
1.95% |
|
| Windows 8 Pro with Media Center |
1.30% |
|
| Windows 8 Single Language |
0.65% |
|
| Windows 8 Enterprise N |
0.65% |
|
| Windows XP Professional |
0.65% |
|
| Windows 8 |
0.65% |
|
Distribution by country
United States installs about 20.69% of hsswd.exe.
Distribution by PC manufacturer
| PC Manufacturer | distribution |
| Toshiba |
24.19% |
|
| Dell |
19.35% |
|
| ASUS |
12.90% |
|
| Hewlett-Packard |
10.48% |
|
| Lenovo |
9.68% |
|
| Acer |
7.26% |
|
| Intel |
3.23% |
|
| Sony |
3.23% |
|
| MSI |
3.23% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
3.23% |
|
| American Megatrends |
1.61% |
|
| Gateway |
1.61% |
|
